20th Annual Art in Bloom hits the Morrill

The Norwood Evening Garden Club (NEGC) partnered with art students from Norwood High School and Walpole High School to display 20 different student artworks with floral arrangements made by garden club members that were inspired by these works on March 21 and 22, the first weekend of spring 2026.

More than 100 patrons visited the Simoni Room in the Morrill Memorial Library on March 21 to view the 20 art and flower displays and meet the artists who designed them. The idea is to take a piece of art from an NHS student and have a member of the NEGC design an arrangement to reflect the piece.

One artist was Norwood High School sophomore Rowan Gloddy, who showcased an oil pastel drawing of her friend Andy, who was dressed like Michaelangelo from “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.”

“My assignment in design class was to take a photo of someone and change the color of it,” Gloddy explained. She noted in her description, “The photo had really nice colors already, so I expanded on that.” When Gloddy first saw the floral arrangement Norwood Evening Garden Club member Lois Walsh arranged, she remarked, “it was cool to see swirls in it” to match her drawing.

Walsh noted that she was excited to create an arrangement based on Gloddy’s drawing. “My sons were into ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ when they were younger,” she said. Walsh arranged boggy wetland plants that were usually found in a turtle pond to tie into the theme of Gloddy’s drawing and included irises as they looked wild and provided contrast to the greens and browns, something Walsh learned in the garden club’s floral workshops. She also tied into Michaelangelo’s character with a set of nunchaku, or nunchuks, next to her arrangement.

This weekend’s show was the 20th Art in Bloom celebration. It began in 2005 when the director of the garden club wanted to collaborate with Norwood High School students. After the event’s first six years, the club started to accept works from Walpole High School students as well. In each celebration, the club reaches out to art teachers in both schools and asks them to each select 10 different types of media to present at the event. The art teachers then encourage their students to submit their art to the garden club.

“Originally, the selected arts were paintings and sculptures,” explained member Laura Vaites. “Now, we’ve seen software, computer-generated images and other works in big media.”

Garden club founder Donna Lane added, “the art teachers have field trips to the Norwood Town Forest, where their students could examine nature up close and paint what inspires them.”

After the garden club receives the students’ art, the works are assigned to participating members via a lottery. Then, the members use their own creativity and arranging skills to buy their plants from florists to make their arrangements.

“Arrangers look at aspects of design and let the students’ work inspire them,” explained Lane. The students then see the arrangements when they bring their art for the show, where they can meet the arrangers for the first time. “Art in Bloom perpetuates the importance of art and it shows people that they can make arrangements in their own way,” added Lane.

Art in Bloom draws in repeat visitors from the community, such as Norwood mother and daughter Kim and Joan White.

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“We’ve been coming here for the past four years,” Kim explained.

“We really like it, both the art and flowers, it’s such a great idea,” Joan added.

The event also drew in Pat Artis from the Wollaston Garden Club in Quincy. Artis showed her granddaughter via FaceTime on her iPhone one of the artworks, which showcased a chicken, and it delighted her.

Garden club member Shirley Booth noted that Art in Bloom is “a mini-MFA” for residents, aligning with a similar activity hosted by the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. “It’s well-attended every year,” she explained. “It’s a great opportunity to learn from professionals, boost civic development in Norwood and Walpole and provide education on horticulture.” Learn more about the Norwood Evening Garden Club at https://tinyurl.com/47h24c92