Mythical creatures take over Lewis Ginter this summer

Walk through Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden right now and you’ll come across creatures that don’t exist anywhere in the natural world. A dragon with a lizard’s tail. A horned beast wearing the wings of a bird. Each one is huge, impossibly colorful, and covered in patterns that reward a long look.

These are alebrijes, and they’re the stars of the Garden’s newest exhibition, ALEBRIJES: Creatures of a Dreamworld, on view now through September 27, 2026. The show pairs the fantastical sculptures with the living landscape around them, and it’s a first on two counts: never before have these creatures appeared in a botanical garden, and never before have they been shown anywhere on the East Coast. Admission is included with Garden entry, and members get in free.

Where the creatures come from

Alebrijes are mash-ups by design. Each one combines features from different animals, some real and some mythical, into a single form that’s never quite like anything else. The result is a creature built entirely from imagination, with every painted feather, scale, and horn carrying a piece of the story.

The art form traces back to the 1930s and a Mexico City artist named Pedro Linares, who is credited with dreaming up the first ones. Since then, alebrijes have become some of the most recognizable symbols of Mexican art and cultural expression. The sculptures at Lewis Ginter carry that lineage forward, set against the plants and natural scenery that inspired their makers in the first place.

How they’re built

There’s real craft behind the spectacle. The pieces are made using cartonería, a traditional Mexican technique that starts with a metal frame, layers it in papier-mâché, and finishes it with acrylic paint to bring out those signature colors. The exhibition features work from four artisans: Edgar Camargo Reyes, Alberto Moreno Fernández, Alejandro Camacho Barrera, and Perla Miriam Salgado Zamorano. Each draws on the plants, animals, and landscapes around them, which makes a garden a fitting place to see the results.

The creatures will be at Lewis Ginter through the end of September, giving Richmond the whole summer to wander the grounds and meet a few of them. For anyone who’s only ever seen alebrijes in a book or on a screen, this is the rare chance to stand next to one and take in the detail up close.