The Black Mountain Center for the Arts’ (BMCA’s) 17th Annual Art in Bloom (AIB) continues through July 14. The multi-faceted event celebrates the beauty of art and flowers in one of the nonprofit community art center’s biggest fundraisers of the year.
“AIB is important to us because it connects gardeners, artists, local businesses and visitors, and celebrates the natural world and interpretations of it,” says BMCA executive director Lori Cozzi.
BMCA’s upper level will display art from more than 20 local and regional artists. This show is free and open to the public from Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., through June 14. On Thursday, June 15, 20 floral designers from the Ikebana traditions and Western flower arranging professions will interpret the artwork in flowers. From 5 to 6:30 p.m. a preview party will take place throughout BMCA’s three floors, offering ticket holders a first look at the floral arrangements. Refreshments and hors d’oeuvres will be served and the guest of honor, retired BMCA executive director Gale Jackson, will be celebrated for her contributions to this event and to the Arts Center.
“We are a multidimensional community art center because of Gale,” says Cozzi. “During her 19 years as executive director, she developed programming at BMCA, built a base of committed volunteers and donors, and wrote dozens of grants to improve the facility and expand our offerings.”
Tickets to the preview party are $45. On Friday and Saturday, June 16 and 17, ticket holders can view the floral arrangements in the upper gallery, as well as tour six private gardens in Black Mountain. The price of a ticket to see the arrangements is $5, and a garden tour ticket is $30 (which includes access to the gallery). Local and regional artists will be stationed at each stop along the tour, painting en plein air.
An exhibit of the artwork created during the garden tour is on display from June 23 through July 14. This show will kick off with an opening reception on Friday, June 23, from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Throughout June there will be flower-themed workshops focused on nature journaling, felting and watercolors.
“Since its inception, AIB at BMCA has been a model for subsequent art/floral events in both North and South Carolina,” says original BMCA board member Sally Robinson, who adapted the idea from other AIB exhibits across the country. (The original AIB was held at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston in 1976.) “It has become a primary fundraiser for the Arts Center, as it has for many museums across America.”
For tickets and more information, visit BlackMountainArts.org/ArtinBloom or call 828.669.0930.
