During Art Basel Week, Doral Legacy Park WAS transformed into a modern and “Instagrammable” garden for the Doral Arts & Flowers Festival, produced by Yola Guz and Ruben Consa, from the Yola Guz School of Floral Design.
As the largest floral industry hub in the U.S., the City of Doral is proud to sponsor the festival, now in it’s second year, to promote the local floral industry and raise awareness in the use of floral elements as an artistic medium.
The exhibit inaugurated with a ribbon cutting and opening gala December 6 with special appearances by the mayor, city council, and participating artists. On December 7, workshops were available for kids interested in floral craft, and adults who wanting to learn how to make a floral bouquet. Tips on the latest trends events and floral design also were offered. The exhibit culminated with an awards presentation on December 8.
The impressive artistic compositions displayed were created by local florists and artists. Sculptural pieces of art created with flowers, plants, and organic elements using unconventional materials such as steel, aluminum, and wood adorned the interior and exterior of the community center and park. This year’s event engaged the community and its youth by partnering with local schools to exhibit at the festival.
Ruben Consa, the imagination behind the festival, intended to promote flowers as art, as well as Doral’s booming floral industry. Consa is an international floral designer and Doral resident who has been involved in the floral industry for over 30 years as a designer, flower shop owner, educator, commentator, consultant, and promoter of floral products.
Since 1989, Consa has been an active member of the American Institute of Designers of Flowers (AIFD), an organization of about 2,000 members worldwide dedicated to the highest standards of professionalism through education of floral design. Consa has hosted floral shows in the United States, Europe, Asia, South America, and the Caribbean.
In the latter part of 2010, with his wife Yola Guz, Consa established the School of Floral Design Yola Guz in Miami, Florida. The Yola Guz School is now the leading educational institution in South Florida where students are educated to become floral enterprise design, operation, and creation professionals.
