Art Alive is returning this weekend, with professional and hobbyist florists decking out the San Diego Museum of Art (SDMA) galleries in time for Spring. Through a competitive selection process, nearly 100 designers were given an artwork at the museum to interpret using a floral arrangement. Paintings, drawings, sculptures, and, for the first time, architecture were evoked through botanical designs.

“I love doing it. That’s why I’m here. I’m not trying to sell myself. I’m not trying to be a florist on the go. I really just enjoy it, and I want other people to enjoy it,” said Tiffiney Welles, who has participated for 13 years and won an award in 2023 for her interpretation of a chair. She appreciates that as a community event, there is huge diversity among the participants making the resulting designs multi-faceted and unique.

For 2025, Welles was assigned two miniature floral-decorated vases. She used a plain white vase, broke it, and had flowers exploding from it because the color could not be contained. She used blue delphinium, yellow dahlias, coffee bean berries, thistle, cherry blossom branches, dried fern, and, from her garden, a Marilyn Monroe rose. The cherry blossom branches are expected to bloom later this weekend. The delphinium may need to be replaced but otherwise, the design should last until the event ends on April 27.

This year’s theme, architecture, also gave the participants a different art form to emulate through flowers and plants. In the upstairs gallery with models of Lord Norman Foster’s buildings, florists created domes, towers, awnings and more to evoke the Light and Space movement architecture pioneered by Foster + Partners.

“I’ve never done anything like this before, so this is a challenge to think outside the box,” said Melissa Cummings, owner of Pacific Beach-based Petals by the Beach. She used the clean lines and the white color palate with plenty of light of the firm is known for.

Nearby, Laura Vavrunek wove greens into a dome over calla lilies to represent the glass dome she won in a lottery. “I felt really special to be part of this architectural exhibit because I have an engineering and interior design background. The structure… called to me,” Vavrunek said.

Many of the floral artists have participated for years if not decades. David Root has submitted a design for the past 34 years. This year, he was one of the few to take inspiration from “american minimal” with his interpretation of DeWain Valentine’s “Circle, Blue-Violet.”

Groups of “flower friends” encouraged each other as they installed this year’s creations to be admired by some 1,700 visitors at the Bloom Bash party Friday night and Art Alive the rest of the weekend expecting more than 10,000 visitors. Others are even family. Nancy Baldwin participated for 27 years, first with her mom and now with her daughter. “Every year we say, ‘Oh, they’re so much more amazing.’ Yet, they’re still so much more amazing [each year],” Baldwin said. She has mentored five different floral artists at Art Alive.

Standing by their installations, some designers used the opportunity to educate visitors more about the artwork they interpreted.

Lori Moore explained that the untitled painting by Wilfredo Lam depicted African demons, who are mischievous, silly and not scary at all. “I wanted my piece to actually have something that was giggly and fun and impish as well,” Moore said, who has spheres which can be blown on to sway in the piece.

Nearby, Thelma Gerome usually does Ikebana flower arranging, a Japanese style with plenty of space between each flower so the full face can be seen, rather than a mass of flowers typical of Western floral arranging. This year, she decided to try something different while still using those skills because Monet and Matisse were inspired by Japanese print blocking which uses similar principles to Ikebana. “They always want to see each individual flower. This does that,” Gerome said of the still life painting “Bouquet” by Henri Matisse she chose to celebrate rebirth this Spring.

The biggest installation each year is in the rotunda, spanning three stories in the center of the SDMA building. The spinning, spherical piece this year was designed by husband and wife team Daniel Schultz and Natasha Lisitsa.

In addition to the four-day Art Alive floral exhibition, further celebratory weekend festivities include the Museum’s creative black-tie gala, the Premiere Dinner, on Thursday, April 24; the 10th edition of Bloom Bash, the Museum’s kick-off party to Art Alive weekend for foodies and culturemakers aged 21+ on Friday, April 25; and the Garden of Activities, bringing hands-on art-making for artists of all ages to the Museum’s sculpture garden on Saturday, April 26, and Sunday, April 27.

The 2025 Art Alive floral exhibition will be on display to the public on Friday, April 25, from noon to 4 p.m. and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, April 26, and Sunday, April 27. General admission is complimentary for members, but time tickets must be reserved. Timed tickets are now available online at SDMArt.org/ArtAlive and by phone at (619) 696-1999. Timed tickets are required, and entry is anytime within the designated hours. Guests can enjoy Art Alive at their own pace; exit is not timed. Bloom Bash and Premiere Dinner tickets are sold separately and are also now on sale.