Prêt-à-Potter: Avant Garden — Matthaei Botanical Gardens 2016

REVIEW VISUAL ART

Get ready to shop deep local at craft fairs the weekend of December 9–11.

“Succulent Dress” (different species of Echeveria, Sedum, Sempervivens, and Senico) and “Moss Suit” (Green Mountain Moss, Ginkgo Leaves, Birch Bark, Spanish Moss, Air Plant).

With the coldest temperatures of the year forecast for this week, you’ve surely noticed that winter has finally arrived in Ann Arbor.

If you’re not quite ready to accept the frigid temps or crunchy snow underfoot and are still in the denial about the transition to winter (which, by the way, officially arrives on Wednesday at 5:44 am EST), treat yourself to a visit to Matthaei Botanical Gardens for a respite in the lovely Conservatory, which is currently hosting the Avant Garden: Weaving Fashion and Nature Together exhibition. (Fun fact! Alden Dow designed the Conservatory in 1964, and he also designed the original part of the Downtown Library building at 343 S. Fifth Avenue.)

Avant Garden is a whimsical convergence of planting design and fashion design in the form of seven “fantasy outfits.” I asked Bob Grese, Professor of Landscape Architecture and Director of the Matthaei Botanical Gardens & Nichols Arboretum, about the exhibit and the use of plants in unexpected ways. He said, “The exhibit is a playful look at plants as a direct material for the fashion industry, with fantasy use of plants for dresses, vests, and suitcoats. Beyond the artistic use of plants in the exhibit, the real message is that we rely on plants for a variety of things in clothing—fibers, dyes, and representation on fabric patterns.” (Full disclosure: Grese was one of my professors in the Landscape Architecture program at U-M’s School of Natural Resources and Environment)

Part of the joy in this exhibit is wandering through the Conservatory to find each of the creations. The Conservatory is separated into three “Houses,” each replicating a different climate: Tropical, Temperate, and Desert. The dresses are thoughtfully placed within each of their respective garden spaces and the feeling of discovery and exploration is part of the exhibit experience. The shades of green and variety of textures in each of the plant selections bring richness to each design. Each dress has a different style, and all are charming and elegant. I particularly enjoyed the bromeliad dress, which comes complete with a fascinator hat.

Get ready to shop deep local at craft fairs the weekend of December 9–11.

“Fern Dress” (Boston Ferns, Birch Bark, Spanish Moss).

While standing in the Tropical House near my favorite part of the exhibit called the “Fern Dress”—a lovely skirt of ferns decorated with white lights and a bodice made of birch bark—I talked with Allison Correll, Matthaei’s events coordinator and the designer of the exhibit. She developed the concept for this exhibit over a year ago and worked on a team of three to bring the exhibit displays to reality. Because of the limited amount of free space within the Conservatory, they started by identifying the specific locations before creating the seven dresses.

Once the locations were chosen, Correll and her team worked hard to develop the structure for each dress, using living plant material where possible and making material choices that reflect that particular climate zone.

They devised an extremely practical framework using landscape fabric, textile material that is typically used under mulch to help deter the growth of weeds in a garden but still allows for good drainage. By sewing small pouches with the landscape fabric, they created pockets into which soil and plants could live during the run of the exhibit.

In addition to the seven primary dresses in the exhibit, the exhibit team also installed small “fairy dresses,” which are constructed of silk flowers. Placed on tiny fairy-sized hangers on branches, they are tucked in and among the Conservatory plants and are a cheerful complement to the living, life-size dresses.

The thoughtful approach and ingenuity put to work in this exhibit show the care and respect for plants and the happiness they can bring to our lives, in particular during the dark months of winter. Bob Grese hopes that “people will have fun with the display during the holiday season." Indeed, I did!

Avant Garden will be on display until January 8, 2017. Matthaei Botanical Gardens (1800 N. Dixboro Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48105) is currently on its winter schedule and is open daily 10am–4:30pm, and will be closed on December 24 and December 25 in observance of the Christmas holiday. Admission to Matthaei Botanical Gardens and the Conservatory is free. Parking is $1.50 per hour, and parking pay kiosks accept credit cards, bills, and coins. Parking is free for Matthaei-Nichols Members.

Also on display at MBG is Nature by Design, an annual all-media exhibit by members of the University of Michigan and local communities “that explores the colors, patterns, textures, and shapes of the natural world.” There are some lovely works in this exhibit, so be sure to give yourself some time to view them while you’re there.


Amanda Szot is a graphic designer at the Ann Arbor District Library and is pretty happy about Pantone’s 2017 Color of the Year: Greenery.