Dana Scott Westring

Marshall, Virginia

Dana Westring is an artist, working around the world, and a garden designer, working mainly in northern Virginia. He has spent twenty-five years creating Poke Gardens in Marshall, Virginia, which has been featured in several books on garden design. His trompe l'oeil murals include commissions from the royal family in Saudi Arabia and the royal household in Jordan, as well as numerous residential and commercial installations in the United States and Europe. In the last twenty years, his artwork has focused primarily on drawings and watercolors of landscapes—especially of the coast of Maine at Prouts Neck—and  sacred architecture in Southeast Asia, where he has been working on studies of Hindu temples.

Dana graduated from Hasting College with a BA in studio art and then pursued graduate work in architectural history at George Washington University. He began his career in advertising illustration and then worked as an art director for an architectural and interior design firm.

Dana was elected to the Garden Conservancy board of directors in 2016. He and his partner, Trevor Potter, have been members of the Conservancy since 2009 and patrons since 2013. They also hosted participants in our Virginia garden-study tour in June 2016, and advised on planning the tour.