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Flora in Winter 2016

Worcester Art Museum's flora in winter 2016

January 28-31, 2016

Come in from the winter cold to the warmth of WAM’s annual floral extravaganza, when the Museum blooms with flower arrangements inspired by works of art. This premier floral design event includes captivating and imaginative interpretations of artworks created by skilled arrangers from across the region, displayed in virtually every Museum gallery.

Programs

THURSDAY (January 28)

Salisbury Society Exclusive Preview Event at Flora in Winter
Thursday, January 28
Tours: 3:30pm and 4pm (galleries)
Reception: 5-6pm (conference room)
Event includes tours of Flora in Winter with the event Chairs, and a private reception.
Click here to join the Salisbury Society.
For more information, call 508-793-4325.

Flora Opening Party
Thursday, January 28: 5:30-8pm
Reserve early by January 19 for discount:
$25 WAM Members; $45 nonmembers; $25 students
After January 19 or at the door:
$30 WAM Members; $50 nonmembers; $30 students
Member youth $4; nonmember youth $6
This year’s Opening Night Party is not to be missed, with hors d’oeuvres, live music, and a cash bar. Make sure to dress in our theme: Winter White and Ice Blue.
Valet available at both Lancaster Street and Salisbury Street Entrances for $5 per car.
To buy tickets: Call 1-800-838-3006, or buy online:
Buy tickets for the Flora Opening Party

FRIDAY (January 29)

Flora Rewind, Flora Live Interpretation in the Gallery (Members Only)
Friday, January 29, 9:30-10am conference, 10am-11am European galleries
Members only event; $35. Limited to 30 people only!
This NEW special member’s only event will tap the expertise of two Flora chairs, Kim Cutler and Kathy Michie. While you enjoy coffee and pastry, Kim will present an illustrated talk, “Flora Rewind,” which will look at luscious designs from the past and demonstrate that the basic elements of design—line, color, texture, form and composition—are just as important to floral designers and they are to fine artists. Floral designer Kathy will go “live” in the European galleries creating a rich, fresh floral design interpreting Niccolo Pisano’s “Altarpiece: The Holy Family and Saints.” Shhhhh. Some insider secrets may be revealed!
To reserve your seat: Call 1-800-838-3006, or buy online:
Buy tickets for the Flora Rewind

Interpretive Challenge Class Demonstration: The Judges Challenge
Friday, January 29, 3:30-5:00pm
Lancaster Lobby
Free with Museum admission, no RSVP required.
Come and get some insight into how three different experienced floral designers create flower arrangements from scratch starting with all of the same pieces and parts. They know ahead of time that The Samurai Murals in the Lancaster Lobby will be their inspiration but do not know what the plant material or any of the other components that they will be receiving. The finished designs will be on view for the duration of Flora and will be raffled off on Sunday, January 31st.

SATURDAY (January 30)

Origami Flower Scavenger Hunt
Saturday, January 30, 11:00am-1:00pm and 1:30-3:30pm
Throughout Museum Galleries
Free with museum admission, no RSVP required.
Join museum educators and docents in an interactive drop-in origami-making scavenger hunt throughout the museum. Can you find all three Art Carts? Leave with a bouquet of three handmade flowers! Create in the presence of masterpieces in this fun interactive activity for all ages.

Floral Cyanotype Artist Demonstration, Lecture, Lunch, and Tour
Saturday, January 30, 10:30am-1pm (Higgins Education Wing, Studio 100)
Members $30, Nonmembers $40, Students $10 (fee includes Museum admission and lunch.)
Following in the footsteps of 19th-century botanist Anna Atkins, artist Jesseca Ferguson will demonstrate the cyanotype process using plant materials. Ferguson will hand sensitize artists paper and print photograms using ultra-violet light, much as Atkins did when she printed her 1843 book, “Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions.” A buffet-style lunch and a guided tour of  Cyanotypes: Photography’s Blue Period will follow the demonstration.
To reserve your seat: Call 1-800-838-3006, or buy online:
Buy tickets for the Floral Cyanotype Artist Demonstration

Fresh Ideas with Fresh Flowers, Floral Demonstration, Lunch, and Tour
Saturday, January 30, 10:30am-1:30pm
Members $30, Nonmembers $40, Students $10 (fee includes Museum admission and lunch).
Join National Garden Club Master Judges Thelma Shoneman and Maureen Christmas as they explore the world of floral design. The demonstration will present exciting combinations of plant materials and new design techniques. The stunning results will be raffled off to the audience. Immediately following will be a buffet-style lunch and a special docent-led tour of Flora in Winter!
To reserve your seat: Call 1-800-838-3006, or buy online:
Buy tickets for Fresh Ideas with Fresh Flowers

SUNDAY (January 31)

Origami Flower Scavenger Hunt
Sunday, January 31st, 11:00am-1:00pm and 1:30-3:30pm
Throughout Museum Galleries
Free with museum admission, no RSVP required.
Join museum educators and docents in an interactive drop-in origami-making scavenger hunt throughout the museum. Can you find all three Art Carts? Leave with a bouquet of three handmade flowers! Create in the presence of masterpieces in this fun interactive activity for all ages.

Activity for Kids of All Ages: Floral Sun Prints
Sunday, January 31st, 10:30am-12:30pm 
HEW Studio
Free with Museum admission, no RSVP required.
Join a WAM faculty member for this interactive drop-in activity. Use Sun Print paper to create your own work of art with real plant material, inspired by the exhibition Cyanotypes: Photography’s Blue Period. Space is limited and is first-come, first-served.

Lecture: Jim Welu, Tulip mania
Sunday, January 31st, 1pm
Conference Room
Free with museum admission, no RSVP required
Join Jim Welu, director emeritus, as he chronicles tulip mania, the Dutch 17th-century preoccupation with tulip bulbs, often considered the first recorded speculative bubble.

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Rethinking the Gala and Leading Worcester’s Cultural Charge

The 2014 Dinner Tent at the Auction at Worcester Art Museum

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The 2014 Dinner Tent at the Auction at Worcester Art Museum

If you had looked at Worcester’s restaurant scene ten years ago, you would say that it “had potential.” Worcester has always had staple restaurants; notably, places like the El Morocco of yesteryear and restaurants, like 111 Chop House, that have stood the test of time. But, when Block 5 Bistro combined a contemporary atmosphere, an evolved twist to traditional American comfort food and an aggressive marketing plan, they can be credited with having jumpstarted Worcester’s vibrant foodie haven. Ten short years later, we see the cultural ecosystem facing a similar situation and, like how Block 5 swung the pendulum for food, the Worcester Art Museum is ringing the gong for art.

An engaged audience at the Samurai! opening in April 2015.
An engaged audience at the Samurai! opening in April. (Photo by Erb Photography)

The Worcester Art Museum has a rich history in America: once being the third largest museum in the nation while also laying claim as the first Museum in the country to own multiple Monets. Its encyclopedic collection doesn’t just recognize art of the past, but it forges the future by taking an interest—and risk—by embracing contemporary art. All art is contemporary at one time and by that right the museum’s investment in photography, Asian prints, and folk art, allowed it to “get in the game” without the financial competition of larger museums.

In addition to their art collection, the Worcester Art Museum takes great pride in how it has become a part of the fabric of the city, working tirelessly with government, educational organizations and other cultural groups to ensure that art and culture will be as strong in Worcester as the food industry is. This became more apparent with the Worcester City Council’s recent endorsement of a plan to create the Salisbury Cultural District with the museum as one of its anchors and when Hollywood called on the Worcester Art Museum for on-site filming in two recent movies, The Maiden Heist with Morgan Freeman, Christopher Walken, and William H. Macy and the Academy Award nominated American Hustle staring Bradley Cooper, Christian Bale, Amy Adams and Jennifer Lawrence.

As an organization, however, the Worcester Art Museum has made it a strategic goal to have the museum be more accessible to visitors from around the world. This includes making milestones, like exhibit openings, less formal and stuffy and more fun. “The true nature of a museum isn’t its art, it’s how one experiences it,” Adam Rozan, Director of Audience Engagement said. “By creating a culture, an event, around a single piece of art, one is able to not only gain an understanding and appreciation for it, but it makes it more personal and more fun.”

Worcester Art Museum members discussing art at the Samurai! opening in April. (
Worcester Art Museum members discussing art at the Samurai! opening in April. (Photo by Erb Photography)

This mindset is applied to events that, for generations, have always been perceived as stuffy and dry, including reshaping the museum’s top fundraiser, the auction, by turning it upside down as the Corporators Ball on June 13th.

The black tie event, named Festival of Lanterns (corresponding with the Samurai! exhibition) blends art, fashion, food, and fun with its philanthropic auction. Coming off of their 2014 Gala that corresponded with the Higgins Collection integration, the 2015 Gala rethinks how traditional auctions have traditionally worked. The sit-down dinner promises to serve a classic, yet decadent meal while the auction focuses not just on the tangible, but on the experience. “We are focused on creating experiences that money cannot buy… at least not on any other night,” says Nancy Jeppson, the Gala’s coordinator. “With auction items like our Director, Matthias Waschek, personally leading a trip to Europe’s premier fine art fair, or having the rarest of rare opportunities to dine with friends in one of the Museum’s galleries, each carefully curated auction item grants access to the art world in ways seldom offered.”

Anyone who has attended an exhibit opening in recent years knows that the museum has brought audience engagement to the forefront of their planning. In true WAM-fashion, once the auction and dinner are concluded a live band, headlined by the Boston Music Award’s Best Ongoing Residency, Tim Gearan, will transform the Renaissance Court into a rockin’ dance party while the other galleries in the museum will feature calming, classical favorites. Cupcakes provided by Sweet Kitchen & Bar will also be served during this after party event.

As Worcester has gone through careful growth in the food and beverage realm, the acceptance has opened the doors for other organizations to take risks in the hopes of introducing new experiences that add to the fabric of the city. With events like the Worcester Art Museum’s Corporators Ball corresponding with the city’s commitment to culture, we know that the city of Worcester sits at the cusp of exciting things about to happen.

The Renaissance Court will be transformed into a social setting for after dinner with live band and bar.
The Renaissance Court will be transformed into a social setting for after dinner with live band and bar. (Photo by Erb Photography)

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