Art in Bloom

2023 Art in Bloom
April 14 – 16, 2023

Sponsored by Robin T. Hadley

For the fourth annual Art in Bloom, 12 floral arrangements were on display that drew inspiration from artworks on view in Viewfinders: Photographers Frame Nature and Raise the Roof: The Home in Art. These exciting exhibitions, which feature diverse artistic mediums including sculpture and photography, provided a wide array of artworks to inspire designers from the Museum’s four garden club partners: Asharoken Garden Club, Dix Hills Garden Club, North Suffolk Garden Club (Stony Brook), and South Side Garden Club (Bay Shore).

Co-Chairs
Louise Fadness, Asharoken Garden Club
Marilyn LaPenta, South Side Garden Club
Deanna Muro, North Suffolk Garden Club
Vicki Regan, Dix Hills Garden Club

Committee
Kathryn de Winter-Hart
Joan Enright
Becky Halleron
Kathy Kane
Joan Rockwell-Gifford

2023 Art in Bloom Designers

Jane Arbeiter

Nancy Binger

Christina Campolettano

Marilyn Carroll

Patricia Jo Casella

Kathryn de Winter-Hart

Joan Enright

Kathleen Fernandez

Carolyn Fricke

JoAn Gaudreault

Michelle Gaughran

Nan Gibbons

Denise Gibson

Kathy Jokubiel

Marilyn LaPenta

Marilyn Light

Tina Mattimore

Diane Matsui

Deanna Muro

Michelle Pittman

Kathy Posillico

Joan Rockwell-Gifford

Martha Stansbury

Maureen Wawrzonek

2023 Art in Bloom

 

Asharoken Garden Club
Designers: Patricia Jo Casella & Kathleen Fernandez

Inspiration Artwork: Amanda Valdez, New Me, 2021, embroidery, hand-dyed fabric, fabric, oil stick on mounted paper, gouache, acrylic, and canvas. Museum Purchase: Town of Huntington Art Acquisition Fund.

Amanda Valdez has translated her emotions from pregnancy and parenthood using textiles, texture, shape, and color. We share this desire to express the fabric and history of women’s work. Through the use of horticulture, our canvas is three-dimensional. New forms emerge through this medium, and the circle of life is replenished.

 

North Suffolk Garden Club
Designers: Michelle Gaughran & Martha Stansbury

Inspiration Artwork: Friedensreich Hundertwasser, It Hurts to Wait with Love if Love is Somewhere Else, 1971, serigraph on paper. Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Milton M. Gardner.

Hundertwasser’s astrologer suggested painting while unhappy. The title of this work suggests just that. We intended to showcase his emotions through color selection of floral material. Red symbolizes passion, yellow symbolizes friendship. Our use of dowels for floral support implies a foundation for hope, suggesting that through friendship, love can evolve.

 

Asharoken Garden Club
Designers: Carolyn Fricke & Maureen Wawrzonek

Inspiration Artwork: Altoon Sultan, Night Portrait, 1981, oil on canvas mounted on board. Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Marvin Sinkoff.

One sip stirs my creaTEAvity.

 

North Suffolk Garden Club
Designers: Marilyn Light & Diane Matsui

Inspiration Artwork: Stella Waitzkin, Untitled, n.d., polyester resin. Gift of Kohler Foundation, Inc.

Color, texture, and design are the essential elements of this mixed media piece by American artist, Stella Waitzkin. A vivid color palette is reflected by the choice of flowers. The vase and the driftwood provide elevation, line, texture, and cohesiveness. Placement of the flowers and driftwood constitute the layered design chosen to creatively interpret this assemblage and provide visual impact.

 

South Side Garden Club
Designers: Jane Arbeiter & Tina Mattimore

Inspiration Artwork: Pat Ralph, The Visit Home, 1983, oil on vellum. Gift of the artist.

As we still quake from the aftershocks of the pandemic,
The Visit Home brings to the fore the theme of home as Sanctuary: a place to rest, perhaps to dream. Our choice of floral material, arranged to echo the horizontal image of the relaxing figure, reflects the artist’s colorful palette.

 

South Side Garden Club
Designers: Christina Campolettano & Marilyn LaPenta

Inspiration Artwork: Miriam Schapiro, Berthe Morisot & Me, c. 1976, mixed media with collage. Gift of Drs. Constance and Lee Koppelman.

The myriad of colors, textures, and shapes of Miriam Schapiro’s collage inspired our floral design. Just as Schapiro surrounded Morisot’s beautiful painting with multiple patters and colors, we celebrated her artwork with clusters of vibrant flowers surrounding the centerpiece of white roses.

 

Dix Hills Garden Club
Designers: Nan Gibbons & Kathy Posillico

Inspiration Artwork: Richard Mayhew, Pescadero, 2014, oil on canvas. Museum Purchase: Town of Huntington Art Acquisition Fund.

When we visualize this painting, we see wisps of colorful foliage, set in a reawakened lawn and a sunlit sky. The pink and beige bursts of color stand out against the sky.

 

Dix Hills Garden Club
Designers: Marilyn Carroll & Kathy Jokubiel

Inspiration Artwork: Jan Staller, Water Purification Plant, Hempstead, Long Island, 1991, 1991, printed 2016, archival ink jet print. Gift of Andrea B. and Peter D. Klein in honor of Pearl F. & Erwin P. Staller.

Reflecting on the Water Purification Plant photograph gave us a feeling of serenity, peacefulness, and purity. The water sprinklers reminded us of white flowers spreading their petals up to the moon and beyond!

 

Dix Hills Garden Club
Designers: Nancy Binger & Joan Enright

Inspiration Artwork: Joanne Mulberg, North Fork, Long Island, 1990, chromogenic color print. Gift of the artist.

We took inspiration from the colors of the terrain that the artist, Joanne Mulberg, captured in her photograph. As stated by the artist, the photo was taken of the North Fork of Long Island. It appears to depict the end of the summer and after harvest. We tried to capture the Fall color change of the bushes and the dried-out earth and residue of the harvest. The North Fork holds fond memories for both of us and is near and dear to our hearts.

 

Asharoken Garden Club
Designers: Kathryn de Winter-Hart & JoAn Gaudreault

Inspiration Artwork: William Grabowski, Heckscher Lake Blue, 2019, printed 2016, color infrared print. Gift of the artist.

This photograph, Heckscher Lake Blue, by renowned artist and photographer William Grabowski has evoked memories of family winter outings ice skating on the frozen lake. Nature’s artistry has been forever preserved by the artist’s talent.

 

North Suffolk Garden Club
Designers: Deanna Muro & Joan Rockwell-Gifford

Inspiration Artwork: Esphyr Slobodkina, In the Snug Harbor of Realized Dreams, early 1960s, mixed media assemblages/collage. Gift of the artist.

Slobodkina’s use of geometric abstract overlapping forms and unusual materials suggest the safety of a snug harbor. The tranquil blue waters and white sails are reflected in our use of colored panels and flowers.

 

South Side Garden Club
Designers: Denise Gibson & Michelle Pittman

Inspiration Artwork: Joe Constantino, Old House Under Tree, 2002, gelatin silver print. Gift of the artist.

Finding comfort and shelter in an unexpected way.

Photos

Art in Bloom Virtual Lecture

How to Create a Sustainable Native Landscape, with Rusty Schmidt, Landscape Ecologist
April 19, 2023

How would you like to have a beautiful sustainable landscape that requires minimal water and maintenance, allowing you to spend more time watching the birds, butterflies, and bees? In this virtual program, guest speaker and landscape ecologist Rusty Schmidt discusses the beautiful, versatile, and ecologically friendly ways that you can use native plants in your own home landscape design. Learn what a sustainable landscape is, how you can create one, and what the major benefits are for both you and the local wildlife.

Rusty Schmidt is a landscape ecologist at Nelson, Pope & Voorhis, LLC in Melville, NY, and is an Adjunct Professor in the Horticulture Department at Farmingdale State College. Mr. Schmidt designs and constructs alternative methods for managing stormwater runoff and has created hundreds of designs for habitat restorations, raingardens, and sustainable landscaping ranging in size from small backyards to large multi-acre sized campuses and parks throughout the nation. Mr. Schmidt is a co-author of three books: two on plant selections for stormwater management and a homeowner guide to raingardens.

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