The New York Botanical Garden is cranking the vibes to 11 this Saturday, May 23, as it opens "Flower Power" and turns its Bronx campus into a 1960s-inspired mashup of flowers, art and music that runs through October. The garden-wide exhibition threads together pop-era ephemera and gallery art with massive floral installations, including three Andy Warhol works and rainbow-colored daisy sculptures in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, plus a 15-foot living peace sign near the entrance and artist-designed buses parked out on the lawns. Daytime programming layers in folk concerts, film screenings and craft workshops, while ticketed after-hours Liquid Light nights wash psychedelic visuals across the Mertz Library façade.
As outlined by NYBG, Flower Power runs through October 18, with a members-only preview on May 22 and daytime admission folded into the All-Garden Pass. The Garden notes that tickets for the Liquid Light Shows went on sale April 16, priced at $45 for the public and $35 for members. Organizers are also rolling out a slate of family-friendly activities during the night events, including makers markets, lawn games and friendship-bracelet workshops.
What To See
Inside the Mertz Library Gallery, the exhibition lines up archival prints, fashion and posters alongside works by Andy Warhol, Milton Glaser, Joe Brainard and Corita Kent, as reported by Time Out. Out on the grounds, visitors can scope out the 15-foot peace sign at the Leon Levy Visitor Center, artist-painted VW-style buses and a participatory textile fence inspired by the original Woodstock Festival. Inside the Conservatory, monumental daisy sculptures by Amie Jacobsen rise up amid seasonal plantings, while a collaboration with the Rubin Museum's Mandala Lab brings in themes of meditation and Eastern philosophy.
After-Hours Liquid Light Shows
On select evenings beginning May 30, the Mertz Library façade turns into a moving canvas for Liquid Light Lab's hand-made projections, backed by live music on the lawn. Per NYBG, scheduled performers include Ghost Funk Orchestra, Habibi, Evolfo and Woods, with each show running in the evening and a rain date held for the following day. The Garden suggests budgeting at least an hour to wander through Flower Power before the night's projection and concert segment get underway.
Why It Matters
Organizers say Flower Power is meant to be more than a throwback, framing it as a bridge between art, environmental ideas and the counterculture's interest in mindfulness. "Flower Power unites world-class art with our living plant collections and our historic landmark buildings and landscape," the show notes, as reported by Time Out. The exhibition continues NYBG's run of blockbuster, interdisciplinary summer shows that pull visitors into the Bronx, following last year's Van Gogh-themed program. For local audiences, the mix of drop-in daytime displays and ticketed evening spectacles could mean more packed weekends and a livelier late-night scene along the borough's cultural corridor.
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