"Flowers everywhere:" Visitors have spring fever as "Art in Bloom" takes over Milwaukee Art Museum

MILWAUKEE -- Throughout the hallways and galleries at the Milwaukee Art Museum, it was hard not to catch spring fever on Thursday, March 23rd, as the very popular annual "Art in Bloom" event began.

“There’s flowers everywhere! Everybody is smiling a little bit bigger. It’s a lot of fun," said Krista Renfrew, the museum's director of special events.

Thursday was opening day for the annual Art in Bloom weekend, one of the biggest events and fundraisers at the Milwaukee Art Museum each year.

“It gets people down here. It gets people moving and looking at all the art in the museum," said Jamie Beauchamp of Jaimer's Floral.

"Art in Bloom" features a marketplace for vendors, hands-on workshops and lectures, and even a fashion show, where the outfits are made out of real flowers.

“It brings in a different crowd of people that may not generally come to the museum," said Renfrew.

The main attractions are the almost 40 arrangements spread throughout the galleries. Florists from the Milwaukee area draw inspiration from individual pieces in the Museum’s collection.

“I do tons of weddings, so this is a step out of the box to make you more creative," said Beauchamp.

Instead of the typical brides’ bouquets, the creative designers get to flex their floral muscles.

“We love having the free will to get as creative as we want, and get these awesome, beautiful flowers – tropical anthuriums, mokara orchids -- these aren’t things people see day-to-day," said Cecilia Zea from Belle Fiori Flower Shop.

CLICK HERE to learn more about "Art in Bloom" at the Milwaukee Art Museum.