Boston Flora

Tag: Harvard University

  • Tuesday, September 14 & Wednesday, September 15 – A Virtual Design Symposium and Flower Show: The Life and Legacy of Frederick Law Olmsted

    The Albemarle Garden Club is thrilled to announce that Charlotte Moss,  American interior designer and national author of ten books, has agreed to serve as the honorary chair of AGC’s virtual flower show: “Genius of Place: an Ode to Frederick Law Olmsted.” This virtual flower show will attract judges and exhibitors from across the country. It will offer classes in four divisions – Floral Design, Horticulture, Photography, and Botanical Arts. The two day Olmsted Forum will debut with the “Preview” of the flower show on Tuesday, September 14 from 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm Eastern time. This will be a ticketed, virtual event and feature a presentation by Charlotte Moss. Her new book, launching this spring, is entitled Flowers.  $40. Register at https://www.albemarlegardenclub.com/olmsted-forum-tickets

    On Wednesday, September 15 from 1:30 – 5:00 pm Eastern Time, with the support of the National Association of Olmsted Parks and the Center for Cultural Landscapes at University of Virginia School of Architecture, Albemarle Garden Club is planning Olmsted Forum – 2021. Building on our successful fundraising platform —Design Forum— the focus of this event will be Frederick Law Olmsted.  Olmsted is commonly known as the father of landscape design.  The Forum will survey his life and lasting legacy, providing the opportunity to learn about Olmsted from an historical perspective and how and why parks are so important today.  This event will be one of the first in a year-long line up of events organized by the NAOP leading to the bicentennial of Olmsted’s birth in May 2022. 

    Olmsted scholars and practitioners will present talks focusing on the relevance of Olmsted’s legacy in the park movement today. Speakers will include:

    • Susan Rademacher, GCA Honorary Member since 2017. Susan is the founder and President of ForeGround Consulting, LLC.  She was the Parks Curator for the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy which preserved, enhanced and promoted the Pittsburgh Parks from 2007 until 2019.  During Susan’s tenure, the Conservancy raised more than $126 million and completed 22 major projects.  Susan also served as the assistant director of the Louisville Metro Parks and the president of the Louisville Olmsted Parks Conservancy from 1991-2007.  She  has lectured and taught extensively and has authored award winning  books and articles.  She has been the recipient of a prestigious Loeb fellowship at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, and received the Frederick Law Olmsted Award for Distinguished Leadership.
    • Sara Zewde,  Founding Principal of Studio Zewde.  Sara is an Assistant Professor of Practice at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design.  She was named the 2014 National Olmsted Scholar by the Landscape Architecture Foundation, a 2016 Artist-in Residence at the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, and in 2018 was named to the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s inaugural “40 under 40” list. Most recently, she was named a 2020 United States Artists Fellow.  Sara is a registered landscape architect and holds a master’s of landscape architecture from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, a master’s of city planning from MIT, and a BA in sociology and statistics from Boston University. 
    • Sara Cedar Miller, Central Park Conservancy Historian Emerita.  Sara first joined Central Park in 1984 as a photographer. She conducts extensive research on Central Park, lectures on history and is the  author of award-winning books. She was named in 2020 a Preservation Hero by the Library of American Landscape History.

    The moderator for a live conservation with the speakers will be Elizabeth K. Meyer, FASLA.  

    Beth Meyer, the Merrill D. Peterson Professor of Landscape Architecture at the University of Virginia.  She founded the Center for Cultural Landscapes at UVA and is broadly recognized as one of the most influential landscape architectural critics and theorists.  She is a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects and the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture. She was awarded the Vincent Scully Prize by The National Building Museum in 2019 and in 2017 the Jot D. Carpenter Teaching Medal from the American Society of Landscape Architects. 

    The forum will also include a presentation by Albemarle Garden Club on its work at the Booker T. Washington Park in Charlottesville, Virginia. 

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    Format:  this will be a hybrid event with some components pre-recorded and available for viewing ahead of the event for ticket holders.  Speaker introductions and the panel discussion will be live and links will be provided to ticket holders. Register at https://www.albemarlegardenclub.com/olmsted-forum-tickets

  • Through July 18 – A Walk in the Arboretum: Digital Photocollages by Amy Ragus

    Amy Ragus brought her impressive background in photography to the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University’s current virtual exhibition. Using a collage method, she focuses primarily on New England landscapes. For the Arboretum show, Ragus gathered material on walks in the Arboretum between October 2019 and August 2020.

    Her interest in depicting the experience of being surrounded by space, as she moves through the landscape, is evident in each of her digital photocollages; however, less obvious, but more potent, is how she continued her creative journey once COVID became the prevailing concern in early 2020.

    From her first visits in 2019, when she was simply interested in taking in the Arboretum’s role as a public park and learning more about it as a unique outdoor museum, her focus suddenly shifted in spring 2020. Ragus noted that some times were tense as guidelines were first learned and adopted; yet in Ragus’s words, which echoed the words of other 2020-2021 exhibiting artists and thousands of our visitors, “The pandemic closed other parks in Massachusetts, but the Arboretum chose to stay open as a much needed sanctuary. A place to simply walk became vital.”

    Ragus’s photographic approach is to depict the experience of being surrounded by space as she moves through the landscape. To achieve this, she stands in one location shooting multiple frames that collectively depict an expanded viewpoint. As she merges the separate frames with Photoshop, some areas are smoothly continuous, while others show distinct rectangles. Her goal is to offer an experience of space, incorporating specific details and a general mood of the season.

    Her closing image in the virtual series is titled “The earth above and the sky below” but she adds a sub-title of “The Triumph of Spring,” which is a message she wants to hold on to.

    Amy Ragus has exhibited extensively throughout New England and beyond, and is the recipient of many prestigious grants, fellowships, and residencies. Her work is included in numerous public collections including Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University, Danforth Museum in Framingham, Columbia University, and the Boston Athenaeum.

    Works are digital photocollages.

    All rights of the images reside with the artist. For more information on making a copy, or reusing an image, please send your request to arbweb@arnarb.harvard.edu.

    For information on the work itself, or to inquire about purchasing art, please also send your request to arbweb@arnarb.harvard.edu. We will put you in touch with the artist. Her website is www.amyragus.com. Her “News” section will have other materials and links related to this series.

    A recent interview with The Woven Tale Press, including images of other work, can be viewed at: www.thewoventalepress.net/2021/02/15/photocollage-as-painting. To view, visit https://arboretum.harvard.edu/a-walk-in-the-arboretum-digital-photocollages-by-amy-ragus/

  • Monday, February 22, 7:00 pm – The Pecan: A History of America’s Native Nut, Online

    This February 22 free Zoom talk at 7 pm Eastern is the first of three lectures in the Arnold Arboretum’s Director’s Lecture Series. Register at https://harvard.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_kAicDT3WRwGwXUExDs4Oxg

    In the United States, the pecan tree is native to a region stretching from central Texas to western Alabama, and from the Gulf of Mexico to southern Illinois. Today, most pecans grown for commercial consumption come from New Mexico and Georgia, places with no native pecans. What makes the extension of pecan production beyond its native habitat possible is the art and science of domestication. The pecan tree went from being primarily wild to primarily domesticated in an astonishingly quick period of time–a matter of decades. James McWilliams’ talk will explore the intricacies of this process while challenging us to think more critically about what we mean by ideas such as “natural,” “artificial,” and “authentic,” all of which are central to understanding the food we produce and consume.

  • Thursday, February 11, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – Growing Small Fruits in Your Backyard, Online

    This Massachusetts Horticultural Society class on February 11 from 7 – 8:30, online, is for those who want to grow small fruits in their backyard or on small commercial fruit farms. Growing blueberries, brambles, strawberries, or currants in your backyard can be rewarding and fun. This class will provide an overview on how to successfully grow these attractive fruits in your home landscape, be it a rural, suburban, or urban lot for ornamental purposes and for fruit production.

    Instructed by J. Stephen Casscles, Esq.

    J. Stephen Casscles is a government lawyer with over 35 years of experience in New York State and municipal government. He has dedicated his life to public service and has practiced law in a broad range of areas such as health, insurance, alcoholic beverage control, gaming, agriculture, economic development, municipal finance, and land-use law. 

    An enthusiastic viticulturalist, Stephen has a 12-acre farm in Athens, NY, called Cedar Cliff, where he cultivates over 110 different French-American hybrids, 19th Century heritage grape varieties from the Hudson Valley and Massachusetts, and own rooted chance hybrids that he evaluates, makes wine from, and lectures about. In addition, he lectures on wine, grape cultivation, 19th century American horticulture and landscape architecture at botanical gardens and historical societies throughout New York and New England. Mr. Casscles operates a small grape nursery that specializes in propagating rare French-American hybrids, 19th Century heritage grape varieties developed in the Hudson Valley, Boston’s North Shore, the rest of New England, and own rooted chance hybrids identified at his farm Cedar Cliff. He is an award-winning winemaker who currently works at Sabba Estate Vineyards, in Old Chatham, NY and formally of the Hudson-Chatham Winery in Ghent, NY (2007-2019) and his wines been covered by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Wine Enthusiast, New York Post, Hugh Johnson’s Annual Pocket Wine Book (2021), and The Albany Times-Union. 

    As a regional historian, Stephen authored Grapes of the Hudson Valley and Other Cool Climate Regions of the United States and Canada, which details the history of the Hudson Valley fruit growing industry, how to make wine, establish and maintain a vineyard, and the growing characteristics of over 170 cool climate grape varieties. He is currently working on two new books, The Prince Family Nurseries of Flushing, NY (1720-1869) and The Life and Times of E. S. Rogers and the Heritage Grapes of New England. 

    In addition to his full length works on grape varieties, grape cultivation, and 19th century horticulture,  Stephen is a frequent contributor to academic and trade journals such as Arnoldia of the Arnold Arboretum of Boston, MA, Fruit Notes of U. Mass Amherst, Horticultural News of Rutgers University, Wine Journal of the American Wine Society, New York Fruit Quarterly of the NYS Horticultural Society, and the Hudson Valley Wine Magazine

    As a culmination of his horticultural pursuits, Stephen advises and lectures at the Fermentation Sciences Program at SUNY at Cobleskill, and has a working relationship with professors at U-1 University Youngdong, Korea, and with many in the Korean grape and wine industry. 

    Stephen can be reached at cassclesjs@yahoo.com or by cell at 518-755-5475. 

    $18 for Mass Hort members, $26 for nonmembers. Register at www.masshort.org

  • Thursday, January 28, 7:00 pm – Racial Equity in Urban Climate Action, Online

    Joan Fitzgerald, Professor of Urban Planning and Policy at Northeastern University, will build on key concepts in her new book, Greenovation: Urban Leadership on Climate Change (2020). On January 28 at 7 pm, with the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, she’ll discuss how cities are rethinking their approach to climate action by placing racial justice at the forefront. She’ll draw from recent experiences with Providence, Austin, and Oakland in creating participatory planning processes and new priorities for a just transition to a carbon-free society. She’ll conclude by discussing how the transition can be linked to jobs in the green economy. Join us via Zoom.
    Free, but registration required by clicking HERE.

  • Through Sunday, February 7 – If Winter Comes … The Promise of Each Year in the Paintings of Anthony Apesos

    The Arnold Arboretum comes to life in Tony Apesos’s sensitive and expressive oil paintings. Working in his studio, he recaptures an essential essence derived from his frequent walks in the Arboretum. When elements of the landscape catch his eye, he interprets them with brush and spirit in accomplished works. His series of winter landscapes are especially vibrant, layered so finely that the cold and stillness of the land reverberate within the image.

    Apesos is a professor at Lesley University College of Art and Design and has been extensively represented in solo and group exhibitions. He has received many honors, been included in numerous publications, and lectured widely. You can visit his website.

    All rights of the images reside with the artist. For more information on making a copy, or reusing an image, please send your request to arbweb@arnarb.harvard.edu

    For information on the work itself, or to inquire about purchasing artwork, please also send your requests to arbweb@arnarb.harvard.edu We will put you in touch with the artist.

  • Saturday, November 14, 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm – Fabulous Fungus Fair, Online

    Explore the wondrous world of fungi! Join Harvard students on November 14 from 2 – 3:30 for a closer look at the mushrooms, yeasts, and molds found in gardens, forests, labs—even in our own refrigerators. This popular annual event turns virtual this year, featuring videos created by Harvard students. Join the webinar to participate in live conversation in response to student projects. Be prepared to see fungi in a whole new way!

    Zoom Registration information at https://hmsc.harvard.edu/event/fabulous-fungus-fair-0.

    To join the program, you will need to download the free Zoom app in advance. If you already have Zoom, you do not need to download it again. For details on how to improve your Zoom experience, visit the How to Attend an HMSC Program webpage

  • The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University’s New Website

    The Arnold Arboretum has just released an entirely new website, a fresh portal to the institution that has been two years in the making! Ned Friedman says: “We set out to create an online identity as evocative, welcoming, and revelatory as the collections and landscape themselves.  Over the next few weeks, we will introduce you to newly curated stories from the Arboretum including plant biographies, tales of plant exploration, scientific discoveries, and the institution’s multifaceted roles in promoting social and environmental justice. We will pull back the curtain to reveal some of the magic that lies behind our roughly 16,000 woody plants and 281 acres of Olmsted-designed landscape. Today I’m excited to share a new feature with you. “Walks” offer virtual tours of the Living Collections, curated and designed by our staff, including me. The Director’s Tour illuminates just a few of the thousands of plants I’ve photographed and been captivated by over the past decade. Join me to find out why I love snakebark maples (and why you should too), why inhaling putrid ginkgo seeds is vivifying, and why I worship the acorns of the Oriental oak. And when you next visit, make your way to these very plants to experience their charms through the seasons in person. ” Very exciting news indeed.

  • Arnold Arboretum Expeditions App Now Available

    Discover a whole new way to interact with the Arnold Arboretum! Expeditions is a mobile app, created to help visitors get better acquainted with the Arboretum’s 281-acre landscape and some of the most spectacular collections. Expeditions shares stories about plants, conservation, and exploration history through a variety of media including photos and audio clips. Hear behind-the-scenes stories from staff illuminating how plants are collected, cared for, and shared with the world. Download Expeditions  free of cost from the Apple and Google Play stores, or view it on an internet browser at home.  The complete description may be found in the Harvard Gazette article by clicking HERE.

  • Wednesdays, July 22 – August 12, 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm – Plant Based Printing Processes Online

    This Office for the Arts at Harvard class is an introduction to plant-based printing processes that use light and common plant materials. It will cover anthotypes, chlorophyll printing, and other plant-based printing methods. We will meet with instructor Anne Eder via online platform once a week for demonstrations and students will then take what they have learned and complete that week’s assignment, returning for troubleshooting, critique and a new demo each week. Everything needed to take this course should be easily obtainable from the backyard, a nearby park, or even the grocery. (4 classes, Wednesdays, July 22 – August 12, 6:30 – 8:30 Eastern).

    $120 – register online and access the materials list at https://ofa.fas.harvard.edu/classes/plant_print1_eder For questions regarding course content, policies or materials, please contact Director, Kathy King at kking@fas.harvard.edu.