This spring, Memphis Tourism visited the Dixon Gallery & Gardens to capture what makes this place so special—from thousands of blooming tulips to the intimate galleries and gardens that have welcomed visitors for five decades.
The resulting video explores the Dixon’s history, collection, gardens, and enduring role in the Memphis community as we celebrate our 50th anniversary in 2026!
Celebrating 50 Years of Art & Nature
A 50th anniversary offers a rare opportunity to reflect on the past while many of the people who remember the institution’s earliest days can still share their stories. It's a chance to consider how Margaret and Hugo Dixon’s vision grew into the museum and public garden Memphis knows today.
As the Dixons began thinking about their legacy, they considered what would become of their home, art collection, and gardens. Hugo Dixon initially imagined adding a single room to the house where the couple’s collection could be displayed. Instead, their plans became something much larger: a place where art, horticulture, and community could come together.
Today, the Dixon is best known for its Impressionist holdings, with works by many of the movement’s most celebrated figures represented in the permanent collection. Though carefully focused, the collection offers visitors the opportunity to see works by artists including Paul Cézanne, Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Camille Pissarro, and Edgar Degas.
The galleries are only part of the Dixon experience. Across 17 acres, the gardens offer intimate, thoughtfully designed spaces that feel approachable and human in scale. Visitors can explore the entire property in a single day while still discovering quiet corners that invite them to linger and look more closely.
That experience changes with every season. Spring may bring the Dixon’s celebrated tulip display, but there is something to discover throughout the year. In winter, visitors can find edgeworthia and witch hazels in bloom. Summer and fall transform the gardens again, each offering their own colors, textures, and atmosphere.
The galleries are just as dynamic. New exhibitions rotate through the Dixon approximately every 12 weeks, giving visitors a different experience throughout the year. The combination of changing exhibitions and seasonal gardens means no two visits are quite the same!
Together, the art and gardens create an unusual and memorable destination. Visitors can admire a painting, walk beneath the trees, enjoy lunch on the grounds, or settle into one of the Dixon’s Wi-Fi-accessible spaces with a laptop. Some come for an exhibition or program, while others simply want to spend time outdoors. The Dixon can be a museum, a garden, a gathering place, or a peaceful corner of the city depending on what each visitor needs that day.
That openness reflects the Dixons’ original gift to Memphis. Just as the tulips are planted for everyone to enjoy, Margaret and Hugo Dixon left their home, collection, and gardens for the entire community. Their legacy continues today through free admission for all, ensuring that visitors can return as often as they like—to experience a new exhibition, notice what is blooming, share a picnic, or introduce someone else to the Dixon.
As Memphis Tourism’s video beautifully captures, the Dixon’s 50th anniversary is about more than looking back. It is also an opportunity to celebrate the remarkable cultural experiences found throughout Memphis and to imagine what the Dixon can become in its next chapter.
For 50 years, the Dixon has been shaped by art, gardens, generosity, and community. We're grateful to Memphis Tourism for helping us share that story—and we invite you to experience it for yourself.
