By Emma Castleberry
The Gallery at Flat Rock will present the 7th annual Art in Bloom on Friday through Sunday, September 2, 3 and 4. A ticketed Preview Party will take place on Friday and the exhibition will be open to the public, both in the gallery and virtually, on Saturday and Sunday. Proceeds from this year’s event will benefit the Aminga Youth and Sports Development Program, an annual summer education day camp in Cape Verde. The Gallery at Flat Rock sent gallery artists to the camp in 2022 to provide arts education for the middle school campers.
William Asman, artist. Stephanie English, floral artist.
The first ever Art in Bloom exhibition was staged at The Museum of Fine Arts Boston in 1976. Art in Bloom at The Gallery at Flat Rock will pair 20 juried artworks with arrangements by local Ikebana artists and floral designers. Jurors for this year include Courtney Hoelscher, Timothy Johnson and Judy McLean. “The combination of the creative artwork and the accompanying floral rendition is eye candy as well as pure magic for the soul,” says McLean, who owns Poppins Posies Flower Farm.
Johnson, a real estate agent for Tryon Horse and Home and a local art advocate, says he will be assessing submissions based on content and composition first, followed by color, texture and other attributes. “For Art in Bloom, I’m truly interested in seeing submissions that are three-dimensional–ceramics, jewelry, glassware–as well as photography and mixed media,” he says. “I’ll be looking for works of local and/or cultural representation, even some reflections of current climate–both environmental as well as political.”
Advanced reservations are required for the Preview Party, which will include hors d’euvres and summer drinks and the opportunity to meet the artists. Tickets are $45. The gallery will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday and a $5 admission fee includes unlimited visits.
Hoelscher, an abstract acrylic landscape painter and high school art teacher, says Art in Bloom offers a new way of looking at art work. “It forces you to see the artwork through another person’s perspective,” she says. “Then it gives you the chance to also consider how you would have arranged the work and how you would have created the reverse interpretation. It really gets one thinking.”
The Gallery at Flat Rock is located at Flat Rock Square at 2702-A Greenville Highway, Flat Rock. To learn more or buy tickets, visit GalleryFlatRock.com or call 828.698.7000.
