Finding Purpose in Practice Through Garvan Woodland Gardens Student Internship

For many U of A students, some of the most valuable lessons happen outside the classroom, where ideas meet real-world constraints, and design decisions have tangible consequences.

This summer, Colin Barker, a rising fourth-year landscape architecture student from Lee's Summit, Missouri, put those lessons into practice through a five-week internship at Garvan Woodland Gardens. This outreach center of the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design at the U of A is located on Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs.

Whether working alongside horticulture staff or developing designs for a proposed dock and garden connection to Anthony Chapel, Barker gained an inside look at what it means to take a landscape architecture project from the classroom into the real world.

Barker had known about Garvan Gardens through the Fay Jones School's scholarship opportunities and other connections between the gardens and the school. When Scott Biehle, teaching associate professor of landscape architecture, shared information about the internship, Barker saw an opportunity to gain professional experience while contributing to projects that could eventually become real spaces for visitors.

His workdays varied depending on the project. Many mornings began at 6 a.m. alongside the horticulture staff, where he helped with maintenance and learned firsthand how the gardens are cared for. He also conducted site analysis, researched permits and lake depths, worked with geographic information systems (GIS) and gathered information to help move projects forward.

Rather than being assigned repetitive tasks, Barker contributed to several projects throughout the internship. He helped prepare for the annual Running of the Tubs event in Hot Springs and assisted with mapping the Moon Garden after an area overgrown with wisteria was cleared.

His primary project, however, focused on the Belle of Hot Springs, a riverboat located on Lake Hamilton. Garvan Gardens had once had a dock where the Belle could arrive, but the dock had long since fallen out of use. As plans developed around the boat's restoration and future use, Barker explored what a new connection between the boat and gardens could look like.

His concept would create a new visitor experience for Garvan Gardens, allowing guests to arrive by boat, move through a designed garden space and follow winding paths up the hillside toward Anthony Chapel.

The project allowed Barker to apply nearly every aspect of his landscape architecture education. In addition to conducting site analysis and working with GIS, he also researched the site's history, developed renderings and used AutoCAD design software and other tools he had learned through his courses and studios.

At the same time, the project showed him how professional practice differs from a studio project. In school, students are encouraged to explore possibilities and develop ambitious ideas. At Garvan Gardens, Barker had to consider real-world aspects such as accessibility, permitting, construction, maintenance, existing conditions, visitors and the environment.

The steep terrain between the proposed dock and Anthony Chapel presented one of those challenges. To solve for this, Barker incorporated switchback paths to make the route accessible while also creating a new garden experience visitors would want to explore.

"We wanted it to be something that people would stop and take pictures of and something that people would see from the lake so that they would think, 'I want to go there later' and make them want to come into the gardens from the outside," Barker said.

The location also offered an opportunity to connect people outside the gardens with the landscape inside them. The proposed garden would be visible from the lake, potentially encouraging boaters to visit Garvan Gardens in the future.

Throughout the internship, Barker worked closely with staff members Becca Ohman, executive director of the gardens; Minnie Hahn, senior manager of design and display; and Aaron Wright, garden director, as well as the horticulture team. Their practical knowledge became especially valuable when he began selecting plants for his design. Barker even rode around the gardens in a golf cart with horticulture staff, asking which plants performed well and which they would recommend.

The experience reinforced the collaborative nature of professional landscape architecture. Designers may develop the vision, but successful landscapes also depend on the people who build, maintain and experience them.

And the exchange of knowledge went both ways. Barker introduced Garvan Gardens staff to GIS and demonstrated rendering techniques, while the garden's staff provided the practical perspective that comes from working with plants and landscapes every day.

"Colin's work was outstanding," Ohman said. "He approached his work both in the field and in the office with care, efficiency and a genuine willingness to listen and learn. The strength of his preparation at the Fay Jones School, combined with his openness to learning from those around him, was evident in the quality of the work he produced for the gardens. His study of the Belle of Hot Springs will have lasting value, providing important base information for future master planning and for landscape architecture studios exploring new opportunities at Garvan.

"Our goal is to provide every intern with meaningful, real-world learning experiences. An internship at Garvan offers an unusual diversity of work, the unique experience of daily life in a public garden and no shortage of exciting and fulfilling projects. Colin embraced those opportunities fully, and the gardens are better for his contributions."

For Barker, the internship also connected to a summer studio he completed in Rome, where students explored how an existing space could become more functional for the surrounding community.

"At Garvan, I found myself thinking about a similar challenge — how to connect people from the lake to the gardens," Barker said. "In Rome, we worked with Villa Ada, which was surrounded by a wall, and we looked at ways to open parts of that wall to invite people into the space. It was really the same idea of removing barriers and making a place more accessible and welcoming."

The experience also reminded Barker why he chose to study landscape architecture in the first place. He entered the field wanting to create opportunities for people to experience the outdoors. After five weeks working on real projects and alongside people who care for the landscape every day, he said the internship reassured him he was on the right path.

"I think it gave me the reassurance that I'll genuinely enjoy this work," Barker said. "It also got me back to why I originally came into landscape architecture, which was connecting people with nature and making the outdoors accessible to people at whatever level they're comfortable with. I feel like I needed that reminder going into my last year of college."

At Garvan, he found himself enjoying the work itself. Whether gathering GIS information, developing the Belle of Hot Springs concept, working alongside horticulture staff or talking with visitors, Barker saw how the skills developed in the classroom function in the professional world. The experience taught Barker that successful landscape architecture is about more than creating an attractive space.

"Landscape architecture isn't just creating attractive spaces, but considering the environment, people who use it, the people who maintain it and the long-term impact of every design," Barker said.

As Barker heads into his final year at the Fay Jones School, he carries with him not only the technical skills developed through his coursework, but also a deeper understanding of how those skills translate to real places and real people.

At Garvan Woodland Gardens, the classroom extended into the landscape, turning concepts learned in studio into something tangible and giving Barker a clearer view of the landscape architect he hopes to become.