Debra Prinzing

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NYC Event Maestro David Beahm Adds Flower Farming to His Repertoire (Episode 209)

Tuesday, September 1st, 2015
David Beahm (c) Heidi Chowen

David Beahm (c) Heidi Chowen

I was in New York City in late August for the fifth Field to Vase Dinner, held at The Brooklyn Grange.

DV Flora, a major floral wholesaler and an event sponsor, sent one of its top customers as a guest to Field to Vase.

I found out in advance that their guest was none other than David Beahm. I couldn’t resist. I reached out and invited myself to his studio, asking whether we could record an episode of the Slow Flowers Podcast. And, lucky for you, he said YES!

While I don’t really know David, we are somehow friends on Facebook, so I’m well aware of his creative endeavors.

I think we connected after I gave a presentation about the Slow Flowers Movement at the 2014 Chapel Designers Conference in NYC.

Holly Chapple, founder of Chapel Designers, has involved David in her conferences and during the year I was there, the 75-plus participants gathered at David’s giant production and prop warehouse in the Bronx where they created floral samples for The Knot Dream Wedding.

I watched David in action and was thoroughly impressed by the scale on which he works. Plus, he is just a gracious and kind human being. I watched that, too.

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David took our selfie at the Highline after our podcast interview.

David took our selfie at the Highline after our podcast interview.

So two weeks ago, I took a combination of two subways and a bus and ended up at the headquarters for David Beam Experiences, quite close to the now-iconic Highline Public Garden.

What was once Manhattan’s gritty meatpacking district is now populated by high-rent galleries, fine restaurants, designer shops and creatives like Mr. Beam. It was a heady experience just to walk past the Dianne von Furstenburg shop and the Whitney Museum of American Art.

I arrived and rode the elevator to the 11th floor of what probably was once a warehouse but is now a sleek, uber-modern complex, entering David Beam’s atelier where I was warmly welcomed. We were seated in his light-filled office with eclectic furnishings and a comfortable sofa. That’s where we recorded this interview.

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