Art in Bloom coming March 31–April 3

Put away your texting thumbs; Get out your green thumbs
Fourth annual Art in Bloom event premieres Milwaukee’s Calatrava™ Rose

Milwaukee, Wis. – Get a jump start on spring at Art in Bloom, the annual tribute to art and flowers at the Milwaukee Art Museum, March 31–April 3, 2011.

This year’s Art in Bloom premieres Milwaukee’s Calatrava™ rose, a breed grown by native Milwaukeean Bill Radler. He named the lemony-scented white rose after Santiago Calatrava, the architect of the Quadracci Pavilion addition to the Milwaukee Art Museum. The Museum will be selling Calatrava roses, which bloom throughout the growing season, at this year’s Art in Bloom, and a special Calatrava Rose Garden has been planted on the south campus of the Museum, to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Quadracci Pavilion.

Showcasing the talents of over 40 renowned floral designers interpreting masterworks from the Museum’s Collection, Art in Bloom brings together gardening, floral arranging, and landscape design, inspired by the art beneath the wings of the Museum and throughout the Galleries. Visitors will also have the opportunity to see the Museum’s feature exhibition, Frank Lloyd Wright: Organic Architecture for the 21st Century, the inspiration for the special landscaping of the Museum’s Windhover Hall.

“We are honored to premiere the stunning Milwaukee’s Calatrava rose at Art in Bloom,” said Daniel Keegan, director of the Milwaukee Art Museum. “It is a beautiful addition to the Museum grounds, and something special for Art in Bloom lovers to plant in their own gardens.”

The Art in Bloom exhibition and programs include lectures and presentations with celebrity floral designers and master gardeners Neil Diboll, Brad Harnisch, Melinda Myers, Gayla Trail, and many others. Visitors will also enjoy an expanded multi-vendor indoor marketplace, with original garden sculptures, and floral-inspired dining at Café Calatrava. A complete schedule of lectures, events, and ticket information can be found at mam.org/bloom.

Support for Art in Bloom is provided by Sommer’s Subaru, the Milwaukee Art Museum Garden Club, the Barbara C. Strecker Memorial Fund, LandWorks, Inc. and Kanavas, with special thanks to Milwaukee Public Schools. The co-chairs of Art in Bloom are Marcia Ferguson Velde and Nancy Hayer. The president of the Milwaukee Art Museum Garden Club is Carol Bessler.

ABOUT THE MUSEUM
The Milwaukee Art Museum’s far-reaching holdings include more than 20,000 works spanning antiquity to the present day. With a history dating back to 1888, the Museum houses a collection with strengths in 19th- and 20th-century American and European art, contemporary art, American decorative arts, and folk and self-taught art. The Museum includes the Santiago Calatrava-designed Quadracci Pavilion, named by Time magazine as “Best Design of 2001.” For more information, please visit www.mam.org.

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