Floral Arts Society Grows Talent

A floral arrangement can catch your eye the same way that poetry can pull your heartstrings. But beautiful arrangements appear fully formed in the floral shops and banquet tables where we encounter them—rarely does the thinking behind those arrangements get the same sort of appreciation.

That’s where the St. Albert Floral Art Society comes in. One of the city’s long-established arts guilds, the Society has helped St. Albert’s residents mix flowers and greenery in mesmerizing patterns since 1978.

Amanda Cox, the Society’s president, notes that the opportunities in working with flowers and plants are compelling, unique, and seemingly endless in their possibilities.

“I think the thing that I appreciate the most is truly how many different ways there are to create an arrangement,” Cox says. “The mechanics behind how you would build certain items. … there are so many different types of floral materials. Even people that have been members for 30 years don't know all the names of them, because they're constantly coming out with new varieties.”

The society teaches workshops throughout the year, from the 6-week courses on the basics to more advanced concepts and specific offerings, like Christmas designs for the holiday season. Cox notes they use both art and design in their curriculum, balancing aesthetic flourish with strong foundational concepts. The Society also has regular design night meet-ups, where they all work on arrangements to match a theme. The results, to Cox, are always creative and surprising.

“Every single person takes that [theme] and creates something different,” she says. “The value in that is that you are learning from 15 other people. It’s shocking how different each person's arrangement is. So not only are you learning about this stuff, because you're exposed to things like materials and mechanics, but you're also learning because of the creativity of something that someone else has done with the exact same things that you've had an opportunity to work with.”

Cox found her way into the floral arts through family: her mother’s been a member for 30 years.
And much like her own introduction, she finds many of the people who sign up for workshops are there with family, looking to share an experience together.

“We have had people that have come to our Christmas workshop for 20 years and we have lots of people that do it intergenerationally,” She says. “They'll come with sometimes three generations of their family, to all create something together. Then on Mother's Day we find the same thing: sometimes they're doing it 'cause they've received it as a gift. Sometimes they're planning on giving it as a gift, and sometimes they're just doing it together because that’s the gift itself: spending time.”

Article Written by: Paul Blinov

More information about the St Albert Floral Art Society, including classes, can be found at floralartsocietyofstalbert.ca.

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