Mfa

Wednesday, April 24, 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm – The Vertical Garden: Biological Design and Urban Architecture

by

Patrick Blanc, the inventor of the gravity-defying vertical garden, tells the story of his lifelong passion for botanical pursuits, and reveals his methods for transforming naked walls with nature, in a lecture at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, on Wednesday, April 24, from 7 – 8. Blanc changes the way the public considers architecture and landscape design.  Book signing follows. Tickets are $15 for MFA members, seniors and students, and $18 for non members.  Purchase tickets at www.mfa.org,  or call 1-800-440-6975.

http://greensource.construction.com/bookreviews/2009/images/0901_vertical-garden.jpg

Saturday, April 27 – Monday, April 29 – Art In Bloom

by

Once again, garden clubs (including The Garden Club of the Back Bay) and professional designers from around New England will create floral arrangements inspired by works of art.  Art in Bloom 2013 includes the transformed William I. Koch Gallery with its collection of 16th and 17th century European paintings and Hanoverian silver as well as a spectacular new display of the Museum’s prized Korean collection.  Special events include an illustrated lecture and floral demonstration as well as flower arranging master classes presented by Shane Connolly, the heralded British floral designer and author.  Space is limited.

The Shane Connolly Master Classes will take place Saturday, April 27 and Sunday, April 28, from 10:30 – 12:30.  These are hands-on workshops, and are priced at $200 each.  Mr. Connolly will also present, on Monday, April 29 at 10:30 am, the lecture and demonstration entitled A Year in Flowers: Inspiration for Everyday Living, followed by a book signing ($55.)

For those who missed her at our Club’s March meeting, Maureen Bovet will present The Gardens of New York on Sunday, April 28 from 3 – 4, and past GCBB lecturer Suzanne Mahler will present Designing a Garden for All Seasons on Monday, April 29, also from 3 – 4.

Ikebana International Boston Chapter #17 will demonstrate floral creations from three Ikebana schools on Saturday, April 27, from 3 – 4.  For complete information and ticketing, visit www.mfa.org/artinbloom, or call 1-800-440-6975.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nioCgqENV0Y/Tbcfy76ja4I/AAAAAAAAAFM/ClnLPhlOqPE/s1600/shane.jpg

Wednesday, March 6, 10:00 am – New York Garden Spaces

by

Maureen Bovet presents the green side of the Big Apple to The Garden Club of the Back Bay on Wednesday, March 6, beginning at 10 am at The College Club, 44 Commonwealth Avenue in Boston. This photo show explores the wonderful public parks of New York City. Maureen was born and raised in NYC and her passion for gardening began there. She offers a unique view of the green spaces available to be enjoyed by natives and visitors alike. The history and the horticulture of these parks are illustrated by beautiful slides from her collection. Included are Wave Hill, the garden at The Cloisters, Olmsted-designed Central Park, with its 70-year-old Conservatory Garden, the new High Line Park modeled on a Paris railroad bed reuse, The New York Botanical Garden, and Battery Park at the tip of Manhattan looking out at the Statue of Liberty. She will discuss garden design and plant cultivation along with the fascinating history of these parks. Maureen is a Museum Associate at the MFA on the Flower Team, a graduate of Wellesley College, and a former student at the Arnold Arboretum Landscape Institute and the UMass Green School.  An optional lunch ($20) will follow the presentation.  Free to GCBB and College Club members, $5 contribution requested from nonmembers.  If you wish to attend, please email info@gardenclubbackbay.org to put your name on the list.

Saturday & Sunday, April 28 & 29, 10:30 am – 12:30 pm – Paula Pryke Master Classes

by

British floral designer Paula Pryke is known worldwide for her cutting edge, innovative floristry.  An inspiration to novices and experts alike, she speaks across the US and in Europe and Japan.  Her clientele includes celebrities, royalty, film set designers, and luxury cruise lines.  She has run an internationally renowned flower show school since 1994 and has written 14 best-selling books on flowers.  Her newest book, Flowers Every Day, was published in February 2012.  She will hold two separate master classes at The Museum of Fine Arts as part of this year’s Art in Bloom.  These hands-on flower arranging instruction sessions will take place Saturday, April 28 and Sunday, April 29, from 10:30 – 12:30, with each class size limited to 22.  $200 for each session, and you may register on line at www.mfa.org.

Monday, April 30, 10:30 am – 12:30 pm – Paula Pryke: Cutting Edge Floral Design

by

Join the MFA for an Art in Bloom floral demonstration and lecture with British floral designer Paula Pryke, who, as we detailed above, is known world-wide for her cutting-edge, innovative floristry. Her Master Classes are small and are priced accordingly, but you may see her demonstrate her skills while she lectures at the modest price of $35 on Monday, April 30, from 10:30 – 12:30.   She has run an internationally renowned flower school since 1994 and has written 14 best-selling books on flowers; her newest book, Flowers Every Day, was published in February 2012. Book signing in Museum bookstore and shop immediately follows lecture (no ticket required for book signing). Buy tickets now at www.mfa.org.

Spring, 2012 – Sakura Festival in Boston Will Include Planting of Cherry Trees in Boston

by

2012 marks the 100th Anniversary of the original gift of cherry trees from Japan to the United States in 1912. Planted at the Tidal Basin of the Potomac River in the nation’s capital and supplemented with more cherry trees over the years, the blossoming cherry trees of Washington DC have become a national treasure and attract hundreds of thousands of viewers to the “Cherry Blossom Festival” along the Potomac each spring. Japan will mark this Centennial with new gifts of cherry trees to Washington and to a number of other American cities, Boston among them. The Consulate General of Japan in Boston will arrange ceremonial cherry tree plantings in many Boston parks and public places. To accompany the new cherry trees, planning is now underway for a rich festival of Japanese cultural events in Boston, beginning in March 2012 and spanning more than three springtime months. Highlights of this festival include the events listed below. Many, many more festival events will be added during the coming weeks and months. For detailed information, schedules, details, and ticketing, please keep checking this website: www.japansocietyboston.org.

An Evening of Kabuki Dance
March 27: Paramount Theater, Boston
A spectacular presentation of classic dance pieces from the
Kabuki repertory, featuring Kabuki star performer Kotoji Bando.
(Presented by The Japan Society of Boston)

Anime Boston
April 6-8, Hines Convention Center, Boston
New England’s Largest Annual Celebration of
Japanese animation, comics and pop culture.
A not-to-be-missed festival and trade show of Anime art and publications.
Thousands attend, many in incredible anime costumes!

Boston Gagaku Concert
“From Centennial to Millennial Spring”
April 9, Boston Symphony Hall, Boston
The Kitanodai Gagaku Ensemble and
Members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra
will perform music by Tchaikovsky, and Gagaku
traditional Japanese Court Music.

Japan Society Annual Dinner
April 18, Westin Boston Waterfront Hotel, Boston
The Japan Society of Boston’s single largest annual gala event.
Keynote Speaker: Mr. Kazuo Inamori (Chairman of Japan Airlines and Founder/Honorary Chairman of Kyocera Corporation). Other guests of honor will include Japan’s internationally acclaimed wheelchair marathoner Ms. Wakako Tsuchida.

The Kioi Sinfonietta
May 1, Sanders Theater, Cambridge
Japan’s celebrated chamber orchestra will present a single concert appearance at Harvard’s beautiful Sanders Theater
(Presented by The Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies, Harvard, & The Japan Society of Boston).

The Beauty & Mystery of Japanese Textiles
May 2, Remis Auditorium, The Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Reiko Sudo, Japan’s brilliant textile designer and founder
of the world famous NUNO textile shop will speak on the transformation of traditional Japanese textiles into
contemporary works of art.
(Presented by the MFA and The Japan Society of Boston as the 2012 Rad Smith Program in Japanese Art)
________________________________________

Many other “Sakura Festival” events in Spring 2012 will include exhibits, performances, demonstrations, receptions, concerts, film programs, and symposia.

Wednesday, March 14, 7:00 pm – High Line: The Inside Story of New York City’s Park in the Sky

by

The 2012 Esther Steinberg Memorial Architecture Lecture at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston will take place Wednesday, March 14, beginning at 7 pm in the Remis Auditorium at the MFA.  Robert Hammond, co-founder and executive director, Friends of the High Line, will share the story of how the High Line, a new public park atop an elevated freight rail structure in Manhattan, became an innovative urban reclamation project.  Hammond and his co-founder collaborated with neighbors, elected officials, artists, local business owners, and leaders in horticulture and landscape architecture, to create a park celebrated as a model for creatively designed, socially vibrant, ecologically sound public space.  A book signing follows.  This is a ticketed event ($15 MFA members, $18 others) and tickets may be reserved by calling 1-800-440-6975, going in person to the Remis Auditorium box office at the Museum, or visiting www.mfa.org.  Because this event will undoubtedly sell out, we recommend buying tickets early.

Sunday, April 3, 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm – MFA Flower Arranging Workshop

by

The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston will hold a Flower Arranging Workshop for members in the Alfond Auditorium at the MFA on Sunday, April 3, from 2 – 3:30 pm.  Get fresh ideas on floral arranging, and stop by for a few minutes or stay the full 90 minutes.  Free tickets are required, and tickets are available in person, online (www.mfa.org) or by telephone (1-800-440-6975.)   If you’re not already a member, this is the time to join, with Art in Bloom coming up.

Wednesday, March 30, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm – Gibson House Museum 15th Annual Benefit

by

The Friends of the Gibson House Museum cordially invite you to their Fifteenth Annual Benefit on Wednesday, March 30, from 6 – 8, at The Algonquin Club, 217 Commonwealth Avenue, honoring Erica Hirshler, Croll Senior Curator of American Paintings at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.  Enjoy cocktails, jazz trio, raffle and live auction, with proceeds benefiting the preservation of the Gibson House Museum.  Auction items will include a special tour for 8 at the New Wing of the MFA with Elliot Bostwick Davis, John Moors Cabot Chair of the MFA’s Art of the America’s Department, Asian cooking classes with dinner in a Back Bay home, a special trip to Williamsburg, baseball tickets, wine, and much more.  Tickets are $125 per person in advance, $150 at the door, and you may reserve by sending a check made out to The Gibson Society, Inc. to the Gibson House Museum, 137 Beacon Street, Boston, MA 02116.  For more information, call 617-267-6338, or email info@thegibsonhouse.org.

Wednesday, August 4, 11:00 am – 12:30 pm – MFA Workshop: Flower Arranging

by

The Museum of Fine Arts Boston will hold a Flower Arranging Member Event Wednesday, August 4, from 11 am – 12:30 pm in the Riley Seminar Room.  Flower arranging demonstrations will be ongoing – drop in anytime during this event.  Get fresh ideas on how to realize the fine art of floral arranging at home from members of the MFA’s acclaimed flower team.  Stop by for a few tips or stay the full 90 minutes for an abundance of creative ideas.  Free tickets are required and available in person, online (www.mfa.org) or by phone on the day of the event beginning at 10 am.  Ticket limit is based on general admission privileges of membership.  If you are not already a member, you may join on line ($75 individual membership) or in person.