Today is one of the most favorite and least favorite days for the Museum’s curatorial staff. Today kicks off the annual Art in Bloom event, when our Garden Club invites floral designers to install flower arrangements based on works of art in our galleries. Yes, IN OUR GALLERIES. Conservators, registrars, and curators immediately connect “bugs” and “water” to flowers, so our team carefully monitors this popular event so it can occur without incident to the art in the Collection.As you walk in the Museum today, the galleries are buzzing with florists, carts of flowers, and curious onlookers, but also lurking are art conservators, watching open water containers near priceless paintings. Security, educators, Visitors Services, and volunteers are on special alert to make sure that not only are all of our guests happy and oriented, but that our art is safe during Art in Bloom. I took a stroll through the galleries capturing stages of the process:
The floral designers come prepared with towels, props, and more flowers than required to make a perfect display. The Museum assigns “load in” and “load out” time and a cart or dolly to carefully move in the supplies and make certain there is a clear path for the movement of flowers and water.