ART IN BLOOM 2025
Books in Bloom
(Art in Bloom was also the cover story for the October E-News.)
Art in Bloom was another success at OceanView!
Traditionally, the goal is to craft an artistic display recreating a painting using plants and other natural items.
This year, the theme was Books in Bloom, and our artists were challenged to recreate a book cover instead of a painting.
Residents perused the 14 displays in Blueberry Commons and voted on their favorites.
This year’s winner: Lana Johnson, The Wizard of Oz.
Lana says this was her first time competing in Art in Bloom (“It was a fun thing to do!”), but she has always enjoyed the arts as a hobby.
She chose The Wizard of Oz because it is one of her favorite books, and she felt the fantasy of the story gave her many possibilities. Her particular copy of the classic tale is one she inherited from her mother, which added a special element to her display.
This year’s second place award went to Christine Bradbury’s A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.
This year’s third place winner went to Loli Hammond’s Stuart Little.
Congratulations to our winners, and thank you to all residents who participated in this whimsical event!
See a gallery of all of the 2025 displays below. Click on an image to enlarge and use the left or right arrows to scroll.
If you would like photos of your own display emailed to you, please reach out to Dustin Bonk in the Main Lodge!
ART IN BLOOM 2024
Flowers and herbs, grasses and weeds, twigs and rocks, Legos and hats…
It could only be Art in Bloom.
Art in Bloom is a fun contest that encourages our residents’ creative minds to bring a painting to life with the help of Mother Nature. Contestants create a nature-based display alongside their painting of choice, and they are judged (by three impartial staff members) on categories like workmanship and how well the display accompanies the painting.
This was OceanView’s 4th annual Art in Bloom, inspired by Art in Bloom at the Portland Museum of Art, and it was another success with 15 displays.
This year’s 1st place winner was Julie Woods. Congratulations, Julie!
Julie’s display, seen below, is called Barnstorming. She chose a painting from her home that she inherited from her brother.
For her display, Julie says she picked almost everything from around her garden and other parts of OceanView’s campus, including hydrangea for the sky and goldenrod, sweetgrass, and more for the grounds. The base, however, is a natural growth from a mesquite tree she bought in Mexico, which she used to mimic the dark barn.
This is Julie’s second time competing. She says it takes weeks of planning and experimentation to create a good display, and she is happy to have won.
Our 2nd place winner is Prudence Kraft with her display, Blooms of the Mind, seen on the right.
Prudence also won the popular choice vote with 125 votes from our residents.
Our 3rd place winner is Barbara Briggs with her display, Big Game Hunter, seen on the right.
Thank you to all who participated!
Art in Bloom is one of many resident-organized activities on our Enrichment Academy calendar. Thank you to Mabel Gerquest for leading the charge for another successful Art in Bloom!
OceanView is lucky to have so many talented and creative minds in our community, and we are happy to cultivate spaces where artists can flourish.
We can’t wait for next year’s Art in Bloom!
