Art Exhibits
Botanical works of art ranging from photography to mixed media to oil and acrylic paintings grace the walls of the Evjue Commons at Olbrich Botanical Gardens. Art exhibits are on display year-round and are open Sundays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free.
See what is on exhibit 
Apply for an Exhibit
Thank you for expressing interest in doing an exhibit at Olbrich Gardens. A small committee reviews submissions and selects the artists to be exhibited. Groups of artists and individual artists are encouraged to apply. There are three to four exhibitions available every year, and we are currently booked through early 2014.
If you are interested in doing an exhibition, we would like to see samples of your work. Only botanically related work will be considered for exhibits. We prefer CDs of high-quality images, slides, or printed samples of your work. Websites are acceptable if the images are large enough to show detail. Groups of artists should submit samples from as many members of the group as possible, in order to give a representative idea of the potential exhibit.
If it seems that Olbrich is a good match for your work, we will contact you about a show date.
A few other points about our exhibit space:
- Our gallery is in the Evjue Commons, which is a rental and program space. When the Commons is in use for a program or event, the public is not allowed to view the exhibit. The only time that is guaranteed for public viewing of the exhibition is Sundays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Our exhibit space is big. We typically need 25 - 40 professionally
framed pieces to fill the space, depending on the sizes of the pieces. We exhibit only two-dimensional
works. We cannot exhibit sculpture because there is no way to safely
exhibit three-dimensional works.
- Olbrich receives a 20 % commission on any works sold during
the course of an exhibition. Olbrich's Growing Gifts Shop may contract with exhibiting artists to sell additional artwork or promotional items.
- Artists may host their own rent-free opening reception on the
Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday evening prior to the exhibit opening, which are always on Sundays.
- Olbrich promotes all exhibitions through news releases, the Olbrich Gardens newsletter, event brochures, and on our website.
Again, thank you for your interest in an exhibit at Olbrich! If you have any other questions about having an exhibit at Olbrich, or would like to apply for an exhibit, please fill out the Art Exhibit Application form and mail it to:
Katy Plantenberg
Public Relations & Special Events Associate
Olbrich Botanical Gardens
3330 Atwood Avenue
Madison, WI 53704
phone: 608-245-3675
fax: 608-246-4719
kplantenberg@cityofmadison.com
