Art holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from North Carolina State and an MBA from James Madison University. He founded Chadwick & Son Orchids Inc in 1989 with his father who had been growing orchids since 1943.
‘The Classic Cattleyas’ is widely considered to be the definitive book on large-flowered Cattleya species and was written by Art and his father. Martha Stewart favorably reviewed the now-sold out book and had both Chadwicks on her TV Show. A 2nd edition was released in 2024.
A follow-up companion book, First Ladies and their Orchids: A Century of Namesake Cattleyas, was launched the same year and highlights the 19 consecutive First Ladies (starting with Mrs. Woodrow Wilson), their namesake hybrids and the growers who made it happen.
Book signings for both publications are available.
Art has the distinction of naming Cattleya hybrids after the wives of the last six U.S. Presidents and personally presenting the flowers to most of the honored recipients. He has spoken at three World Orchid Conferences - France 2005, Ecuador 2017, Germany 2026 and his popular orchid advice column appeared each month in many newspapers around the country for 20 years.
Chadwicks operates 13 greenhouses in rural Powhatan County, two retail stores in Richmond, and boards over 13,000 orchids for local clients. The company was recently featured in Southern Living magazine, The New York Times, the Washington Post, CBS Sunday Morning, and O Magazine.