Olivia Trinidad Harrison

January 17, 2025 | Sarasota, FL ─ In celebration of the 2025 Jean & Alfred Goldstein Exhibition, George Harrison: A Gardener’s Life, Marie Selby Botanical Gardens is pleased to announce The Richard and Ellen Sandor Annual Lecture on Art and Nature featuring a luncheon and conversation with film producer, and the widow of musician George Harrison of The Beatles, Olivia Harrison, and Robin Lane Fox, renowned gardener, author, and historian, on Tuesday, February 11, from 11 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at Selby Gardens’ Downtown Sarasota campus.

Space is limited. The event includes a plated lunch. Tickets $125. Olivia Harrison will be signing copies of her book, Came the Lightening, which will be available for sale at the luncheon. Tickets available HERE.

Olivia Trinidad Harrison is a film producer, and the widow of musician George Harrison of the Beatles. She first worked in the music industry in Los Angeles, for A&M Records, where she met George and then helped run his Dark Horse record label.

Olivia co-produced the Grammy award winning film of the 2002 Concert For George which she organised in memory of George. Olivia also received an Emmy for Outstanding Nonfiction Special from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in 2012 for her role as producer on the Martin Scorsese directed documentary: George Harrison: Living in the Material World. Olivia is a producer on the multi award nominated The Beatles: Get Back, as well as the Beatles ’64 directed by David Tedeschi, executive producer Martin Scorsese, currently showing on Disney +.

In late 2005, coinciding with the reissue of the album and film from the 1971 Concert for Bangladesh, Olivia established The George Harrison Fund for UNICEF with an initial focus on programs in Bangladesh. The fund had also assisted children affected by civil conflict, natural disasters or poverty in Afghanistan, Brazil, India, Angola, Romania, the Horn of Africa, Burma and Nepal and Mexico.

Olivia is director of the Material World Foundation, a charity set up by George in 1973, overseeing the Foundation’s ongoing work in encouraging and promoting the exploration of alternate and diverse forms of artistic expression, and philosophies. The Foundation has lent its support to many established charities around the world. Olivia and the Foundation are also partners with Martin Scorsese’s Film Foundation to ensure the preservation of film history from across the globe. Restoring such diverse works as Charlie Chaplin’s The Count to Luis Bunuels’ Los Olividados, to the British The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp.

Olivia wrote and published her first book of poetry in 2022, Came the Lightening, Twenty Poems for George, a book of twenty poems dedicated to George in the twentieth anniversary of his passing.

Robin Lane Fox

Robin Lane Fox is a renowned gardener, author, and historian. He is currently a Fellow of New College, Oxford, and University Reader in Ancient History. He is the author of numerous award-winning books and was the historical advisor for Oliver Stone’s epic film Alexander. His weekly gardening correspondence column for the Financial Times is the longest running in Britain and is the basis to his 2010 book, Thoughtful Gardening. Thoughtful Gardening is Robin Lane Fox’s first gardening book in 25 years and marks the 40th year of his weekly columns on gardening for the Financial Times. It is based on his own selection from these widely admired pieces, which he has rewritten and amplified with much new material and new chapters to take readers on a varied and highly enjoyable journey through each season of the gardening year.

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Images & Captions: : https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/uipqkhm1rlwhug2v01uw2/AOotZ5pbbzArFMyND_RJUcE?rlkey=uqq2xxzkrlwbf5likoyfejg9n&dl=0

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December 30, 2024 | Sarasota, FL. – The popular Rainforest Masks of Costa Rica art exhibition will return to Marie Selby Botanical Gardens’ Downtown Sarasota campus from January 11 to 19, 2025.

Featuring the traditional art of the Indigenous Boruca people of the Costa Rican rainforest, the show will include more than 300 colorful masks on display inside the Museum of Botany & the Arts and will be available for purchase by visitors. A ticketed preview on January 10 will give a limited number of attendees the first opportunity to view and purchase artworks in the 2025 exhibition.

The annual Rainforest Masks show is a collaboration between Selby Gardens and Lucuma Designs, a Sarasota-based wholesale fair-trade partner that represents artists and artist cooperatives in Costa Rica and Peru. Since 2004, Selby Gardens has showcased the masks of the Boruca people, bringing their traditional art and its themes of heritage, nature, and sustainability to a wider audience. The show also empowers the artists through income from mask sales that helps support their village and their growing conservation efforts.

The exhibition will run from Saturday, January 11, through Sunday, January 19, and access is included with general admission to the Gardens. On Friday, January 10, Selby Gardens will host a special ticketed preview, during which visitors will be the first to see this year’s masks and get first dibs on purchasing their favorites.

For preview tickets visit Selby.org. (Purchased masks will remain on display for the duration of the exhibition. Pick-up or shipping after the show’s completion can be arranged at the time of purchase.)

The cultural practice of mask-making honors the heritage of the Boruca people and reflects the strong connection they maintain with the natural environment in their remote, mountainous area of southern Costa Rica. Borucan tradition holds that the tribe’s ancestors fended off Spanish conquistadors in the 1500s by wearing warrior masks decorated to represent nature spirits, which scared away the invaders, enabling the tribe to keep its village and identity intact. Today, many of the villagers continue the tradition of making hand-carved and painted masks and other crafts, with a growing focus on environmental sustainability in their work.

To learn more about Rainforest Masks of Costa Rica and plan your visit, go to selby.org.

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Photos of masks and artists:

High-resolution photos of several masks that will be on display are available here to download for publication: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/78wynyvpi58fktwpw0mhu/ABTzML7vVR0hI9mrVSzfCQE?rlkey=w5brss3fdconq386y55pr9dwh&dl=0

Credit (all photos): Photo by Lucuma Designs

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The show includes nearly 300 photographs that were taken by photographers at Selby Gardens’ two campuses and selected for display by an expert panel of jurors. The jury awarded prizes to top photographs in the exhibition, with the Best in Show honor going to Christopher Harrington and his photo, Green Orchid Bee. The virtual exhibition will remain on view through September 30.

Selby Gardens President and CEO, Jennifer Rominiecki, stated, “We are so grateful that almost 300 exceptionally talented artists chose to share their vision of the beauty of our two bayfront sanctuaries through their entries. This virtual exhibition provides an awe-inspiring journey through the diverse nature and living art to be observed and experienced at Selby Gardens.”

In addition to Best in Show, awards for first place were given in each of the five exhibition categories:

• Best in Show: Green Orchid Bee by Christopher Harrington
• Living Art: Nature’s Back Lighting by Timothy Wolfe
• Making a Splash: Reflections in the Rain by Amie Ryan
• Plant Portraits: Meditation Under the Bonsai by Aaron Peter
• Birds and the Bees: I Spy with my Little Eye by Jennifer Muller
• Black and White: Lost in the Leaves by Ryan Lyding

The jury also recognized three additional photos with honorable mentions.

• Honorable Mentions:
  • “Spotted” on the Green by Wioletta Krajewska
  • Character of a Curl by Gunilla Imshaug
  • The Lizzie G by Lisa Harris

Selby Gardens received nearly 300 submissions to this year’s juried exhibition. Entrants could submit up to three individual photos, which had to be taken within the past year at either the Downtown Sarasota campus or Historic Spanish Point campus of Selby Gardens. All submissions were reviewed by a panel of jurors, who were invited for their expertise in plants, art, and curation.

“We thank our jurors for volunteering their time and enthusiasm in evaluating nearly 300 photographs for this show,” said Rominiecki. “Our judges were impressed by the talented photographers in our community, and we are delighted to share a diverse array of scenic moments from our two campuses in the resulting exhibition.” To view Selby Gardens’ 44th Annual Juried Photographic Exhibition, visit selby.org or yourobserver.com. This virtual exhibition is presented in partnership with the Observer Media Group.

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The legendary Black landscape artists known as the Florida Highwaymen emerged in the 1950s in the agricultural communities of Fort Pierce and Gifford, Florida. Largely self-taught, these talented artists produced colorful scenes of Florida’s unique landscapes that appealed to residents and tourists alike. Their iconic images captured the natural beauty of the Sunshine State prior to the impact of increased urbanization.

They were prolific painters, who sold their artwork from the trunks of their cars during the post-World War II boom because they were unable to exhibit through traditional means due to the color of their skin. While making ends meet, they also made a significant contribution to the genre of Florida landscape painting.

“The Highwaymen represent a group of very talented and beloved artists,” said Jennifer Rominiecki, president and CEO of Selby Gardens. “Their works collectively capture colorful scenes of Florida’s unique landscapes with universal appeal. To appreciate their art in our botanical setting is an experience perfectly suited to our bayfront sanctuary during the summer.”

This exhibition celebrates the artistic achievements of the Highwaymen and makes connections between their remarkable story and the experience of the African American community here in Sarasota in the 1950s and 1960s. While the Highwaymen were depicting the windswept palms and golden sands along the shores of the Atlantic, residents of Sarasota’s predominantly Black neighborhood of Newtown were striving to gain access to the segregated beaches on the Gulf. Protests in support of beach integration in Sarasota were early efforts in the fight for equal rights for all Americans, resulting in the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964. Integration of the city’s beaches was an essential part of providing everyone with access to the natural environment that makes Sarasota a tropical paradise.

The story of the Highwaymen is, in many ways, one of art triumphing over adversity. These enterprising individuals turned to painting as an alternative to a life of manual labor, as experienced by many African Americans under the Jim Crow laws that enforced segregation in Florida and other Southern states during the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries. Denied representation by commercial galleries on account of their race, the artists sold their works door to door from the trunks of their cars along main thoroughfares such as U.S. Route 1 and State Road A1A.

This innovative sales method is the inspiration for the name Highwaymen, first applied to the group by gallerist Jim Fitch in 1994. The important contribution of this group to the cultural life of the state was formally acknowledged when 26 Highwaymen were inducted into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame in 2004. Long overlooked and under appreciated by the arts establishment, works by The Highwaymen can now be seen in museums across the country.

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Images: Courtesy of the Asselstine Collection:

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/z8r97horu5bzxnpnac4ll/AH0VLLgO-sRB5LcpYimGRdM?rlkey=krnifztfi8sxv0gvqz690vdjn&dl=0

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December 20, 2023 | Sarasota, FL – The popular Rainforest Masks of Costa Rica exhibition will return to Marie Selby Botanical Gardens’ Downtown Sarasota campus from January 6 to 21, 2024.

Highlighting the traditional art of the Indigenous Boruca tribe of the Costa Rican rainforest, the show will feature hundreds of colorful masks on display in the Museum of Botany & the Arts and available for purchase by visitors. A limited-capacity preview on January 5 will give ticketholders the first opportunity to view and purchase the artworks in the 2024 exhibition.

“We are delighted to celebrate the 20^th anniversary of Rainforest Masks at Selby Gardens,” said Jennifer Rominiecki, president and CEO of Marie Selby Botanical Gardens.  “The brilliant masks exhibited annually are highly anticipated and sought after, and we are thrilled to showcase the beautiful works created by the Boruca Tribe.”

The much-anticipated annual Rainforest Masks show is a collaboration between Selby Gardens and Lucuma Designs, a Sarasota-based wholesale fair-trade partner that represents artists and artist cooperatives in Costa Rica and Peru. The exhibition will run from Saturday, January 6, through Sunday, January 21. Access is included with general admission to Selby Gardens. A special ticketed preview event will take place on Friday, January 5, during which ticketholders will have the chance to see and purchase their favorite masks before the show opens to the public. Tickets for this limited-access preview will be available for purchase on the Selby Gardens website at selby.org starting on December 19. Please note that purchased masks will remain on display for the duration of the exhibition and can be claimed on designated pick-up days in late January.

The cultural practice of mask-making honors the heritage of the Borucan people and reflects the strong connection they maintain with the natural environment in their remote, mountainous area of southwestern Costa Rica. The Boruca tribe tells the story that its ancestors fended off Spanish colonizers in the 1500s by wearing traditional warrior masks decorated to represent animal and nature spirits, which scared away the conquistadors, enabling the tribe to keep its village and identity intact. Today, many of the villagers continue the tradition of making hand-carved and painted masks, with a growing focus on environmental sustainability in their work.

This year’s exhibition will highlight the history and tradition of Borucan mask-making, as well as celebrate the 20^th anniversary of displaying masks at Selby Gardens. Since it was first launched in 2004, this popular annual event at Selby Gardens has brought the beauty of a unique artform to a wider audience, while also empowering the artists to earn income from mask sales that helps support their village and their growing conservation efforts.  Proceeds from mask sales support the Borucan village and also benefit Selby Gardens’ education, research, horticulture, and scientific work.

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Big Cypress Gallery

Selby Gardens is excited to present the extraordinary imagery of photographer and conservationist Clyde Butcher throughout the grounds of the Historic Spanish Point campus. Large-scale prints on aluminum of Butcher’s beautiful photographs of plants, animals, and habitats of Florida will be exhibited amid the natural landscape of the 30-acre waterfront preserve, enabling the public to engage with the artist’s work like never before.

Jennifer Rominiecki, president and CEO of Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, remarked, “Clyde’s ability to evoke awareness, appreciation, and activism for Florida treasures and awaken viewers to preserve our natural places for future generations is extraordinary. We are honored to partner with Clyde for this unique photographic exhibition of Florida’s natural beauty throughout Selby Gardens’ Historic Spanish Point campus.”

In the tradition of earlier landscape photographers like Ansel Adams, Butcher captures the beauty and majesty of America’s natural treasures in dramatic black and white. The unique environments of Florida have been subjects of particular interest to Butcher since the 1980s, when he was first introduced to the magic and mystery of sites such as Big Cypress National Preserve and Everglades National Park. Nature Through the Lens will include Butcher’s photographs of regional locales such as Myakka River State Park and Casey Key. This exhibition is presented in partnership with the Clyde Butcher Gallery & Studio in Venice, Florida.

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Marie Selby Botanical Gardens officially kicks off its 50th anniversary with a year-long schedule of special exhibitions, programs, celebrations, and the unveiling of a commemorative book, Orchid. As Selby Gardens continues its mission to provide bayfront sanctuaries that connect people with air plants of the world, native nature, and regional history, it invites visitors to engage in the exploration of the Gardens today and into the next 50 years.

“Starting with Marie Selby’s selfless gift to our community and enhanced by so many dedicated individuals over the past half century, Selby Gardens has become a botanical garden like no other,” said Jennifer O. Rominiecki, president and CEO of Marie Selby Botanical Gardens. “We are excited to present a season-long celebration of our world-class botanical science, unique horticultural beauty, and visionary leaders of yesterday and today as we mark this wonderful milestone.”

50th ANNIVERSARY HIGHLIGHTS:

The Orchid Show 2023: A 50th Anniversary Celebration | On view October 7 through November 26, 2023
Downtown Sarasota campus

Since its establishment in 1973, Marie Selby Botanical Gardens has formed the best scientifically documented collection of living orchids in the world. The Orchid Show 2023, presented by Better-Gro, will celebrate Selby Gardens’ 50th anniversary and highlight spectacular orchids from the living plant collection for which it is known across the globe.

The Orchid Show 2023 will include a horticultural display in the Tropical Conservatory and an exhibition in the Museum of Botany & the Arts. Orchids of various shapes, colors, and patterns will abound in the Conservatory, illustrating the beauty and diversity of one of the largest and most beloved families of flowering plants. The Museum exhibition will present a selection of rare artifacts and historical images to help tell the rich story of Selby Gardens’ first 50 years, with emphasis on the plants and people who have made it such a special place.

Orchid | The Book

Published to celebrate Selby Gardens’ 50th anniversary, Orchid is a stunning coffee-table book featuring 150 photos of vibrant, elegant, sometimes other-worldly orchids in the Gardens’ unmatched collection. The 240-page volume pairs text by Selby Gardens botany and horticulture staff with intimate photographs of fine-art quality captured by talented Selby Gardens volunteers.

Orchid was produced in partnership with arts and heritage publishing house Scala Arts Publishers, with support from Selby Gardens friends Carol Miller and Virginia Miller. The book is an accessible introduction to orchids for a general audience and an essential resource for afficionados and experts. Set for release in conjunction with the upcoming Orchid Show, Orchid will be available for purchase in the Garden Shop at Selby Gardens’ Downtown Sarasota campus and through online and other retail outlets.

Clyde Butcher: Nature Through the Lens | On view November 11, 2023 through August 31, 2024
Historic Spanish Point campus

NO TITLE, 1993
Big Cypress Gallery

Selby Gardens is excited to present the extraordinary imagery of photographer and conservationist Clyde Butcher throughout the grounds of the Historic Spanish Point campus. Large-scale prints on aluminum of Butcher’s beautiful photographs of plants, animals, and habitats of Florida will be exhibited amid the natural landscape of the 30-acre waterfront preserve, enabling the public to engage with the artist’s work like never before.

In the tradition of earlier landscape photographers like Ansel Adams, Butcher captures the beauty and majesty of America’s natural treasures in dramatic black and white. The unique environments of Florida have been subjects of particular interest to Butcher since the 1980s, when he was first introduced to the magic and mystery of sites such as Big Cypress National Preserve and Everglades National Park. Nature Through the Lens will include Butcher’s photographs of regional locales such as Myakka River State Park and Casey Key. This exhibition is presented in partnership with the Clyde Butcher Gallery & Studio in Venice, Florida.

The Return of Patti Smith | November 15, 2023

In the first event affiliated with the 2024 Jean & Alfred Goldstein Exhibition, Selby Gardens Artist-in-Residence Patti Smith will return for a special evening performance. Smith’s program will be tied to the soon-to-be-announced theme of next year’s Goldstein Exhibition, which opens in February. More details and tickets for the performance will be released in October.

Master Plan Phase One Nears Completion

From its beginnings in 1973, Selby Gardens has matured in tandem with the growth and cultural prosperity of Sarasota and the Tampa Bay region. As theinstitution celebrates its past, it also looks toward the future, with a focus on the Master Plan for the Downtown Sarasota campus. Completion of Phase One, expected by the end of 2023, will create the world’s first net-positive energy botanical garden complex. Features will include a new Welcome Center with Welcome Gallery and orientation theater, a cutting-edge Plant Research Center to house the Gardens’ priceless research collections, a new plant and gift shop, a net-positive energy garden-to-plate restaurant, and a nearly 50,000-square-foot solar array to power the complex.

“With Phase One of the Master Plan near completion, we are thrilled to begin to realize the full potential of our beloved gardens, while also preserving our important history for the generations to come,” said Rominiecki. “We look forward to welcoming visitors from diverse communities across the United States and around the world to join us as we embark on another 50 years of plant exploration, discovery, and celebration.”

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Marie Selby Botanical Gardens’ 43rd Annual Juried Photographic Exhibition is now on view in a virtual gallery that can be accessed online here.

Best in Show Winner “Afternoon Repose” by Gary McNulty

The show includes over 300 photographs that were taken by visitors at one of Selby Gardens’ two campuses and selected for display by an expert panel of jurors. The jury awarded top photographs in the exhibition, with Best in Show going to Gary McNulty for his colorful photo of a red-bellied woodpecker in a silk cotton tree, titled Afternoon Repose. The web gallery will remain on view through September 30.

In addition to Best in Show, awards for first place were given in each of the five exhibition categories:

• Living Art: “Leaf” Imitating Art, by Christopher Harrington
• Make a Splash: Welcome to Selby Gardens, the Water Is Great!, by Betsy Roe
• Plant Portraits: Solitude, by Caryn Koffman
• The Birds and the Bees: Blue Dasher Dragonfly Portrait, by Christopher Harrington
• Black + White: Circle of Life, by Gonzalo Hernandez Jr.

The jury also selected second- and third-place winners in each category and recognized three additional photos with honorable mentions.

Selby Gardens received over 300 entries for this year’s juried exhibition. Entrants could submit up to three photos, which had to be taken at either the Downtown Sarasota or Historic Spanish Point campus of Selby Gardens within the past year. All submissions were reviewed by the panel of volunteer jurors, who were invited for their expertise in photography, art, and curation. The jury included:

• Olivia Marie Braida-Chiusano, artist and head of Selby Gardens’ botanical illustration program
• Christopher Jones, Stanton B. and Nancy W. Kaplan Curator of Photography and Media Art at The Ringling
• Keith Monda, philanthropist and Selby Gardens Trustee
• John Pirman, artist and illustrator
• Walter Gilbert, Selby Gardens vice president for diversity and inclusion and namesake of the Gilbert Mural Initiative public-art project

“Selby Gardens is so grateful to our jurors for their time and care in evaluating over 300 photographs for this show,” said Selby Gardens President & CEO Jennifer Rominiecki. “They were impressed by the talented artists who participated, and we are pleased to share these diverse and stunning images that illustrate why Selby Gardens is known as The Living Museum®.”

To view Selby Gardens’ Virtual 43rd Annual Juried Photographic Exhibition, go here. This exhibition is presented in partnership with the Observer Media Group.

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