COLLEEN SMITH

Special to The Gazette

Denver Botanic Gardens branched out into its botanical illustration program nearly a half century ago. But this month it will host, for the first time, the Arts at the Gardens Immersive Retreat.

DBG will offer a weekend of short art classes and garden tours Oct. 24-26. Participants can choose a la carte to create individualized retreats and can register for one class, one day or sign up for offerings over the entire three-day retreat. Think of it as a smorgasbord of artful experiences.

“This was an attempt to create a menu of offerings of interest to a broad range of people. This is a first-time, brand-new program, something I created from my goal of listening to student feedback,” said Melinda Laz, manager of DBG’s School of Botanical Art & Illustration. “Some students wanted to learn more about botanical illustration, but don’t want to commit to a multiweek course or drive in on an evening.”

Laz added: “We’re open to all levels and all interests in different media. The idea is to offer the opportunity to sample techniques and topics and learn from seasoned instructors on the DBG arts faculty and to show off our top-notch classrooms in the Freyer-Newman Center.”

Laz also hopes to address adults’ need to find ways to disconnect from digital devices and disturbing daily news.

“Opening to a creative practice allows us to engage with our own self and our set of values,” she said. “Creativity, in this moment in our society when across the world AI is king, is a chance to engage with our own sense of self-identification. Digging into our creativity reconnects us with what makes us human.”

She emphasizes the retreat as a starting place for beginners and a forward path for more experienced artists.

“Our instructors are great at helping people find in themselves a hidden talent,” Laz said. “We talk about art as a practice. It’s not that you’re instantly amazing, but that you experience a steady growth, and that you’re committing to yourself and to your art practice.”

Laz said DBG’s art classes, open to adults 17 and older, attract individuals and also provide a shared activity for friends, family members, people celebrating a bridal or baby shower, and book clubs.

“This is a chance to enjoy a retreat in your own town,” Laz said. “We’ll have tours so people who want a break from art-making can see the gardens or galleries. We’re showing off everything we have to offer here because we know this building is still relatively new and even though our botanical illustration program has been around more than 45 years, some people do not know about it.”

The retreat classes range from drawing or painting to a zine workshop teaching students to design an artful pamphlet.

A class titled “Fixing Your Mistakes” shows more advanced artists tips and tricks to repair errors rather than abandoning an artwork.

Laz will co-teach “Your Creative Art Practice,” a course for emerging or established artists.

“We’ll talk about various things artists need to professionalize themselves, artist statements and bios, where to find opportunities, how to engage in the community with other creatives,” she said.

Lori Ann Levy-Holm, a painter and a staff instructor with the School of Botanical Art & Illustration for more than five years, is one of about 30 working artists affiliated with DBG’s art branch. She emphasized the retreat’s friendly nature.

“This is an opportunity to meet some of the instructors, and that’s a way to make people less nervous about trying something new,” said Levy-Holm, a lifelong educator. “Going for a two-hour class in a beautiful learning environment embedded in an amazing facility surrounded by beautiful gardens requires much less commitment than blindly signing up for a five-week class and spend 15 hours in a class when you don’t even know if that’s something for you.”

Levy-Holm, who underscored that art classes enrich the lives of students well beyond the classroom experience, will teach two courses during the retreat.

“I’m teaching botanical illustration for beginners, a two-hour class instructing students how to look at a plant, how to measure it and convey those measurements in a drawing,” she said. “I’m also team teaching with Elisse Acevedo a mindfulness class with several components. We’ll work with mindful goal-setting.”

Laz hopes to schedule the immersive program every other year. “This is a special opportunity, so if people miss this year, we hope to offer the retreat again in 2027. We want to call people to this entry point of making art at the gardens.”