Margaret Singer Unveils Art Exhibition at Hospice of Santa Barbara

Image Source: jewishsantabarbara.org

Hospice of Santa Barbara has teamed with area artist Margaret Singer to bring her solo exhibition to families and individuals served by the organization. The Leigh Block Gallery, located within the hospice, will display the art. 

The Exhibition

The 94-year-old Singer fled Nazi Germany as a child and subsequently turned to painting as a means of expressing her feelings. She views art as a sort of journal that chronicles her life through emotional reactions and mental reflections. While much of her work focuses on the faces and ideas of childhood that continue to haunt her, it also celebrates the raw beauty of the world. The exhibition at Hospice of Santa Barbara, entitled Celebrations, looks upon the world with gratitude and wonder.

Image Source: hospiceofsantabarbara.org

Renown

Singer has achieved renown in the Santa Barbara community with her works on display at the Santa Barbara Art Association, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, and the Jewish Federation of Greater Santa Barbara. A portion of all sales generated by the current exhibition will support Hospice of Santa Barbara and its important work.

The Butterfly Garden at Ganna Walska’s Lotusland

Lotusland of Santa Barbara preserves the incredible gardens designed by opera singer Ganna Walska. The collection includes a number of themed gardens, including the Japanese garden, the blue garden, and the butterfly garden. Comprising a wide range of flowering plants, the butterfly garden is designed to create scents that will attract beneficial insects. Some horticulturalists refer to butterfly gardens as “insectaries” due to their ability to attract helpful insects. 

At Lotusland, the butterfly garden plays an important role in protecting the collection as a whole by providing sustenance for insects that eat pests like thrips and aphids. Located next to the parterre and the orchards, the insectary helps protect the flowers and fruits in these areas. 

Lotusland has adopted a sustainable gardening plan that uses only organic materials to support the various gardens, and the insectary makes this organic approach to gardening possible. The insectary also enhances the beauty of the garden by attracting butterflies, especially monarchs, which only lay their eggs on milkweed, a central component of the Lotusland butterfly garden.