She made NorthPark’s landscaping the envy of malls. Her death brings a hand-picked successor

A big reason people shop at NorthPark Center is for the environment, with original artwork and exotic cacti and blooming flowers, grouped in arrays or in recognizable ways, that have been a hallmark of Dallas Mall for decades.

NorthPark is in the process of redesigning its artistic landscape architecture like clockwork from summer through fall, but without its world-famous landscape architect Judy Ann Cunningham.

Cunningham, 68, died at her Jemez Springs, NM home earlier this month. She founded the Dallas-based Mesa Design Group and retired from the landscape design company in 2012, but continued to work with NorthPark.

For more than four decades, she planned a year in advance to create lavish seasonal changes in the locally run mall, which sees plants as an integral part of their shopping ambience. Over the years, retailers chose the mall in part because the landscaping gave them confidence in the mall’s operation.

Landscape designer Judy Cunningham. (NAN COULTER / Contributor / Special Contributor)

“She was a brilliant and original thinker, and her beautiful, inventive landscapes were instrumental in creating NorthPark’s upscale aesthetic,” said Nancy Nasher, president and owner of the NorthPark Center. “I cannot stress enough how much we will miss your contagious energy, joie de vivre and ingenious creativity.”

In a 2015 interview with The Dallas Morning News, Cunningham said she took care of “the details” like finding trees with identical growth, grafting your own plants from Europe just for NorthPark, and shipping plants often in special boxes normally used for works of art.

She searched collections from private breeders. During the 2019 Christmas season, she presented a red plant dipped in felt that was grown in Israel and took two years to produce. NorthPark’s facility this year included 9,346 new plants and 889 trees.

The new seasonal landscaping is on display at the NorthPark Center in Dallas. (Jason Janik / special article)

Cunningham, who grew up in Dallas-Fort Worth and graduated from the University of North Texas with a degree in Plant Taxonomy in 1975, has designed plant displays for more than 300 malls around the world, including Europe and the Middle East. However, she became best known for her work at NorthPark, where she won dozens of awards for landscape design.

Nasser’s parents, Patsy and Ray Nasher, who built the mall in 1965, discovered Cunningham’s work in an exhibition at Lord & Taylor in 1977, which was an anchor in the mall at the time.

NorthPark won’t say how much it spends on landscaping, but according to industry estimates, it’s at least three times the budget of an upscale mall.

Red and green plants are among the Christmas decorations at the NorthPark Center on Monday December 2, 2019 in Dallas. (Ashley Landis / The Dallas Morning News)(Ashley Landis / photographer)

Nasher and Cunningham made sure their aesthetic was continued at NorthPark.

William “Billy” Roberts, who has worked with Cunningham at NorthPark for the past two decades, has assumed her role as her chosen successor.

“I’ve learned from the best,” said Roberts, who oversaw the unloading of two articulated lorries of pumpkins that were being delivered to the mall on Friday.

“Above all, Judy was a good friend and mentor. Her award-winning work as the creative director of the NorthPark Center’s signature landscapes has always been an inspiration, ”said Roberts. “It was a great experience to be with someone who has their vision, creativity and persistence to make their vision come true.”

Fall is back at the NorthPark Center in Dallas.(Jason Janik / special article)

Twitter: @MariaHalkias

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