Coral Gables Museum March 2 - May 20, 2018

Opening Friday, March 2nd, 6-10pm 

Coral Gables Museum, Artist Talk Sunday, March 11th 12–1pm
Tropical Audubon House, Artist Talk Saturday, March 17th, 12–12:30pm
Coral Gables Museum, Artist guided tour, Sunday March 18th, 12–5pm
Closing Party: Judi Harvest's "Cross Pollination" Friday, May 18, 6–8pm
Tea and Honey Saturday, May 19, 4–7pm
Artist-Led Tour of  "Cross Pollination" Sunday, May 20, 12–1pm

PRESS RELEASE (PDF)

Coral Gables Museum
285 Aragon Avenue
Coral Gables, FL

This exhibition is Judi Harvest's response to three crises, the environmental threat to the world's honeybee population, our food chain, and the sharp decline of handcrafted glassmaking in Murano. In March of 2013, Harvest worked with master glassblower, Giorgio Giuman, and his family to assist in the creation of 100 unique, abstract Honey Vessel sculptures. Simultaneously, Harvest created Honey Garden in a forgotten field on the grounds of the glass factory. This living, site-specific installation resulted in an oasis of fruit trees and flowering plants, which is now home to eight functioning beehives. The success of the garden inspired a series of investigations leading to the creation of the 2017 series, Propagation: Bees + Seeds. More than 1000 seeds and flowers were created in Murano glass inspired by the plants prospering in Honey Garden. 

Exhibited is the continuation of work exploring the fragility of two communities affected by a changing industrial landscape. Through her art, she interweaves the lives of the honeybees, their role in humanity's survival and the work of the Murano glassblowing community. In doing so, Harvest asks the viewer to honor all of these workers as essential participants in a healthy culture that respects nature and art, expertise and instinct, collaboration and solitude, labor and beauty.