Stockbridge Floral Design was launched in fall 2023 when Stockbridge School of Agriculture faculty Sarah Berquist redesigned and revived an old course: STOCKSCH 210 Retail Floral Design (3 credits). All of the flowers used for the courses, events, and installations are grown by Sarah Berquist and students at Astarte Farm in Hadley, MA.
Mission & Curriculum
Mission:
Stockbridge Floral Design provides floral arrangements and installations for events on campus using practices and approaches centered on sustainability. We use primarily local and organically grown florals, grown by Sarah on an organic no-till farm in Hadley, MA. We source locally to supplement our own flowers when needed.
Curriculum:
1. Retail Floral Design (STOCKSCH 210, Fall, 3 credits)
2. Farmer-Florist Practicum (STOCKSCH 398, Spring, 1-2 credits)
Both are experiential courses that provide interdisciplinary training in floral sourcing, design basics, proposal writing, floral production, marketing/sales, and community/relationship building. Students gain meaningful hands-on experience and practice designing and selling florals for campus events and the campus community through the Campus Farmers’ Markets. Students also directly participate in building partnerships and collaborations with campus clients.
3. Stockbridge Floral Design Student Leadership (STOCKSCH 496, Fall )
Applied opportunity for students who’ve completed STOCKSCH 210, and 398, these experienced floral design students will help train the incoming group, execute designs for events during student practice hours and support general tasks needed to run Stockbridge Floral Design.
Experiential Learning
The courses’ activities and objectives are designed to embody all elements of the Experiential Learning Cycle.
The Retail Floral Design course provides students an opportunity to grow their capacity for observation and immediately apply and practice their observations in creating floral designs. Through practice hours, peer feedback, discussions, reflections, proposal writing, and case studies, students practice relevant design and entrepreneurial skills needed in the floral design industry.
Questions? Contact: Sarah Berquist (Instructor, Faculty) sbberqui@umass.edu
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