Overview: In October 2015, 37 floral designers and over 100 volunteers from across North America came together to fill an abandoned Detroit house with American-grown fresh flowers and living plants. An estimated 3,400 curious visitors explored the house over the 3-day exhibition, and the installation hosted 3 weddings and dinner for 180 people. The project received international media attention—with an estimated 287,000,000+ media impressions in just the first month alone.

Why did this project touch so many people? In this lecture, botanical installation artist Lisa Waud describes her extraordinary project from idea to exhibition, discussing what about the installation was so magnetic to so many people across the world—exploring her thoughts on beauty, blight, and nostalgia, and the themes of risk-taking, logistics, and collaboration through the lens of the large-scale installation.

To mark the 10 year anniversary of the project this year, Lisa updated her presentation with perspective of time and her experiences since, folding together stunning images, moving videos, and audience participation.

The presentation will be held in the Granary, and light refreshments will be provided.