BAR HARBOR — The Beatrix Farrand Society at Garland Farm in Bar Harbor is pleased to announce its 2026 summer exhibition “The Floral Art of Ashley Bryan” which will open on Wednesday June 24 and close on Aug. 28. Comprising 15 studies in various media and five finished paintings, the exhibition celebrates Bryan’s love and scrutiny of nature.
There will be a reception on Wednesday the 24th, open to the public from 4 to 6 p.m. After that, the exhibit can be viewed on Thursday afternoons from noon to 4 p.m. during Garland Farm’s Open Days. Garland Farm is located at 1029 Route 3 in Bar Harbor; parking is available onsite at the address 475 Bay View Drive.
Bryan (1923-2022) is best remembered for his pioneering children’s books that introduced dignified representations of Black characters taken from African, African-American and Caribbean folk tales. Bryan grew up in the Bronx in a household always awash in flowers – whether real or artificial. He attended Cooper Union, but WWII interrupted his course of study (he was on Omaha Beach on D Day+3). Upon graduating in 1946, Bryan attended the inaugural class at The Skowhegan School of Art that summer. An excursion to Acadia National Park triggered a love of the area; he started spending summers there, first on Great Cranberry and subsequently on Islesford, where he settled permanently in 1988. Consequently, his ties to Mount Desert Island were long and deep.
During summers, Bryan balanced his children’s-book obligations with working out-of-doors, capturing the profusion of summer flora in his garden and those of his neighbors. These joyous compositions provided an exuberant antidote to the precise demands of his book art. They comprised a celebration of color and nature, and many friends acquired them. Recently, a trove of flower studies in various media have come to light, and their exquisitely deft handling begged sharing.
Garland Farm is pleased to put these works on display, and The Ashley Bryan Center is deeply grateful for their endorsement and willing participation. The exhibition has been made possible through the generosity of Martha Pentecost.
The Ashley Bryan Center was created in 2013 to “preserve, celebrate and share broadly artist Ashley Bryan’s work and his joy of discovery, invention, learning and community.”
The Beatrix Farrand Society is a nonprofit organization founded to foster the art and science of horticulture and landscape design, with emphasis on the life and work of Beatrix Farrand. Garland Farm, the last home and gardens of Beatrix Farrand, is open to the public every Thursday 12 to 4 p.m. from June 18 until Sept. 17. For more information, visit www.beatrixfarrandsociety.org.