Dana Beatty is director of floral and horticulture at the Venetian and Palazzo resorts. In honor of the Chinese New Year, Beatty and her staff created a 128-foot dragon display. Beatty recently spoke with VEGAS INC about the process involved in creating the large display to commemorate the holiday.
What are your duties as director?
I oversee the entire interior and exterior horticulture of the Venetian and Palazzo. I’m also in charge of the floral department. My staff is about 60 people.
How did you become director?
I worked my way up. I’ve been in the floral industry for 30 years. I started out designing flowers for my own wedding. I established relationships with people in the floral industry over the years and became a florist. I was hired as a floral designer here at the Palazzo and was later promoted to director.
Where do you get your inspiration?
Nature really inspires me. My husband was in the military, so we were able to travel all over the world.
What was the process of making the dragon for the Chinese New Year?
The dragon took a year to design and develop. It took two weeks to physically create the dragon and surrounding garden beds.
Where is it located, and how long will it be up?
It’ll be in the waterfall and atrium garden in the Palazzo until Feb. 28.
What is the importance of the dragon?
The dragon is the most auspicious of the zodiac signs. It’s the biggest celebration of them all, so we had to do the display just as big.
What was your role in making the dragon?
I was responsible for the concept, design and implementation. I was in charge of it all.
What were some of the supplies used?
The dragon is 128 feet long and weighs 8,000 pounds. We used 5,000 different plants of 12 different varieties. The surrounding garden beds appreciate the feng shui vibe. We tried to incorporate a lot of earth and water elements in respect to that vibe.
How did the physical construction of the display go?
The area of the display is in public eye, so we encouraged visitors to watch us build it. We had to cut a hole in the wall to get the dragon in and carry it through the casino. The look on people’s faces was priceless. It was really exciting.
What is a hardship you had to overcome?
The dragon typically has red eyes, but we didn’t want to scare anyone. So we brought in a feng shui expert who told us to make the eyes more human-like.
Do you have any plans for future displays?
We hope to expand the waterfall and atrium area as much as possible. We also change our displays five times a year, so our ideas keep getting bigger and bigger. I think we’re going to keep blowing ourselves away.