+ Palm Beach County Residents Day
+ All Your Orchid Questions Answered with Thanh Nguyen
+ The Splendor of Painting Foliage with Deborah Bigeleisen
+ Patrick Dougherty Presentation, Tour & Book-Signing
(West Palm Beach, FL – February 23, 2023) Bursting into Spring with a horticultural flourish, Friends of the Mounts Botanical Garden will be hosting four special events for lovers of art and nature on Saturday, March 11:
Palm Beach County Residents Day
9 am to 4 pm (last entry at 3 pm)
Palm Beach County residents receive reduced admission of $5 per person (children 17 and under FREE) on the second Saturday of each month. Visitors must show proof of residency for reduced-fee entry. The $5 admission supports children’s programming at Mounts Botanical Garden.
Note: Admission for non-residents is $15 for nonmember adults; $12 for seniors 65+, college students, and military with ID; $7 for ages 6-17.
All Your Orchid Questions Answered
with Thanh Nguyen
10 am to 11:30 am
$5 members $20 nonmembers (includes full Garden admission).
Presentation size is limited to 75 adults; all classes are non-refundable.
Orchid expert Thanh Nguyen will share stories about how he came to love growing orchids. He has collected them for more than three decades and knows well the joys and disappointments they can bring. As owner-operator of Springwater Orchids in Melbourne, FL, he grows, sells, and breeds many types of orchids, but has come to focus on the genusPaphiopedilum, resulting in numerous award-winning plants and an on-going breeding program. Nguyen will reflect on his love of all the beautiful orchids in his collection, what got him hooked, and what keeps him going.
To register, please visit https://www.mounts.org/events/
The Splendor of Painting Foliage
with Artist Deborah Bigeleisen
10 am to 12:30 pm
$250 members; $275 nonmembers (includes full Garden admission).
Class size limited to 12 adults; all classes are nonrefundable.
The second of four weekly painting workshops is focused on capturing the splendor of foliage. Deborah Bigeleisenhas a comfortable approach to teaching and will demonstrate a variety oftechniques. She will explore the elements of composition, color, and technique, and some fundamentals of color theory. Students will work from a reference that inspires them. Students should bring several photographs or (other artists’) paintings of foliage that inspire them. The purpose of this is to give the student a ‘road map,’ a direction or a visual image of what they are aspiring to paint. Students might consider taking photographs at Mounts Botanical Garden prior to the first class – think about framing your composition through the camera lens. The variety of styles adds excitement and energy to the class, and everyone learns from one another. It is advisable to print out reference pictures on photo paper or on a laptop to capture a larger image in more vivid colors; cell phones are not recommended because the image is too small and does not stay visible indefinitely.Scheduled for March 4, 11, 18 and 25, this series is well suited for students of all levels working in oils or acrylics. For any questions contact Deborah Bigeleisen atinfo@deborahbigeleisen.com.
To register, please visit https://www.mounts.org/events/
Stickwork Presentation, Tour & Book Signing
With Artist Patrick Dougherty
1 pm to 2:30 pm
FREE for MBG members and children under 6; $15 for nonmember adults; $12 for seniors 65+, college students, and military with ID; $7 for children 6-17. Ticket includes full Garden admission.
Presentation size limited to 75 adults.
Internationally acclaimed environmental artist Patrick Dougherty recently completed the final large-scale Stickworkinstallation of his illustrious art career at Mounts Botanical Garden using 30,000 pounds of live willow branches. He is returning for one day to celebrate this historical milestone and will be leading a fascinating discussion of his design and building process, answer questions, and share what inspires his creativity. He will also be signing MBG’s limited edition Stickwork catalog which will be available for purchase. Dougherty has built over 250 of his Stickwork sculptures from Scotland to Japan to Brussels, from Miami to Cincinnati, and a very popular exhibition at the Garden in 2019, titled Cutting Corners. These projects combine his carpentry skills and love of nature.
To register, please visit https://www.mounts.org/events/
Mounts Botanical Garden & Bloomberg Connects
Explore Anytime, Anywhere with New Mobile Garden Guide
Visitors can now explore Mounts Botanical Garden anytime from anywhere across the globe with the new Mobile Garden Guide. Recently launched in partnership with Bloomberg Connects, the free arts and cultural app created by Bloomberg Philanthropies, the guide is designed to elevate and enrich the visitor experience by making it easy to discover more of what people love before, during, and after their visit to the Garden. Multi-media content includes maps and information on Mounts Botanical’s 25 display gardens, art in the garden, and current and upcoming exhibitions, as well as an ever-growing spectrum of new photo, audio, and video content available exclusively via the app. To learn more and download the app, visit www.mounts.org/mobile-garden-guide/ [mounts.org].
About Mounts Botanical Garden of Palm Beach County:
With a mission to inspire and educate through nature, Mounts Botanical Garden is Palm Beach County’s oldest and largest botanical garden. Visitors to this 20-acre tropical oasis will see an acclaimed collection of 25 unique garden areas containing more than 7,000 species of tropical and sub-tropical plants, including Florida natives, exotic and tropical fruit trees, herbs, palms, roses, cactus, bromeliads and much more. Mounts Botanical Garden is part of the Palm Beach County Cooperative Extension Department, in partnership with the University of Florida and the non-profit Friends of the Mounts Botanical Garden. This project is sponsored in part by The Board of County Commissioners, the Tourist Development Council, and the Cultural Council for Palm Beach County. Mounts Botanical is located at 531 North Military Trail in West Palm Beach. For more information, please visit www.mounts.org.