Art in Bloom at the MFA

Welcome back, everyone! 
Have you ever been to an art-in-bloom event?  Do you have any idea what I am talking about?  An art-in-bloom event is one where a piece of art, be it a painting, sculpture, sketch or any other art form, is interpreted through floral material.  Flowers and other plant materials are arranged in such a way as to offer another or mimicking perspective of the piece.



My daughter, Brittany, and I discovered Art in Bloom at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston several years ago and have tried to go every year since.  Unfortunately, for one reason or another I have missed this event for the last two years.  One year, Brittany took a friend in my place but last year, we both missed it.  Therefore, we were both determined to make it in this year.  However, this time we would be bringing my new three and a half month old grandson.  We were prepared to leave at any moment had he decided he had had enough culture  :).

 My first step to getting to the MFA was to reserve passes at my local library.  Once that was done, we were all set!  Libraries are a great was to get free or discounted passes to museums and other events in your area.  I thoroughly recommend checking it out. (I guess...pun intended!)

The only tickets left at my library were for the last day of the event which was on Monday.  It was a rainy day and, of course, a work day so, I expected the crowds to be low.  Boy, was I wrong!  There were zillions of people there!  Fortunately, there is lots of parking at the MFA itself and in neighboring parking garages, although it is quite expensive.  We were in the museum for nearly three hours and the parking fee was $24.  I was glad I had secured getting the passes from my library to save on the cost of the day.

This was the floral arrangement that met us as we entered the museum.   There arrangements, scattered throughout the museum, are done by professional floral designers and, I assume, are added to beautify the space and to enhance the art-in-bloom experience.  However, all the art interpretations are done by local garden clubs.  Having done smaller art-in-bloom projects myself, I can tell you it is no easy feat.  So, my hat goes off to all the clubs that participated.  They did great work.

The piece below was in the "Art of the Ancient World" section of the museum.  The MFA is made up of three full floors, as well as, a basement, I believe.  There are multiple wings of art exhibits on each floor.  So much to see!

  I thought this interpretation was pretty interesting.  The vase and flower choices were excellent.

While I was admiring this display a woman asked me to take her picture. She proceeded to stand next to the statue and held her arms and hands in the same way as the statue.  You never know what you are going to experience at the MFA...or Boston for that matter!

I thought this arrangement was very interesting.  I liked the fig branches used to represent the right side of the painting.  I love seeing how each designer interprets their paintings.

I thought the colors used here were dead-on in the interpretation.

I am giving you a sampling of the arrangements we saw on Monday.  I am hoping you are getting a feel for what an art-in-bloom event is like.

 The museum offers many areas in which to get a bite to eat.  There are fancy restaurants and bars centered in the rotunda area, a café-type restaurant set up in one of the galleries and a cafeteria in the basement, which has a lovely outdoor area in which to sit if the weather is nice.  Since we had the baby with us and were worried about getting out of the city because of traffic, we never stopped for lunch but, if you do go into the museum for the day, make sure you take time to enjoy that part of the experience, as well.

This was an interesting art piece to interpret.

 I thought the designers did a great job here.  The colors and the shape were terrific.

More interpretation~

This was one of my favorite designs.

I loved the flowers that were used here.  Simply lovely~

The more you experience art-in-bloom the more you come to appreciate the level of talent each of these designers possesses.  I find it to be incredibly entertaining and sometimes I am a bit awestruck.

And speaking of being awestruck, my little grandson (isn't he the cutest?) couldn't have been better.  Brittany and I were able to see all that we wanted to see and he never made a peep.  I think he actually enjoyed the museum and his mom and I felt proud of ourselves because we had given him a touch of culture that day :).

I hope you are doing something you really enjoy today, too!

Partying with the Link Parties:
Silver Pennies Sunday ~ Sundays at Home
French Country Fridays ~ Snickerdoodle Create Bake Make
Dishing It & Digging It ~ Inspiration Mondays