BOYLSTON – Thousands of orchids will soon be on display as part of New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill’s upcoming “Patterns in Bloom, An Orchid Exhibition.”
“We like to have something in the winter that’s colorful and bright and gives people a bright spot in the winter time,” said Exhibitions Manager Lea Morgan. “This is a really fun way of doing it.”
According to Morgan, the garden holds an orchid exhibition every year.
“We like to every year find a creative partner and mix the horticultural displays together with art,” she said.
This year, the exhibit will feature over 2,000 orchids along with sculptures created by the Connecticut-based artist Molly Gambardella, who the garden has previously worked with.
Gambardella is a multidisciplinary artist.
“[Gambardella] does bright, bold, beautiful artwork, and we thought of her right away,” Morgan said.
As part of her work for the New England Botanic Garden, Gambardella takes single-use plastic bags, places them under heat and pressure and creates a tarp-like material that can be transformed. Over 30 of her pieces of work will be on display during the exhibition.
For Morgan, finding the connection between art and nature has been a lifelong driving force and are a natural connection.
“I feel like they’re both a way of connecting to each other – if you’re more into the natural world, it’s a way into art, and if you’re more of an artist, it’s your way into the natural world,” she said.
Patterns in Bloom begins on Feb. 10 and will run through March 17. It will be open daily between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m.
During the opening weekend of Feb. 10 and 11, there will be live music, an artisan marketplace and artist talks with Gambardella.
Later in the month, there will be Orchid Walk and Talk on Feb. 14, 21 and 28. The orchid sale will be March 29.
For more information, visit https://nebg.org/patterns-in-bloom/.
