ON THE STEPS OF HISTORY
Sterling Heights native the artist behind Ginsburg floral arrangements
Democratic political consultant and public policy advisor Anne Wexler, who worked on Jimmy Carter’s presidential campaign and served on his transition teamafter his victory over Gerald Ford, was the first person to notice his talents.
“She discovered me,” said Michael Lanni, of Volanni floral design studio in Washington, D.C.
After that the SterlingHeights native blossomed into one of the most successful floral designers on Capitol Hill. White House ceremonies for two former presidents, gala parties for the city’s nonprofits and formal dinners at the Japanese embassy
are among the high profile events he has worked on over the years.
But he’s as humble as a monk.
And it was not until last week’s memorial, while taking a moment to look over the lacy white hydrangea and freesia arrangements he created to grace the portrait of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg that he saw how far he had come.
“At that moment I realized I was standing in greatness,” Lanni said.
Ginsburg, who died Sept. 18 from complications related to pancreatic cancer, was the second woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. Over the years she became known as a trailblazer for women’s rights, a prophet for justice and a “judge’s judge” for the clarity of her opinions, which provided a straightforward guide for the lower courts.
Nominated by former President Bill Clinton in 1993, Ginsburg served on the court for 27 years. Following her Sept. 18 death, a private ceremony attended by the Supreme Court justices along with her two children and other family members was held in the court’s Great Hall. After the private ceremony, Ginsburg’s f lag- draped casket was moved outdoors so the public could pay respects. Thousands of mourners lined up to walk past the casket over the course of two days, before being moved to the Capitol. She was the first woman and first Jew to lie in state therein. On Tuesday, she was buried beside her husband in Arlington National Cemetery.
“She was a great human, a great being,” Lanni said, while trying to describe the incredible feelings he had while standing next to Ginsburg’s portrait and the arrangements he created. “There are no words to describe it. I’ve been trying to but it’s such an incredible feeling. Everything that I wanted to achieve up to that moment I had achieved.”
“Then to see her portrait, how people viewed her, and my work? It was just an incredible honor,” said the graduate of Sterling Heights High School.
The son of Italian parents, with an eye for fashion and a passion for gardening it was no surprise that Lanni would go on to study fine arts at Wayne State University. As a student, Lanni worked at a
Ralph Lauren retail store in Birmingham, and it was during the creative training they bestowed upon their employees he discovered his knack for flower arranging.
After graduating WSU, he traveled to Italy as a citizen (thanks to his parents) hoping to earn a master’s degree in landscape architecture, but it was not his calling. Instead, he found himself drawn to that nation’s magnificent monasteries and shortly after that traveled to California as a monk. He followed the path that was laid out before him, for three years, before accepting the offer to work for a floral designer in North Carolina.
“It was very cosmic,” Lanni said, of his career change. “I just started doing it.”
After several years of working for someone else, Lanni opened up his own studio in the heart of Washington, D.C. and has been sculpting out a career ever since.
“I’ve knownMichael for over 30 years, and while he always had a creative side, to see how he’s channeled it into a high profile successful f loral design business is just remarkable,” saidMonica Cheick, account director for PublicCity. “I couldn’t bemore proud of the accomplishments of my dear friend from Sterling Heights.”
Lanni loves his life in Washington, D.C., but remains a proud Michigander.
His father died several years ago but his mother, Rose Lanni, still resides in the Sterling Heights home he grew up in.
Being the f lorist for Ginsburg’s memorial was definitely an honor for Lanni. “I was told by many people, ‘ You’re going to be in the history books alongside her,’” he said.
But as he discovered during COVID-19, when all of the parties on Capitol Hill were cancelled, making the everyday arrangements is what he enjoys most.
“That’s really where I get to connect, one- onone, uplifting individual people on a daily basis,” Lanni said.
As for future goals, Lanni said he would love to do something at the Hirshhorn Museum in D.C. and possibly the floral arrangements for the opening of the “Van Gogh in America” exhibit, opening at theDetroit Institute of Arts in 2022?
“That would be a huge honor as well because I spent a lot of time there as a kid,” Lanni said.