Flower Power: The First Family of Art in Bloom

By Tim Gihring

April 8, 2025—Kathryn Malody was 3 years old when she won her first blue ribbon at a national flower show. That’s the story her mother tells, and it wouldn’t be surprising if it’s true. A passion for plants runs deep in the family, including three generations of women whose involvement with Mia’s Art in Bloom stretches back to the very beginning—more than 40 years of horticultural creativity.

The springtime ritual, held this year from April 24 to 27, pairs floral designers with artworks in the galleries to create botanic homages. The Friends of the Institute launched Art in Bloom in 1984, after a series of particularly long, snowy winters. Malody’s mother, Phyllis Andrews, was among the founders­. In fact, she has entered a floral design in all 41 iterations of the event.

This year, at 91, Andrews will be back once again. So will Malody, who has now done Art in Bloom 34 times, and Malody’s daughter Jessica Tomaselli, a five-year veteran. Indeed, the women, who all live within three miles of each other in Saint Paul, are carrying on a family tradition that has pulled in many relatives over the years—and many accolades. When Malody’s father briefly got involved, back in the 1990s, he won an award with his very first entry.

For them, Art in Bloom is as much about camaraderie as creativity—the company of fellow designers and the curiosity of visitors.

“There is a lot of common ground and respect and enjoyment of each other,” says Malody. “This community has enriched my mom’s life and our lives for decades.”

A Beautiful Thing to Do

Andrews has been competitively cultivating and arranging flowers since the 1970s. A master gardener, she was a judge for National Garden Club shows, and she long served as the superintendent of floral competitions at the Minnesota State Fair. She stepped down just last year, after turning 90.

Malody has a master’s in botany and teaches biology at Hamline University. “You’d be surprised how many scientists also have a very artistic side to them,” she says, “whether it’s music or visual arts or literature. I think it’s about being creative problem solvers.”

Tomaselli, who works in project management, jokes that growing up with Art in Bloom has given her “an incredibly skewed perspective” on the unusual world of competitive floral arranging. “It always seemed a perfectly normal, beautiful thing to do.” Her family, she says, has often drawn others into the floral fold, helping ease them into the tight-knit community.

In the early days of Art in Bloom, when designers had to queue up to claim their preferred artwork, it was Andrews’s job to coordinate them. (Now there’s a lottery system.) Tensions ran high over perceived infractions, once breaking out into a battle of acanthus blooms. Andrews sought to maintain standards while keeping things collegial.

“It can be intimidating,” Tomaselli says. “You’re coming into this beautiful institution full of priceless pieces of art with plants and wet foam, you’re surrounded by artists who’ve been doing this for a lifetime, and people expect you to create something gorgeous.”

Of course, it’s the challenge that often draws designers back.

“I enjoy doing it with family,” Malody says, “but to be honest, I like the creative problem-solving. It gets my juices going. You have this artwork and these unpredictable, natural things called flowers, and you have to make them work together.”

An Invitation to Interact

Every year, Art in Bloom designers submit a list of artworks they would like to work with, and it’s a mystery how it’ll all shake out: what you’ll be working with, what kind of space you’ll have, even what flowers are in season.

“It’s completely unique to the Art in Bloom experience,” Tomaselli says.

Tomaselli and Malody have often worked together, recently interpreting Mia’s coral-handled knife and fork from the 1500s—elegant but tiny—and Alice Aycock’s large, fantastical print All the Wars in the World (Fire): Come and Get Me.

“A perfect Art in Bloom piece,” Tomaselli says of the print. “Whatever you do, you’re not going to overwhelm the art.”

This year, Tomaselli is on her own, matched with the iconic “egg” rocking chair in gallery 378. Malody is taking on the Chinese woman’s vest, embroidered with egrets and peonies, in gallery 210. Andrews, working with floral artist Nancy Rand, has drawn the Tatra car in gallery 379—a challenge she has sought for the past two decades.

Virajita Singh, Mia’s Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, came across the family at Art in Bloom last year, gathered for a photo with friends and relatives.

“It was so special to learn their story,” she says, “their love of flowers, their prodigious talents, their commitment to creating beauty at Mia. It all struck a chord, as Mia is so much about having meaningful experiences with art, and we are grateful for their long-standing contributions.”

Tomaselli has come to see Art in Bloom as a kind of invitation.

“It can be really hard to walk into an art museum and take in what you’re seeing when you’re unsure how to interact with the art,” she says. “Art in Bloom is a really beautiful and gentle way in, which can lead to thinking more deeply about the art.”

She’s always heartened to see school groups and other young people going through the galleries during Art in Bloom, connecting the work on the pedestals with the work on the walls. It’s a conversation starter, she says, a precursor to making their own meanings. “I think it really opens the door to interpretation.”

Malody is often near her work that weekend, fielding questions, sharing her experience.

“You never know,” she says, “if someone will think, ‘Maybe I want to do that next year.’” Every floral artist has to start somewhere. “If a 3-year-old can do it,” she jokes, “anyone can.”