Art in the Garden

Michal Mahgerefteh is a Virginia-based poet and mixed-media artist whose work bridges memory, nature, and intuitive expression. With five poetry chapbooks and a forthcoming collection in 2026, her visual art mirrors the lyrical and layered narratives of her writing.
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Her recent floral and ink compositions fuse organic forms with abstract spontaneity, drawing inspiration from travel, seasonal hues, and her grandmother’s garden. Each piece offers a tactile meditation on place, memory, and transformation.
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An active member of The Van Landingham Gallery at the Torpedo Factory, Mahgerefteh also exhibits with Falls Church Arts, Del Ray Artisans, Virginia Beach Art Center, Gallery 75, and The Norfolk Botanical Garden. She continues to shape both the literary and visual arts through a deeply personal and evolving practice.

From Sept. 5 through Dec. 31, 2025, Norfolk Botanical Garden will host Symphony of Susans, a collaborative watercolor triptych led by Virginia Beach artist Charlie Frances. The 10-by-4-foot piece was created by ten award-winning Tidewater watercolorists, each painting a 2’x2’ panel of black-eyed Susans in their own style without knowing how their section would connect to the others. The result is a vibrant mosaic of interpretation and technique, unveiled in full for the first time at the opening reception Sept. 5, 5–7 p.m.

Norfolk Botanical Garden invites local artists to join us in a creative exploration of celebrating diversity, equity, and inclusion. The Garden encourages artists to showcase diverse the cultures, experiences, and identities that comprise our Hampton Roads community, providing a platform to visually express how diversity enriches and strengthens us.

Meet and greet local artist Chris Jeanguenat. Chris Jeanguenat exhibit of chalk paint and acrylic, is titled, Stories of Misfits and Wayward Girls.

Christine Pianin is a self-taught French-born artist with a background in clinical psychology. After 30 years as a therapist, specializing in emergency psychiatric care, she retired early to focus on her art. She explores collage, assemblage and painting, valuing all forms of art for their beauty, craftsmanship and message. A resident artist at Ukwensi Gallerie in Norfolk, she has exhibited locally at the Torggler Fine Arts Center, Charles H. Taylor Visual Arts Center and Suffolk Juried shows, as well as in group shows in Philadelphia and Miami.

This pop-up exhibition features the work of the African American Sewcial Threaders Quilt Guild of Southeastern Virginia, a group of women who bring the history of quilting to light for the community of Virginia Beach and the surrounding area. Quilts are symbols of culture, community, and freedom. Although the history of quilting in the African American community began as early as the 17th century, the art is still thriving today. This exhibition shows how quilts do not just serve as a basic function of keeping people warm but, for many, have become powerful works of art that have held the hopes and dreams of generations of Black families. The African American Sewcial Threaders Quilt Guild consists of 30 members. It was founded in February 2024. Their quilts have been featured in exhibitions across Hampton Roads and the nation.