Flora in Winter coming for a four-day floral takeover of the Worcester Art Museum

This year is the 21st anniversary of the popular Flora in Winter event at the Worcester Art Museum, and florist and floral interpreter Sally Jablonski has been a part of every one of them.

"It's my favorite week of the year," Jablonski said recently. "I haven't missed a year. I wouldn't miss it."

Flora in Winter 2024 will run from Feb. 29 to March 3 in a four-day floral takeover of the museum. Works of art are reimagined and reinterpreted by some of the area's most talented florists into beautiful and dynamic floral arrangements throughout the galleries, and there will also be talks, demonstrations, and opportunities to ask questions to gardening experts. Hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Feb. 29, March 1 and 3; 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. March 2. From 5 to 7 p.m. March 2 there will be After Hours with music and drinks.

The museum will be closed on Feb. 28 as the floral arrangements are installed and the event is set up.

"We are excited to be hosting our 21st-annual Flora in Winter starting February 29, and offering a welcome escape from the dark, cold months,” said Marnie Weir, WAM's director of learning and engagement.

"It's a full team effort. I think it's a show not be missed," said Jablonski. "It gets us through the last few weeks before spring comes. Spring's on its way. It makes this winter more bearable, especially after the snow storm we had a day before Valentine's Day."

One of WAM's most popular events

Jablonski is a Flora in Winter volunteer serving on its committee and one of over 20 interpretative designers who will be creating floral arrangements inspired by art from WAM’s global collection. She is also owner and president of Herbert E. Berg Florist, Inc., 19 Blackstone River Road, Worcester, which will have commercial arrangements at the event along with a number of other florists and related businesses.

Flora in Winter co-chairs Kim Cutler, Kathy Michie, and Sarah Ribeiro and committee members Jablonski and Julie Lapham, along with many other volunteers with a keen interest in flowers and art, work closely with the staff at WAM throughout the year in planning the event.

Many of the volunteers are also members of the Worcester Garden Club (Jablonski included) which has worked with WAM on the event from the beginning,

The roots of "Flora in Winter" go back to 2003 when the Worcester Art Museum and Worcester County Horticultural Society combined to have the event on view at WAM and New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill in Boylston.

In the years since, the event has been focused at the Worcester Aat Museum and is one of its most popular events of the year.

Typically, planning for the next year's Flora in Winter starts about a week after the current year's show, Jablonski said. "It's a long process. We usually have a meeting to discuss what went well, what didn't go well, and put together a plan for next year."

WAM figures out which pieces of art will be available (sometimes a work may be going out on loan, or has just been put away from exhibition for a while) for interpretative designs. The co-chairs and committee send selected interpretative designers a list of museum works they can indicate a preference for wanting to work with.

This year, Jablonski will be interpreting Modello for the Assumption of the Virgin, painted by Francesco Solimena around 1725. Solimena was an Italian painter of the Baroque era.

There's a lot going on in the large painting. "There's a lot of movement," Jablonski said. "I've been looking at the painting. The colors of the painting."

She's planning on creating a flower arrangement "that shows a lot of movement" and was picking out flowers and colors.

'I've been studying flowers and plants all my life'

As a commercial florist and designer by profession, Jablonski said she appreciates the opportunity that Flora in Winter gives her with interpretative floral design of art "to think outside of the box and think of things no one's ever seen before."

She also likes seeing the work of others at the event.

"What I love about it is the creativity of the individual designers. It's like an Olympics for creativity. It's always interesting to see the different ideas. Everyone thinks differently and I always learn something every time I go."

Jablonski graduated from the Stockbridge School of Agriculture and has a bachelor's degree in plant and soil science from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. She has been a florist at Herbert E. Berg Florist since 1985, and bought the business in 1995. Herbert E. Berg Florist, Inc. is currently entering its 80th season in the floral industry.

"I've been studying flowers and plants all my life. I enjoy it very much," Jablonski said.

She's with like-minded people among the Flora in Winter volunteers. "There's a lot of camaraderie. It is work but it's fun to do something different and work with everybody."

When Flora and Winter is up and running, "I spend a lot of time in the week as a spectator," Jablonski said.

She's also part of a watering team that goes around the museum looking at all the flowers and plants at 7 a.m. every morning during Flora in Winter to make sure they have enough water (and to remove any that have died). Since the arrangements are installed Wednesday and the event runs until Sunday, the chances are that the flowers and plants will appreciate the effort.

"We get very involved with the show. There's a lot of work behind the scenes. It takes a lot of different tasks to put the show on," Jablonski said.

Flora in Winter 2024

When: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Feb. 29, March 1 and 3; 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. March 2 (5 to 7 p.m. March 2, After Hours with music and drinks)

How much: Flora in Winter2024 is a museum-wide takeover and general admission prices do not apply during this time. Members receive free admission. Adult and seniors, $30; Youth 17 and under, $7; Institutional members, $15. Admission tickets are available at the door only. Some select events such as talks require advance tickets. For full information visit https://www.worcesterart.org/flora-in-winter/

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Flora in Winter coming to full bloom at Worcester Art Museum