Boston Flora

Tag: Arnold Arboretum

  • Saturday, September 24, 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm – Digging Deeper: The Arnold Arboretum by Design

    The Arnold Arboretum exists by design. As a freely accessible, public landscape in the heart of Boston, this 280-acre natural preserve, was set aside from development for a thousand years through the careful negotiations between Frederick Law Olmsted, Charles Sprague Sargent, and the Parks department in 1872. This Garden Conservancy tour on September 24 from 4 – 6 will describe the newest landscape projects at the Arnold, from elevated boardwalks to refined entrances, as each project is predicted on a history of great design in the public realm. We will discuss historic and present plans that ensure future access to one of the most renowned living collections in the world. $30 for Garden Conservancy members, $40 for nonmembers. Register at https://www.gardenconservancy.org/open-days/open-days-schedule/digging-deeper-the-arnold-arboretum-by-design

    For more information, please contact the Garden Conservancy by telephone 845.424.6500, M-F, 9-5 Eastern, or email events@gardenconservancy.org.  

  • Tuesday, September 13, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – Director’s Series – Journeys: The Arnold Arboretum Meets the World’s Plants and Peoples, Online

    Join Moderator Dr. William (Ned) Friedman, Director, Arnold Arboretum, and Panelists Dr. Yota Batsaki, Executive Director of Dumbarton Oaks, Dr. Michael Dosmann, Keeper of the Living Collections, Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, and Andrew Gapinski, Director of Horticulture, Arnold Arboretum, Harvard University, for the annual Director’s Series. To celebrate the Arboretum’s sesquicentennial, this year’s series will explore the Magic and Meaning of a Garden of Trees. Over the course of four sessions, we will trace the Arnold’s significance in the landscape architecture movement, value for the people of Boston, and leadership in creating global connections between plants and people. This session will include brief presentations and a moderated panel. The program is free and is offered both in person and livestreamed.  This event will also be presented in-person at the Arboretum’s Weld Hill Research Building at 1300 Centre Street, Boston, MA 02131. To sign up for the in-person event, click here. To register for the online stream, click here.

  • Through Monday, October 3 – Tree Ring Histories: The Quilts of Anna Von Mertens

    Working with international dendrochronologists, conceptual artist Anna Von Mertens culled source images of tree ring cross-sections from studies connecting climate variability and periods of human instability. The events represented in her quilts correlate to periods of drought recorded by the tree rings. Fading thread colors mirror and highlight historical events. The exhibit takes place at The Arnold Arboretum, and is free. For more information visit https://arboretum.harvard.edu/events/

  • Friday, August 12, 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm – Oaks and Hickories Tour

    Join Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University Keeper of the Living Collections Michael Dosmann on August 12 at 1 pm on a stroll through the Arboretum’s nut collections, particularly the oaks and the hickories. Learn about some historical collections, recent acquisitions from expeditions, and other fun facets of their natural history.

    This tour is limited to 25 participants. We ask that you only register if you are sure you will attend, and only register one person per form submission.

    Please meet at the Centre Street Gate. Street parking is available outside most entrance gates, along the Arborway, Bussey Street, and the Arboretum perimeter. There is no visitor parking inside the Arboretum. The Arboretum is easily reached by public transportation. Take the 38 bus to the Centre Street and Westchester Road stop or take the Orange Line to Forest Hills and walk north along the Arborway to reach the Arboretum.

    In the event of inclement weather, registrants will be notified. For more information, please call (617) 384-5209. Free. Sign up HERE.

  • Summer of 2022 – The Nature of Art/The Art of Nature, In-Person and Online

    The Arnold Arboretum art shows are offered in-person at the Hunnewell Building at 125 Arborway (open noon–4pm, Friday through Monday) and virtually at www.arboretum.harvard.edu. In The Nature of Art/The Art of Nature, fourteen artists from New England Book Artists have their work on view this summer. Each artist takes a personal look at nature, combining their own interpretation of what resonates with them with a singular book design. From a Dragonfly to Wild Roses, a celebration of Walking in the Arboretum to a memorial to the Ashes of a lost farm, these artists bring an thoughtful and intriguing vision to the world of art within nature and the nature of books.

  • Through Summer, 2022 – Stoneroot Epistle

    Collage and Words in Conversation is a superb definition of the Arnold Arboretum’s current show in the Hunnnewell Visitor Center, Stoneroot Epistle. Poet Joyce Swagerty and her daughter, artist Daina Swagerty, collaborated to bring to the Arboretum this singular interpretation and articulation of the journey of a seed—an acorn—traveling though life. Our art shows are offered in-person at the Hunnewell Building at 125 Arborway (open noon–4pm, Friday through Monday) and virtually HERE.

  • Now Through Summer, 2022 – Meaningful Beauty: The Vibrant Vocabulary of Honeysuckles

    The exhibition, Meaningful Beauty: The Vibrant Vocabulary of Honeysuckles, celebrates the diversity of honeysuckles, and explores how differences in form allow various species of the plant to effectively communicate with their environment. Through a blend of artistic and scientific imagery—including illustration, animation, photography, maps, and diagrams—the exhibition conveys key concepts in evolution and plant form. The exhibition further engages visitors of all ages through digital and interactive technology, including projection, kiosks, as well as extensive use of augmented reality to blend art with science and personalize the experience for each visitor. Arnold Arboretum art shows are offered in-person at the Hunnewell Building at 125 Arborway (open noon–4pm, Friday through Monday) and virtually by clicking HERE.

  • Saturday, July 9, 2:00 pm – 7:00 pm – MassQ Ball 2022 : Origin

    The MassQ Ball 2022 will feature the diverse artistic expressions of and for Boston’s communities of color. A space for connection and healing, this intergenerational, cross-cultural exhibition of the arts asks the question “If we, together, could author our own creation story, what would we create?

    Imagine an art event where instead of looking at objects on walls we look at each other; where instead of going to see art, we become it; where people convene and converge with nature, arts, and each other to celebrate what makes us both unique and unified. This is the inspiration behind MassQ Ball 2022: Origin. 

    The event takes place in the Conifer Forest of the Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway, on July 9 from 2 – 7. For more information visit https://www.massqball.com/the-ball or email massqball@admin

  • Monday, May 16, 7:00 pm – Director’s Series – Life: The Arnold Arboretum as an Institution of Public Health

    Join the Arnold Arboretum’s Director William (Ned) Friedman for the annual Director’s Series! To celebrate the Arboretum’s sesquicentennial, this year’s series will explore the Magic and Meaning of a Garden of Trees. Over the course of four sessions, we will trace the Arnold’s significance in the landscape architecture movement, value for the people of Boston, and leadership in creating global connections between plants and people. This session will include brief presentations and a moderated panel. The program is free and is offered both in person and livestreamed. 

    Panelists:

    • Dr. Michelle Kondo, Research Social Scientist, UDSA-Forest Service
    • Rev. Mariama White-Hammond, Chief of Environment, Energy, and Open Space, City of Boston
    • Laurence Cotton, Consulting Producer, “Frederick Law Olmsted: Designing America,” PBS

    Moderator: Dr. William (Ned) Friedman, Director, Arnold Arboretum

    To sign up for the virtual event, click HERE. This event will also be presented in-person at the Arboretum’s Weld Hill Research Building at 1300 Centre Street, Boston, MA 02131. To sign up for the in-person event, click here.

  • Tuesday, March 29, 2:00 pm – Celebrating a Sesquicentennial: The Founding of the Arnold Arboretum, Live and Online

    The Arnold Arboretum was founded on Friday, March 29, 1872. Exactly 150 years later, we invite you to join Lisa Pearson, Head of the Arboretum Library and Archives, for a special sesquicentennial lecture! Pearson will discuss the earliest benefactors of the Arboretum, the events surrounding the founding of the institution, and the busy first two decades during which the infrastructure and living collections were installed on the grounds. This event will also be livestreamed to YouTube. To sign up for the virtual livestream instead, click here. To sign up for the live presentation, click here.

    All attendees age 12 or over must bring proof of vaccination in order to enter the building—please bring either a vaccination card or a digital copy. Visitors age 17 and older must also present a valid driver’s license or government-issued form of ID, such as a passport. Attendees are required to wear masks indoors. 

    Registration is limited to 40 in-person attendees. We ask that you only register if you are sure you will attend, and only register one person per form submission. Parking is available on-site at the Weld Hill Research Building. Find directions here.