by Jessie Ammons

The third annual Art in Bloom festival of art and flowers returns late this month. Mark your calendar for March 30 – April 2, when the museum’s West Building bursts to life with floral arrangements inspired by pieces in the permanent collection. There are dozens of workshops, master classes, presentations, and family activities throughout the weekend, plus a NCMA Museum Store trunk show. This year’s special guest is Françoise Weeks, who specializes in textural woodlands and botanical haute couture pieces. She’ll lead presentations about her two areas of expertise, as well as a master class and luncheon on creating botanical couture headpieces. This busy, beautiful weekend passes by in a hurry, so make arrangements – pun intended – now.

General admission is $18, and events throughout are ticketed individually. For the full schedule, visit ncartmuseum.org/artinbloom.