Three days full of educational, flower-filled fun sprang up throughout the Arkansas State campus and community in this year’s Festival of Flowers in partnership with the School of Art and Design.

Throughout the event, students could attend educational sessions such as Blossoming Biologies, Historical Botanicals, and Flowers Through the Lens of Art and Science. Historical Botanicals spoke on flowers throughout time, ranging from medieval times to the present.

Kat Baker, Department Chair and Associate Professor of Art History, said the meanings of certain flowers and their representation in art.

“Artists will often use flowers symbolically; they can represent different ideas and colors to bring out the emotions of a piece,” said Baker.

Baker said that different colors of flowers in art pieces are associated with certain concepts, like how white flowers represent virginity.

Jacinda Cribbs, a freshman business administration major from Valley View, Arkansas, said Baker explained this idea to the students.

“They used a lot of paintings, like the ones of Mary, that was pretty interesting,” Cribbs said.

Cribbs said her professor encouraged her to attend the event, leading her to be very surprised by the turnout.

“The room was full,” Cribbs said. “I did not expect that at all.”

The Festival of Flowers not only featured educational sessions, but also included morning workshops, in which students could learn how to grow flowers or paint watercolor flowers. Attendees could apply what they learned during their sessions in a hands-on application.

These workshops prepped students for the grand finale of the event, an evening downtown. Partnering with Gearhead Outfitters, Generations Floral Company, and Something Art Cafe, including a variety of activities to suit any interest.

Zephaniah Mondy, a senior creative media production major from Helena, Arkansas, said he enjoyed going with his friends to make buttons at Something Art Cafe.

“There was really a lot to do down here, in the place we went to a ton of events were happening,” Mondy said. 

Mondy didn’t expect to originally go to the festival, but joined in after he realized it was happening downtown.

“I thought it was just on campus, and there wasn’t anything happening for real, but I think it was actually cool, so that’s nice,” Mondy said.

Overall, the festival brought the Arkansas State community together to celebrate science, art and history through flowers.

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