Art & Blooms 2023 features floral designs inspired by artwork from RiverBrink and SWFT (Supporting Women, Femme ...

Art and Bloom 2011, Barbara Bedell’s floral design mirrors the long, low profile of the 19th century carved beaver in the Weir Collection (Quebec, artist unknown).

Does the recent snowy weather have you looking forward to spring?

RiverBrink Art Museum and the Garden Club of Niagara have the show for you. The pair have partnered for Art & Blooms 2023, their third joint venture.

On display at RiverBrink, in Queenston from March 24 to March 26, the event features floral designs by participating members of the Garden Club of Niagara.

Each piece is inspired by artwork from the collection at RiverBrink, and for the first time, by artworks in an exhibition by a local artists group — SWFT (Supporting Women, Femme and Trans) artists.

Barbara Bedell, Garden Clubs of Ontario president and Niagara-on-the-Lake (NOTL) resident, participated in the 2011 and 2017 exhibitions.

According to her, creating a floral design inspired by a work of art is different from making one for a room, or from decorating the annual Christmas display at McFarland House.

“A work of art presents a smaller focus; concentrating colour, composition, direction or sense of motion. Whether historical, traditional or modern, each work of art invites a wider range of possible design responses,” said Bedell.

RiverBrink director and curator Debra Antoncic will be experiencing Art & Blooms for the third time.

Antoncic is “intrigued by the varied responses to the artworks made by the floral artists; how their creativity with plant materials is inspired by the creativity in the work.” She also enjoys seeing visitors’ responses to the pairing of art and floral design.

SWFT group artist Mori McCrae is well-known in the Niagara art community and has participated in other multimedia presentations. McCrae is eager and curious to see how an essence of her own creation will be transformed into something else.

Similarly Rajshree Jena, whose own work is influenced by the folk art traditions of her native India, appreciates the concept of inspiring floral design and is happy to be part of the event.

Art & Blooms kicks off on Thursday, March 16, at 1 p.m., with a presentation by Berin Golonu, asst. prof. of art history and visual studies at State University of New York at Buffalo.

Her talk, The Picturesque Garden and its Transformation into a Symbol of Urbanization in the Late Ottoman Empire, examines the public gardens in Istanbul and Cairo around 1870. She will compare their landscape and esthetics with earlier examples in Paris, and discuss how they came to signify modernizing reforms.

The weekend event begins Friday, March 24, with a ticketed preview reception from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m., which includes wine and canapés from Willow Cakes & Pastries, as well as a full-year membership to RiverBrink Art Museum.

Garden club floral designers and SWFT artists will be in attendance, meeting each other for the first time, and available to talk about their respective arts.

In the Breath of Spring floral arrangement demonstration, Saturday, March 25, at 11 a.m., Garden Club of Niagara floral designers Barbara Bedell and Lil Haworth take participants through the process of creating whimsical floral arrangements inspired by artworks on display at RiverBrink.

Registration to this event includes entry into a draw to win one of two floral designs.

Later that afternoon, at 3:30 p.m., art historian Penny-Lynn Cookson will give a talk on The Power of the Rose. Ancient, legendary, mysterious, the rose has been a symbol of love and romance, of religious faith, of war and of hidden meanings. You’ll be coming up roses in art, history, literature, music, film, fashion and food.

From Friday through early Sunday afternoon, visitors will be able to cast a vote for their favourite art and floral design pair. Ballots can be purchased at RiverBrink.

For more information about Art & Blooms, registration or tickets for events, visit www.riverbrink.org /artblooms or call 905-262-4510.