Natural beauty provides inspiration for 16th Annual Art in Bloom

Annual Black Mountain Center for the Arts fundraiser returns with garden tours, exhibits, workshops and more

Jessica Klarp
Guest contributor
The Valley Echo
June 23, 2022

“Village in the Hills," by Mark Bettis, was inspired by the floral design of Patti Quinn Hill. The piece was one of many featured in last year’s Art in Bloom, which is returning to the Black Mountain Center for the Arts for its 16th year. Photo by Joye Ardyn Durham

A local summertime tradition is returning for its 16th year, as the annual flower-filled fundraiser, Art in Bloom, is back at the Black Mountain Center for the Arts (BMCA) with a series of exhibits to close out the month of June and at least a dozen events through July. 

The multifaceted celebration of natural beauty and artistic interpretation is the nonprofit organization’s principal fundraising campaign. 

With two gallery shows, 20 floral designs created by local master florists, a preview party offering food, drink and music, and a local self-guided garden tour of six picturesque Black Mountain home gardens, featuring plein air artists creating during the tour and bonus gardens along the way, Art in Bloom has something for everyone. 

Since its inception, Art in Bloom’s centerpiece has been the magnificent pieces created by local floral designers. With the contributions of the regional Ikebana chapter and many professional florists, this element never fails to awe guests. The designers use works of art selected from more than eight regional galleries as their inspiration. This display of live flowers is only available for viewing for three short days.

Guests who purchase tickets to the preview party will be the first to see the designs at their freshest. Over the years, this celebratory gathering has evolved from a seated dinner to a more social, and slightly less formal, cocktail party, with all the elements, including delicious hor’d oeuvres and gentle harp music, that guests have come to expect. In 2022, there will be refreshments on every level of the historic BMCA building, with upbeat music on the lower level, and enhanced access to all the events through an optional all-inclusive “Everything” pass.

The Everything pass includes the two-day garden tour. The six local gardens featured are not only beautiful and abundant, they are just as diverse as the homeowners who are sharing them with ticket holders. Each garden along the self-directed driving tour, will have a plein air artist creating a work of art inspired by the location. Tickets include access to a detailed map, bonus community spaces near the home gardens and a discount to five local restaurants. 

Following the garden tour, the work of the plein air artists will replace the regional art and the floral arrangements in the Upper Gallery, from Wednesday, July 13 through Friday, July 29. The culmination of the gallery show is a closing party on the final evening, from 5 - 6:30 p.m. This show is free to the public.

Tickets are available to the Preview Party, from 5 - 7 p.m., Thursday, July 7; the garden tour, with showings at 9 a.m., 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., Friday, July 8 and 9; the gallery, from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m., July 8 and 9 and to a host of workshops that begin in June and end with a flower arranging workshop with notable designer Mary Quirk on Friday, July 15. For more information on Art in Bloom events, visit https://www.blackmountainarts.org/artinbloom. 

All proceeds from Art in Bloom support the BMCA, a community resource with a mission to “bring arts to the people and people to the arts.”

 This year’s guest of honor is Rita Vermillion, who shepherded this event from its inception and continues to be a vital part of this special fundraiser.