Experience the intersection of architecture, history and landscape in the evocative paintings of award-winning artist and author Adam Van Doren. Trained as an architect at Columbia University, Van Doren brings a profound understanding of form and design to his impressionistic oil and watercolor paintings, capturing the poetic beauty of historic buildings situated within their natural surroundings from New York to Rome. Van Doren’s work celebrates the dialogue between the built environment and the landscape, translating his love of old buildings into detailed compositions of a particular place, illuminated by strokes of color.
The exhibition at Berkshire Botanical Garden runs June 6 – August 23 in the Leonhardt Galleries. Opening reception is Friday, June 5, 5-7 p.m.
A collaboration of gardeners, educators, designers and business leaders, the Nantucket Garden Festival highlights the unique and beautiful garden ecosystems on Nantucket and focuses on the importance of sustainability, conservation and gardening ethics for the long-term health of the island. 2026 marks the 17th anniversary of the Festival! Join us for a celebration of gardening through a host of educational workshops, exquisite garden tours, family activities and parties. View the schedule of events here: www.NantucketGardenFestival.org.
Nantucket Lighthouse School’s educational garden and greenhouse provide students with a living laboratory and a deeper connection to the natural world. Advised by the late Russell, Morash, Chair of Childhood Horticulture at Nantucket Lighthouse School, our weekly horticulture classes allow children to grow, experiment, observe, and learn—while also teaching them how to care for the environment.
Your support of the Nantucket Garden Festival, at any level, nurtures a year-round community of Nantucket Lighthouse School students who practice and model the spirit of sustainability every day.
To learn more about NGF26 sponsorship opportunities for individuals and businesses, please contact Nantucket Lighthouse School.
This Berkshire Botanical Garden exhibition at the Leonhardt Gallery showcases Jenine Shereos’ ongoing dialogue with plants and the natural world. Visitors will encounter her dreamlike photographs of floral installations created in France, alongside textiles woven from yarn she hand-dyed using local plants and lichens. Also featured are her intricately crafted leaves stitched entirely with human hair. Shereos, who lives in the Berkshires, is Assistant Professor of Fibers at Massachusetts College of Art and Design in Boston. Exhibition hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m, daily. For more information visit https://www.berkshirebotanical.org/leonhardt-galleries-2026
Step into a world where clay becomes living form in Grand Gesture: Monumental Vessels in the Garden, an exhibition at Berkshire Botanical Garden in Stockbridge, Mass., featuring the striking sculptures of Vermont-based ceramicist Stephen Procter. Placed throughout the Garden, Procter’s works turn simple materials into forms that feel both grounded and expressive.
The exhibition runs May 16 through October. A public reception will be held on Friday, May 15, from 5 to 7 p.m. Garden hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., daily.
Procter’s large vessels — some weighing up to 250 pounds and standing as tall as five feet — are both monumental and approachable, inviting reflection and a personal response. As physical objects, they draw the eye and shape the spaces around them; as sculptures, they carry a calm, steady presence. Reflecting on the meaning behind the exhibition’s title, Procter explains that a “grand gesture” goes beyond scale. “More important is the inspiration that motivates and justifies the scale. The animating impulse often includes some mixture of generosity, expansiveness, gratitude, compassion, awe, and love,” he says.
Set within the changing environment of the Garden, the works shift over time. “In the Garden, the vessels are constantly changing,” Procter notes. “The surfaces, even unglazed, subtly reflect light. Shadows of leaves play on them, they shine in rain … and take on moss patina over time.”
Procter describes his practice as “a long-term investigation into the mystery of form,” exploring how gesture and volume can evoke emotional responses. Visitors may find themselves forming unexpected connections with the sculptures. According to Procter, the vessels communicate in a non-verbal language that reaches beyond the intellect: “Their mode of communication bypasses the realm of the intellect and goes directly to something deeper.” If they could speak, he adds, “they might be, ‘Be here now. I am with you.’” In addition to the outdoor installation, smaller, classically inspired works by Procter will be on view in the Leonhardt Galleries.
After decades of refining his craft, Procter still finds each installation moment meaningful. “We set it down, and so often someone in the party exclaims words I love to hear: ‘It looks like it has always been here!’”
Step into a world of color and wonder at the New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill on May 16 – November 1 with Glass in Flight. This unforgettable exhibition features 30 larger-than-life stained-glass and steel sculptures expertly crafted by artist Alex Heveri. Encounter giant hummingbirds, butterflies, dragonflies, beetles, and more as they shimmer in the sunlight, soar overhead, pose in midair, or hide among the blooms. Blending brilliant color, light, and scale, Glass in Flight celebrates these charismatic creatures and their environmental significance. Discover their hidden secrets like never before.
Alex Heveri is a nationally recognized glass and steel sculptor and a full-time defense attorney based in Tucson, Arizona. For more than 30 years, she has transformed public and private spaces with bold, luminous sculptures crafted from steel and colorful glass.
Her signature stained-glass technique, dalle de verre, is a method originating in France where thick slabs of colored glass are cut and shaped into bold designs and set into place with epoxy. This creates a textured, luminous surface that comes alive in natural light, shifting and glowing as the sun moves across the sky. Over the past five years, Alex has created more than 150 monumental steel-and-glass sculptures, some soaring over 14 feet tall. Each work is conceived, designed, cut, assembled, and welded entirely by Alex in her Tucson home studio.
Her traveling exhibition Glass in Flight has been featured at major botanic gardens across the United States, including Tucson Botanical Gardens, Arizona-Sonoran Desert Museum, Reiman Gardens, Houston Botanic Garden, Atlanta Botanical Garden, and Flamingo Gardens. She is honored to present the exhibition at New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill, marking her first exhibition in New England. For this special presentation, Alex has created several never-before-seen works, including a hummingbird archway, two praying mantids, a luna moth, a rosy maple moth, and a magical butterfly tree.
Don’t miss Glass in Flight at golden hour this summer with extended Garden hours on Wednesday and Thursday evenings! This exhibit is included with general admission.
In partnership with Boston Parks & Recreation, the Gibson House Museum will be hosting a Promenade in the Public Garden to celebrate Boston’s Victorian history. Dress up in your Victorian-inspired finest and experience firsthand the Boston elite practice of parading around to be seen. Enjoy a formal promenade with costume contest at the Public Garden, then walk to the nearby Gibson House Museum for an open house featuring a special exhibition : It’s About That Walk: Victorian Promenade Culture and Costume. The program is supported in part by a grant from the Boston Cultural Council. Free, but reserve a spot through Eventbrite HERE.
Come to the Salem Fiber Witch Festival hosted by practicing witches in historic downtown Salem, Massachusetts, aka the Witch City.
The main event is the Fiber Witch Market. Our Fiber Witch Market is hosted at Old Town Hall, which you may recognize from the beloved 90s movie, Hocus Pocus, and features indie yarn, farm yarn, arts, and handmade goods with a witchy vibe.
The festival also includes exclusive tours around Salem, an exclusive party at the Hotel Salem, workshops, and more!
Inclusivity note: Masks will be required at the Fiber Witch Market between 11 am and noon for all vendors, volunteers and attendees to allow immunocompromised folks to participate. For complete information visit https://www.fiberwitchfestival.com/
The American Public Gardens Association’s Annual Conference offers a variety of programs specifically designed for the needs of public garden professionals. Topics reflect current trends, celebrations, and issues facing our industry. The Annual Conference features sessions and workshops led by members who are experts in their fields, a large variety of local tours, a sizeable exhibit hall, well-respected Keynote and Plenary speakers, Association Awards, in-conference events, receptions, and so much more. Join us in San Francisco June 8 – 12 for a week of learning, networking, and local fun! The 2026 host gardens are Filoli and Gardens of Golden Gate Park. Visit https://www.publicgardens.org/events/annual-conference/ for complete details.
Join The New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill on May 2 and 3 for a weekend-long celebration of botanically inspired art and ink in partnership with North Moon Tattoo. Get inked among the blooms and choose from available flash designs or pre-book a session in advance. Take in the atmosphere as you watch tattoo artistry unfold, browse a curated artisan market, and gain exclusive insight from celebrity artist talks on the craft and culture of tattooing.
For this special event, we’re open late. As the sun and the ink sets, enjoy live music performances, wander the gardens at golden hour, and unwind with refreshing craft beers and cocktails from our beer garden. Whether you’re adding to your collection or simply soaking in the sights, this vibrant fusion of nature and ink is an experience you won’t want to miss. Stay tuned for a sneak peek of the flash designs!
