Art In Bloom at MAM and Presby

The April showers have brought the flowers that bloom in May. Also, art is blooming in Montclair this week and next, too. All this blooming started recently indoors in the Salon at the Iris Presby Memorial Gardens, 474 Upper Mountain Avenue, where Studio Montclair ushered in their “Art in the Garden” fundraiser; a five-day, small works show and sale that runs daily through Tuesday, May 10.

Come Wednesday, May 11, the Montclair Art Museum (MAM) opens their eagerly awaited “Art in Bloom,” a five-day extravaganza of art, floral design and special events. “Art in Bloom” happens every other spring; much more about Art in Bloom in a moment.

Studio Montclair (SM), a nationally recognized, not-for-profit artist collective, has  a lovely show of 149 small works, none larger than 12” by 12”, by 50 well known area painters, collagists, and photographers. Organized by SM board member Olga Bequillard, among the members contributing all or 50% of the proceeds from sale of their works are West Orange nature photographer Bill Westheimer and Verona master printmaker/collagist Susanna Baker. Montclair artists include multi media artist Rachel Leibman, watercolorist Sharon Pitt and photographer Yvette Lucas. Each piece looks at gardens, landscapes or flowers. Sales benefit the downstairs and upstairs SM galleries at Academy Square, where two new shows are openings Friday, May 20.

Bequillard was inspired by a similar event she participates in each summer in Provincetown, Cape Cod.

Think lasting Mother’s or Father’s Day gifts—around our house, major life events are marked with art. Most prices range from $50 to $500, with a few going higher.

Not at all by coincidence, “Art in the Garden” overlaps with the annual Presby Mother’s Day weekend plant sale—the perfect setting to contemplate the interplay between nature and the human imagination.

Imagination is the signature word as the Montclair Art Museum’s "Art in Bloom” returns to town on Wednesday; 2,500 visitors are expected.

Artists in many cultures have been taking inspiration from nature for centuries. In American art, nature historically plays a central role, from the floral symbolism in colonial and post colonial portraits to 19th century landscape. In America, landscape painting was exalted: God and America’s destiny were embodied in the American landscape, be it the  Hudson River as exemplified by Maplewood artist (then Jefferson Village) Asher B. Durand, pictured here with his “Early Morning at Cold Spring,” 1850 or artists of the American West, such as Thomas Moran, whose “Scene on the Snake River” ca. 1879, is currently on view.

If the art changed radically in the 20th century, the fascination with nature continued, as MAM’s current exhibits richly, intriguingly attest: See the distilled, nature imagery in the paintings of  and Robert Mapplethorpe’s anthropomorphic blooms in

Among my favorite MAM holdings are the Marsden Hartley landscapes and there is a wonderful Charles Burchfield in MAM’s current exhibit, “Engaging Nature,” which explores both Native American and American approaches to the American landscape. Hans Hoffman’s 1945 “Early Fall,” Philip Pearlstein’s 1978 “Mummy Cave, Canyon de Chelly, Arizona” and Steve Graber’s 2003 “Pelgagia” give some idea of the variety of more recent American interpretations.

“Art in Bloom” turns the tables on the artists. The art becomes the inspiration for another form of artifice: floral arrangement. 40 floral designers from the tristate area will interpret 36 of the Museum’s works. Don’t expect reproductions. Each designer will take from the palette, theme or composition of a given art work to create an interpretive comment-- a complement, in natural materials.

Art in Bloom is always a powerful, sensory experience. The arrangements include fresh floral blooms; a layer of fragrance hangs in the air for the five days of the show. 

Co-chaired by Deborah Davis, Gretchen Prater and Carol Wall—Mary Mochary is the honorary chair—“Art in Bloom” includes two fund raising special events. There is a luncheon and lecture on Thursday, May 12, featuring New York City floral designers Brian Bowman and Dan Dahl. The team of Bowman and Dahl has worked their transformations for events at the Guggenheim Museum, the Cooper Hewitt Museum, Lincoln Center and the New York Botanical Gardens.

Dan Dahl shared some of his design philosophy via email:"I consider myself a classicist, but I definitely like a twist—I love weird botanical specimens," Dahl said. "I’m definitely not afraid of color and love unusual mixes." (I viewed designs on their website; they're spectacular.)

Saturday, May 14 the Museum honors “Art in Bloom” and the current exhibit “Warhol and Cars: American Icons” with an “Andy Warhol Factory Party Gala,” keeping the excitement of his notorious get-togethers without the sex and drugs.

The art and flowers will be sensuality enough.

“Art in Bloom” is open noon through 5 p.m. daily, May 11-15, with a $12 admission for adults, free to members. The two fundraisers honor two women who have tirelessly worked on behalf of the town. The gala honors philanthropist Jacqueline McMullen, who has contributed much to Montclair through her work for the Van Vleck Gardens, the Salvation Army and the Montclair Museum. Her family foundation underwrote the museum’s McMullen Gallery. The luncheon and lecture honors Helen Geyer, whose contributions to town include the Helen and Bill Geyer Family Center at the YMCA.

For directions, event hours and to learn more about each sponsoring organization see www.studiomontclair.org or call (973) 746- 1818 or www.montclairartmuseum.org/aib. Speak with Jennifer Scallon at (973) 259-5143 if you are interested in attending the MAM luncheon/ lecture or the gala.