NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — A new exhibit at Cheekwood is running August 1 through the 9. It's taken a whole lot of complex planning, and it's a special challenge for some locals.
"There's kinda more pressure to get it right and to get the details right," said Ruth Nagyvegi of Studio Izrada.
She talked to me while putting flowers into place.
Nagyvegi's work is usually corporate events and weddings. This was something new.
"She is going to wear red!" Nagyvegi said, stepping back to look at a piece.
Her team was busy decorating a mannequin in a dress made up of flowers.
Nagyvegi was one of the local florists gathered at Cheekwood, dressing up mannequins in flowers to appear like the characters in the HBO Show The Gilded Age.
"It really is a merger between flowers, art, culture," said Tina Barkley of Fleurs De Villes.
Fleurs De Villes does these events all over the world, bringing in local florists at each stop and presenting them with a challenge.
"My team has seen me crash out multiple times this week!" Nagyvegi smiled.
The exhibit at Cheekwood is Fleurs de Villes: The Gilded Age, a partnership with HBO Max.
"The main top line rule is everything must be real," Barkley said.
Here's what she means. Everything's botanical. There weren't wigs on the heads of the mannequins.
"Coming up with curly hair, facial hair is going to be a challenge, so the florists in this case, Rose Hill Flowers, chose smoke bush," Barkley said, looking at one bearded mannequin. "There's a mannequin downstairs. He's the butler. He has a white beard. They used limonium, very tiny flower. The character of Larry has this beautiful wavy black hair. The way the florist created that was using black or very burgundy ti leaves. It looks like his real wavy hair."
Here's another challenge.
"To create something that has to be beautiful for ten days, that takes a lot of strategic planning," Nagyvegi said.
I checked in with the florist crew with Laurel & Leaf.
"It's filled with water," said florist Becky Dunkerley, holding what looked like a tiny test tube and sliding a flower into it. "We make sure everything stays hydrated and beautiful for ten days!"
"One of the florists has an actual irrigation system under her dress!" added Barkley.
Now, I'll admit. There are a lot of shows on a lot of streaming platforms these days, so I haven't seen HBO's The Gilded Age. Nagyvegi caught me up.
"This is Gladys Russell," Nagyvegi said, gesturing to the piece she was working. "She is the daughter of the Russell parents that are right next to her."
Nagyvegi told me how her character's mom was pushing her to get married.
"I think that's expected," Nagyvegi nodded. "She'd have beef with her mom. She's like, 'Mm. Sorry, mom. Not sorry.' I don't blame Gladys. We all just want to live our life!"
With the work done, the Fleurs de Villes exhibit was ready.
"It's actually Mexican grass," Nagyvegi said about her piece's hair. "We cut it, and we turned into hair curls."
She turned her attention to the piece's lace gloves.
"Those are made from a bleached bracken fern," Nagyvegi explained.
The way Nagyvegi sees it, as an artist, it's great to have a chance to push yourself and do something new.
Do you have a positive, good news story? You can email me at forrest.sanders@newschannel5.com.
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