Orchid Daze

Orchid Daze, the Garden’s annual indoor plant exhibition, explores several murals by inventive artists that enhance the breathtaking blooms.

Complementing the character of the murals, displayed throughout the Fuqua Conservatory and Orchid Center, will be orchid landscapes designed by Tres Fromme of 3. Fromme Design. Look for an emphasis on warm-colored Dancing Lady Orchids in the Conservatory Lobby, Phalaenopsis throughout the Orchid Center Atrium and Slipper Orchids that take center stage in the Orchid Display House.

The featured mural artists are Niki Zarrabi and Janice Rago of Atlanta, and Lara Nguyen of Asheville.

Niki Zarrabi is a second-generation Iranian-American, mixed-media artist, whose works range from intimately scaled mixed-media paintings to large-scale installations featuring abstract sculptures and outdoor murals. She has painted in such Atlanta street-art and public-mural events as Forward Warrior in Cabbagetown, the OuterSpace Project and ARToberFEST. She also partnered with the City of Atlanta to create an abstract mural as a downtown crosswalk at Broad and Poplar street.

For Orchid Daze Zarrabi will create a bold and immersive mural in the Conservatory Lobby that features surrealist floral motifs.

Janice Rago, who was born in Hawaii and grew up in Europe, is influenced by the cultures of the Pacific, Europe and south Georgia. Her gallery works include a variety of materials such as gold leaf, paper, and epoxy resin. Her commissioned murals can be seen around Atlanta at commercial and residential venues, and feature colorful tropical, floral abstract forms.

Rago will create an exotic soaring mural for the Orchid Center Atrium.

Artist and educator Lara Nguyen is a first-generation Vietnamese-American, who grew up in the Midwest. She has worked in a range of media and formats including painting, drawing, installation, performance and photography, and has completed eight public art murals in Asheville and Grand Rapids, Michigan. Nguyen is co-owner of Stone Cloud Studio, which focuses on public art advocacy.

As an associate professor of art at Warren Wilson College, she teaches design, painting and mural painting. She has spoken publicly about how absorption in her work as an artist and teacher has helped her since a 2018 cancer diagnosis. 

Her captivating mixed-media installation will be featured in the Orchid Display House.