Milwaukee Art Museum's Art in Bloom 2009

Art museums often have a reputation as places for intellectuals and snobs. Art rhetoric can contain obscure references and contextual dialogue. These create a rarefied atmosphere that by its self referencing and exclusionary nature limit accessibility.

TheArt in Bloom annual exhibits of the Milwaukee Art Museum are a triumph for inclusionary events. This 4 day show assigns participating florists a work of art which they must use as a springboard for their floral design submission. This inclusion of flowers appeals to one of the largest leisure time demographic: the gardener. Second only to golfers, gardeners cross economic and cultural divides and came out in huge numbers to view the Milwaukee Art Museum's 2009 offering of Art in Bloom.

Over 40 local Milwaukee florists, nurseries, and landscape firms participated this year offering floral arrangements as stylistically wide-ranging as the corresponding works of art.

The most successful translation from paint to flowers was Sheryl Dix's simple vase of flowers placed in front of the large abstract painting "East is the Place" by Milton Resnick. Dix represented Tulipomania European Flower Market a South side Milwaukee fixture known for it's location in a working windmill.

Another arrangement which reflected back the nature of its assigned painting was the Milwaukee Art Museum's Garden Club arrangement for the realistic depiction by Philippe de Champaigne of "Moses presenting the Tablets of the Law". The clean lines of callas lilies and bear grass played against a roughly textured grey tablet.

One lush and complex arrangement by Matheau Recht featured multiple vases filled with single flower type and was teamed with "The Rivals (Little Kittens): by Mihály Munkácsy.

Tim Garland and Karen Bartel representing Gardens by Garland presented an arrangement of brilliant magenta floribunda rose stems and peonies to compliment the impressionistic "Three Sisters - A Study in June Sunlight" by Edmund Tarbel.

The Milwaukee Art Museum drew what appeared to be record numbers as galleries were very crowded with patrons enjoying this event that must be short-lived, given the ethereal nature of the focus. Beginning on a Thursday and ending on Sunday, the weekdays might be preferred viewing days if your goal is to avoid the crowds. However, watching the interaction between viewer and art / arrangement was rewarding when all too often a cool appraisal is what's most often observed in museum galleries.