Today I have a very special guest to present: Mary Pat Matheson. Mary Pat took over the reins of the Garden as executive director in July 2002. After years of steady progress, it was like someone stepped on the accelerator, propelling the garden to previously unimagined success and status not only among botanical gardens, but as a premier venue for fine art and culture here in Atlanta. I am so thrilled to have Mary Pat share her passion and perspectives on the garden and our current exhibition in today's blog.
Following Photos and Text by Mary Pat Matheson: 
The turquoise Hill Arches float on a cloud of white Euphorbia “Diamond Frost” with a rose peaking through the background. I’ve eavesdropped on our visitors, and they are enamored with this piece and the lovely, delicate white flowers that set it off. The large circle in the middle looks like a cozy place to curl up and enjoy a quiet moment in the garden.
The urn in the foreground is one of the last remnants of Atlanta’s Cotton States Exposition, held in 1895. When I moved here, in 2002, I had never heard of the Exposition, but was amazed to see these old urns still standing after so many years. In recent years, we’ve integrated plantings in the urns to draw attention to them. Chihuly in the Garden, in 2004, showcased chandeliers in hot colors in the urns, an interesting and elegant juxtaposition of the new and the old. The urns also look amazing with Moore’s Large Two Forms.
When this piece arrived, by truck, from New York, I pulled into the Garden’s entrance and wondered why more steel was being delivered for our construction project. We’ve been building for a 1 ½ years, so it was a normal thing to see large pieces of steel delivered, but the project was done. Was I saw the turquoise color, it was the big “ahha”, that’s Henry Moore’s work on the truck. Can you imagine driving down I-95 behind a Moore?
This piece really touches me because I know the inspiration behind it. We traveled to Moore’s studio, Perry Green, north of London in sheep country, in 2007 and had the remarkable opportunity to explore his studios. They are still strewn with the bones and artifacts he collected, alabaster white set off by the whitewashed walls and maquettes all around. I love the old transistor radio wedged between his “stuff”, don’t all artists need music to work by or talk radio? Oval with Points was inspired by a huge African elephant skull that a friend of Moore’s had given to him. It still sits in the corner of his studio, massive, smooth and graceful, towering over the space. This bronze sculpture towers over our native bog, filled with pitcher plants reaching for the sky. This is certainly, our most impressive place to photograph Moore’s work with the “borrowed landscape” of Atlanta in the background.
Laura Robinson of The Henry Moore Foundation called this the Altar of Moore. I rather like that description. The orchids are paying homage to the Mother and Child. They are literally embraced by the tropical foliage and wild orchids in our collection. What better way to display art then in the lush embrace of beautiful gardens?
I felt the need to do something more out of the box in closing. As I walked through the gardens taking photographs, I noticed leaves that had fallen on the pedestals of the pieces in the woodland. Very lovely and serene. The leaves can stay on the pedestals until the next wind comes through because the Garden is not a museum, we don’t try to keep nature tidy. Reclining Figure: Angles is next to the rose garden and this lovely lady needed a blushing pink rose in her hand today.
Following Photos and Text by Mary Pat Matheson: This is my first blogging experience, and what I’ve loved about it is the time taken to see the exhibition with “new eyes” and think about the many things that make it beautiful, interesting and bloggable. I’ve done this through the lens of a camera, and my personal lens, or perspective, as the director of a botanical garden. What’s so fascinating about the Moore in America exhibition is the relationship between the gardens and the individual sculptures. In this photograph, the totem-like Upright Motives, with their bluish green patina, are complimented by the blues and textures of the succulent garden. You can almost imagine the totems sprouting in the deserts of the southwest.
The turquoise Hill Arches float on a cloud of white Euphorbia “Diamond Frost” with a rose peaking through the background. I’ve eavesdropped on our visitors, and they are enamored with this piece and the lovely, delicate white flowers that set it off. The large circle in the middle looks like a cozy place to curl up and enjoy a quiet moment in the garden.The urn in the foreground is one of the last remnants of Atlanta’s Cotton States Exposition, held in 1895. When I moved here, in 2002, I had never heard of the Exposition, but was amazed to see these old urns still standing after so many years. In recent years, we’ve integrated plantings in the urns to draw attention to them. Chihuly in the Garden, in 2004, showcased chandeliers in hot colors in the urns, an interesting and elegant juxtaposition of the new and the old. The urns also look amazing with Moore’s Large Two Forms. When this piece arrived, by truck, from New York, I pulled into the Garden’s entrance and wondered why more steel was being delivered for our construction project. We’ve been building for a 1 ½ years, so it was a normal thing to see large pieces of steel delivered, but the project was done. Was I saw the turquoise color, it was the big “ahha”, that’s Henry Moore’s work on the truck. Can you imagine driving down I-95 behind a Moore?
This piece really touches me because I know the inspiration behind it. We traveled to Moore’s studio, Perry Green, north of London in sheep country, in 2007 and had the remarkable opportunity to explore his studios. They are still strewn with the bones and artifacts he collected, alabaster white set off by the whitewashed walls and maquettes all around. I love the old transistor radio wedged between his “stuff”, don’t all artists need music to work by or talk radio? Oval with Points was inspired by a huge African elephant skull that a friend of Moore’s had given to him. It still sits in the corner of his studio, massive, smooth and graceful, towering over the space. This bronze sculpture towers over our native bog, filled with pitcher plants reaching for the sky. This is certainly, our most impressive place to photograph Moore’s work with the “borrowed landscape” of Atlanta in the background.Laura Robinson of The Henry Moore Foundation called this the Altar of Moore. I rather like that description. The orchids are paying homage to the Mother and Child. They are literally embraced by the tropical foliage and wild orchids in our collection. What better way to display art then in the lush embrace of beautiful gardens?I felt the need to do something more out of the box in closing. As I walked through the gardens taking photographs, I noticed leaves that had fallen on the pedestals of the pieces in the woodland. Very lovely and serene. The leaves can stay on the pedestals until the next wind comes through because the Garden is not a museum, we don’t try to keep nature tidy. Reclining Figure: Angles is next to the rose garden and this lovely lady needed a blushing pink rose in her hand today. 
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