Lois Bender’s slideshow talk will explore the History of Garden Styles from antiquity’s Persian Gardens to European Gardens, Gardens of the East and today’s modern contemporary designs, and show some of her artwork inspired by gardens and flowers. She advocates for art about gardens, following the words of legendary Joni Mitchell’s song “Woodstock”: “We have to get ourselves back to the Garden!”

Biography
Lois is a New York artist who interprets varied nature and garden themes, creating a fresh mix of painting, mixed media and printmaking. GardenSpiritsNY, her design brand with a national and international presence, grew out of her retail art direction experience (Godiva Chocolates) and her role as a retail product designer at The New York Botanical Garden. She was born into her aesthetic garden sensibility as the daughter of Flora Bloom and granddaughter of Hortense Bloom. She founded a non-profit called GardenSpiritsNY which provides funds for gardens to support contemporary artists creating art inspired by their gardens. She speaks about her artist experiences painting gardens and is an advocate for art about gardens.