Daily Archives: July 22, 2023

Sunday, July 30, 3:00 pm – Be The Change with Jane Hirschi

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Join Jane Hirschi, author of We Garden Together, for Porter Square Book’s July event, Be The Change! The talk will take place at Porter Square Books, 25 White Street in Cambridge, on July 30 at 3 pm. Autographed books will be available for purchase.

Kids don’t need a big backyard or outdoor space to learn about gardening and how plants grow. This introductory garden book, We Garden Together, is packed with photos of 3 to 6 year olds in action, features hands-on planting and growing activities that can be done in a small yard, classroom, or community garden. Written by the staff of City Sprouts, a leading educational organization in promoting urban gardening and equitable access to nature, each activity—from Sorting Seeds to Going on a Worm Hunt to Planting a Tasty Salad—encourages kids to roll up their sleeves and learn about seeds, planting, and gardening. Step-by-step photos and on-the-page discovery prompts, presented in a lively design, make it easy and inviting for kids everywhere to become plant lovers and nature explorers.   

Jane Hirschi is the founding director of CitySprouts, a nationally recognized program that provides early science and nature education in collaboration with 20 public schools in the greater Boston area. She is passionate about making sure that all children have opportunities for hands-on science education in the garden and the chance to get to know the natural surroundings in their own neighborhood. A regular presenter at conferences regionally and nationally, Hirschi has been recognized as a Social Innovator by Root Cause Social Innovation Forum and is the author of Ripe for Change: Garden-Based Learning in Schools. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts. 

Through October 15 – CHIAOZZA, a Sculpture Exhibition

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Experience CHIAOZZA, an exhibit of imaginative, colorful sculptures and wall works displayed across New England Botanic Garden through October 15, 2023. Discover the surprising creative parallels between growing plants and making art in a show inspired by the wonders of the plant world. 

In this lively and playful exhibition, Brooklyn-based artists Adam Frezza and Terri Chiao explore the curious forms found in grafted trees and plants. Strolling through the gardens, visitors will encounter a series of 10 large sculptures called “Gemels” ranging in height from five to ten feet each. The works themselves, painted paper pulp forms set on white pedestals, emerge along walking paths, nestled among plantings, in flower beds, under trees, and even in a fountain. As part of the exhibition, additional sculptures, wall works, and a short film created by the artists are on view inside the Milton Gallery.

CHIAOZZA (rhymes with “wowza” or “yowza”) is inspired by Leo Lionni, best known for his numerous acclaimed children’s books, such as Inch by Inch and Frederick, wrote the book Parallel Botany, in which he explored the world of “parallel”—or imagined—plants. He presented very convincing folklore, scientific studies, histories, and illustrations of extraordinary and peculiar plants that exist in parallel with those of the visible world, all of which were invented by him.  For more information, visit https://nebg.org/chiaozza/