Daily Archives: August 25, 2023


Thursday, September 14, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – Seeding Change: The Politics of Plants

Plants provide a medium for the creative expression of individual identities, shared narratives, and collective memories, yet they are also inherently political, and never more so than in the midst of our rapidly warming climate. As changes to the climate become more volatile, how are designers, gardeners, and others who work directly with plants developing adaptive strategies to changes both environmental and social?

This September 14 conversation at 7 pm in Calderwood Hall at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum will convene landscape architect Rosetta S. Elkin of Pratt Institute, Stephanie Morningstar of the Northeast Farmers of Color Land Trust, and Erika Rumbley, and the Gardner’s Stanley P. Kozak, Director of Horticulture, in dialogue with Charles Waldheim, the Gardner’s Ruettgers Curator of Landscape and Irving Professor of Landscape Architecture at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design. Together they will consider the cultural, social, and political meanings of plants, and share approaches to adaptive strategies, particularly as these relate to seed-keeping and sharing. This program is organized in connection with the current exhibition Presence of Plants in Contemporary Art. Tickets may be purchased at https://www.gardnermuseum.org/calendar/seeding-change-politics-plants


Thursday, September 21, 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm Eastern – Guardians of the Valley: John Muir and the Friendship That Saved Yosemite, Live and Online

In June of 1889 in San Francisco, John Muir—environmentalist, writer, and philosopher—meets, for the first time, his longtime editor Robert Underwood Johnson, an elegant and influential figure at The Century magazine. Before long, the pair, opposites in many ways, decide to venture to Yosemite Valley. Upon their arrival they confront a shocking sight: predatory mining, tourism, and logging industries have plundered and defaced “the grandest of all the special temples of Nature.” While Muir is consumed by grief, Johnson, a champion of society’s pressing debates through the pages of the nation’s most prestigious magazine, decides that he and Muir must fight back. The pact they form marks a watershed moment, leading to the creation of Yosemite National Park and the launching of an environmental battle that captivates the nation and ushers in the beginning of the American environmental movement. 

Join the Massachusetts Historical Society either live or online on September 21 for a talk with author Dean King. This is a hybrid event. FREE for MHS Members. $10 per person fee (in person). No charge for virtual attendees or Card to Culture participants (EBT, WIC, and ConnectorCare). The in-person reception starts at 5:30 and the program will begin at 6:00.

Register to attend online

Register to attend in person