Archive: Arts & Entertainment

Wilma (Willie) Gilmore was a long-time volunteer at Cornell Plantations, gardener, and artist. Her work, a series of delicate watercolors of blossoms and fruits, will be on display in the Nevin Welcome Center at Cornell Plantations until February 29, 2016.  There will be an opening reception on Saturday, January 9th from 2pm – 4pm light refreshments will be served, and the event is free and open to the public.

In her prime, Willie was an avid gardener and for decades she enjoyed visiting Cornell Plantations, where she was a long-time volunteer and active member and past president of the Auraca Herbarists. Confronting serious ailments, her prolific gardening activities changed from shovel and wheelbarrow to container plantings. Then, in time, her focus shifted to creating these beautiful watercolors of blossoms and fruits which are on display. These delicate paintings were found in a drawer after her passing.

They came as a surprise even to her family and close friends. As her beloved husband of over 60 years said, "Perhaps Willie saw the paintings as metaphor for life: blossoming, then fading and dying, as we all do, with youth, maturity, and finally, passing on. It is our good fortune that Willie's last flower creations, the paintings, her Celebration of Life, are ours to enjoy, forever."

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