Exhibition showcases love affair with all things floral
Flowers and art were both in full bloom Saturday at “The Art of the Bloom” exhibition at the Butler Art Center, located at 344 S. Main St.
In an exhibit “dedicated to all things floral,” creators used photography, paintings, drawings and live and silk arrangements to mirror nature's own artistry.
An artist's reception ran from 10 a.m. to noon and from 7 to 9 p.m. Saturday at the arts center to showcase this love affair with all things floral.
“The Art of the Bloom” featured artwork and dried and preserved arrangements by more than 30 artists.
A four-member judging team made up of members from the arts center's board of directors judged the artwork categories, which included 46 photographs, 10 works on paper and 13 paintings.
Butler Garden Club members judged the botanical categories: permanent botanicals, fresh arrangements and dried and preserved arrangements.
Cash prizes were awarded.
The exhibit was open to artists 18 years and older residing in the United States.
Christy Culp, an arts center board member, said, “We put out a call to all artists. Some artists here, that's their specialty, and some artists took it as a challenge to create for the show.”
Michelle Stewart of Butler, a member of the Butler Garden Club, judged the floral arrangements based on aesthetics, originality and, she said, “sustainability. Some of the arrangements had food and fruit in them.”
She judged a floral umbrella, “April Showers” by Theresa Piroch, as best in show.Stewart said the garden club gave money to the arts center to sponsor the floral arrangements and fund the cash prizes.“This was a natural collaboration for us, the floral show and the garden club,” said Stewart. “I hope it gets the Butler Arts Center more recognized and gets more people involved.”
Best in show in the non-live competition went to Lizz Ford's acrylic painting, “Doom and Bloom.”Donna Weckerly of Kittanning received an honorable mention for her photograph “Strictly Purple,” a bloom in her backyard photographed with a Canon EOS digital camera with a macro lens.Weckerly said she's been a professional portrait photographer for seven years and hopes to spend more time with her photography when she retires from Cleveland Cliffs later this month.“I entered the show because a friend told me about it,” she said.
Rachael Caskey of Tarentum entered three acrylic paintings.“I do a lot of florals,” Caskey said. “I am developing a more abstract style. I do love florals, the bright colors and abstract images.”“The Art of the Bloom” will be on display through Sept. 18 at the arts center.
