Art in Bloom Event

I have decided to experience my own community as a tourist... this mindset is also getting me ready for my own upcoming travels. I think it is easy to forget the benefits, beauty and interesting history that is bypassed while we are distractedly engaged in our daily lives, particularly local museums.

I have tried to visit the St. Louis Art Museum (SLAM) a couple times a year, usually avoiding the advertised events like Art in Bloom, just to see the art. I noticed that the galleries had fairly static collections and given my year+ of ankle recovery, I had not made any effort to re-visit. But who can resist the draw of art and flowers? Certainly not me, a gardening addict who is also running out of wall space for my meager artistic possessions!

I am glad to have gone to this wonderful event! The St.Louis Art Museum has re-set their collection throughout the facility, displaying paintings that have been in storage and repainted walls in bold colors, giving a cheerful facelift to the galleries. The floral displays throughout were outstanding, including the seasonal decorations in the main sculpture gallery featuring blooming boughs of  Kazan cherry blossoms, that looked like pink pom poms and were wired with minute LED lights.

Floral arrangements were distributed throughout the museum collections and paired with a selected artwork. My three favorite offerings were:

#28 Grey Space (distractor), Julie Mehretu paired with flowers by David J. Bovier of Ken Miesner's Flower Shoppe. This gallery is in the new modern art wing, north entrance.------------------>

I loved the floral pairing of #14 Bathers with a Turtle, by Henri Matisse with flowers arranged by Rebecca Bodicky, ASCFG of Alice Blue Collective. Matisse is an artist whose joyous abandon with color truly appeals to me. The rich blue and turquoise of the sky & water are simply eye candy and the use of delphiniums is this floral sculpture convey the same contrast.

Finally, I found the drama of this darker floral arrangement paired with #27 Mary, Lady Guilford by Hans Holbein the Younger a three dimensional embodiment of the artwork. The flowers were designed by Alice Koritta of Carte Blanche Designers of District V Garden Clubs of Illinois. Notice how the fungal aspect at the left of the arrangement echoes the Corinthian pillar in the painting, as well as the basket feature representing the headpiece of Lady Guilford's wimple. The bold black accents also interplay nicely with the Lady Guilford's gown.  ------------------------------------------------->

A lovely day overall. After several hours exploring the museum we drove to our favorite Greek taverna, The Olymipa and stuffed ourselves with moussaka, gyros, shish kebabs, and dolmades. Spring is a month away but today was a lovely preview. (Do click on the photos to see larger visuals).