Join Jim Donahue, Curator of Historic Landscapes & Horticulture of the Preservation Society of Newport County, on Thursday, December 18 at ll am at The Breakers for a behind the scenes tour of the holiday decoration process. Preservation Society members $20, general public $25. This is an Adult Event. Two other dates, December 4 and 11, are already sold out, but you may add your name to a waiting list. To register visit https://www.newportmansions.org/events/behind-the-scenes-the-breakers-holiday-decorations-3/
Three days of fun and educational seminars, tastings, dinners and the fan-favorite Sunday Jazz Buffet Brunch await you in Marble House and Rosecliff at the Newport Mansions Wine & Food Festival on September 18 – 21.
The new bio-absorption garden – aka rain garden – next to the Marble House visitor parking lot in Newport was officially dedicated in June, though with recent rains it had already been doing its job of preventing stormwater runoff.
A project of Scenic Aquidneck (The Preservation Society of Newport County, Aquidneck Island Land Trust, Preserve Rhode Island and the van Beuren Charitable Foundation), the garden was constructed by O’Connor Design Build in Middletown.
This 2,800-square-foot garden will capture and filter stormwater runoff, reducing pollution and mitigating flooding. It is functional and environmentally friendly but also beautifies the space with an array of new native plantings that will promote biodiversity while attracting birds and pollinators. Preservation Society CEO Trudy Coxe noted that this new rain garden is the latest in a series of important projects completed by Scenic Aquidneck. Others include rebuilding hundreds of feet of stone wall, a project to bury power lines along Second Beach in Middletown, documenting historic barns across Aquidneck Island and pushing for historic tax credits at the state level. For more information on properties managed by The Preservation Society of Newport County, visit https://www.newportmansions.org/. Photo credit to Natasha Harrison of the Newport Tree Conservancy, far left.
Americans’ relationship with animals transformed during the Gilded Age (1870-1914). With a focus on Newport history, the Preservation Society of Newport County’s exhibition at Rosecliff, 548 Bellevue Avenue in Newport, Rhode Island, explores how this exciting, tumultuous period shaped the role of animals in our modern world. In the late 19th century, Americans moved in large numbers from farms to cities, losing touch with a rural way of life and with the closeness to nature and animals that defined it. Nostalgia for a lost kinship with animals pervaded urban, industrial America. At the same time, many were encountering new, “exotic” species through a boom in foreign travel, marine exploration and imperial expansion. More everyday Americans enjoyed natural history pursuits like birdwatching. Pet keeping surged. And while captive animals thrilled spectators at zoos and circuses, which both had their heyday in the Gilded Age, activists launched the nation’s first animal rights movement.
Newporters played a vital, though often contradictory, part in these developments. They fought at the vanguard of the animal rights movement yet set the era’s fashion for furs and feathers as residents of its most stylish summer resort. Newporters pampered their pets but expanded industries like the railroads that ravaged wildlife habitats.
Wild Imagination brings together a menagerie of animal-themed artworks and other objects, from paintings, sculptures, photographs and fashions to fancy dog collars and sea creatures blown in glass. These pieces reflect profound and lasting changes in human-animal relations. They also reveal the individual stories of wondrous creatures that continue to capture our imagination. For hours and complete information visit https://www.newportmansions.org/events/wild-imagination/
Eisenhower Park is home to many beautiful and noble trees that set the tone for the City of Newport’s inspiring collection, making up the Newport Arboretum. Included in situ is one of the finest mature American elms on Aquidneck Island. The September 19 walk will also include a visit to the garden at the Touro Synagogue, a beautiful green space with a nice diversity of woody plants. NTC Living Collections Manager Joe Verstandig will try his best to wax poetic on all the great trees and share some thoughts on tree stewardship in Newport’s Urban Forest. Eisenhower Park is located at 32 Touro Street in Newport. There is street parking in Washington Square and surrounding areas. Registration is required at www.newporttreeconservancy.org
Enjoy some trees, along with the cool breeze off the bay in mid-summer, with a walk at Battery Park and around the historic Point Neighborhood in Newport on July 18. “The Point” is one of the oldest residential neighborhoods in the country, home to many interesting trees and shrubs. Living Collections Manager Joe Verstandig will lead the search for interesting and unusual specimens, with an emphasis on planting trees in difficult/tight locations. Summer flowering shrubs will also be discussed. Be prepared to walk for the entirety of the tour. Drinking water is highly recommended. For parking and more information visit https://www.newporttreeconservancy.org/events/july-free-tree-walk-battery-parkpoint-neighborhood Registration required.
Welcome Spring! We’ll soon be working in our gardens, and what better place to get wonderful new plants and gardening tips for your home or garden than the annual Green Animals Plant Sale, sponsored by The Preservation Society of Newport County. Head on over to Green Animals at 380 Corys Lane, Portsmouth, Rhode Island on Saturday, May 11 for some great deals on Mother’s Day gifts, topiary, bedding plants, hanging baskets, perennials and more. The sale starts at 10 a.m.–get there early for the best selection! For more details, log on to www.newportmansions.org, or call 401-683-1267. Green Animals is not open for tours on Friday, May 10, in preparation for the sale. Admission is free for plant sale only, but visitors will need a ticket or Preservation Society membership to tour the topiary garden. This event will happen rain or shine.
Join the Preservation Society of Newport County on September 17 – 18 for the Newport Mansions Wine & Food Festival.
Wonderful wines from around the world, fabulous food from local and regional chefs and an exquisite ocean view are all included in this year’s festival at Rosecliff. Seminars, wine-pairing dinners and Sunday Brunch are all returning.
The full schedule of Seminars and Wine Dinners along with Tickets Sales may be accessed at www.newportmansions.org.
Jim Donahue, Preservation Society of Newport County Curator of Historic Landscapes & Horticulture, presents Rosecliff-Hangers on Thursday, January 24 at 11.
Join us at the newly refurbished Rosecliff rose garden in Newport for tales of intrigue and murder, part of the long and complicated history of the property. Hear about how ‘Rose Clyffe’s’ original owner – noted diplomat, 19th century historian and rosarian George Bancroft – was involved.
Advance ticket purchase is required. Preservation Society Members $10/General Public $15. Register at www.newportmansions.org.
Harvey. Maria. Irma. Sandy. Katrina. We live in a time of unprecedented hurricanes and catastrophic weather events, a time when it is increasingly clear that climate change is neither imagined nor distant and that rising seas are transforming the coastline of the United States in irrevocable ways. In her new book, Rising, Elizabeth Rush guides readers through some of the places where this change has been most dramatic, from the Gulf Coast to Miami, from New York City to the Bay Area. For many of the plants, animals, and humans in these places, the options are stark: retreat or perish in place.
Elizabeth Rush’s journalism has appeared in the Washington Post, Harper’s, Guernica, Granta, Orion, and the New Republic, among others. She is the recipient of fellowships and grants including the Howard Foundation Fellowship, awarded by Brown University; the Andrew Mellon Foundation Fellowship for Pedagogical Innovation in the Humanities; the Metcalf Institute Fellowship; and the Science in Society Journalism Award from the National Association of Science Writers. She received her MFA in nonfiction from Southern New Hampshire University and her BA from Reed College. She lives in Rhode Island, where she teaches creative nonfiction at Brown University.
The Preservation Society of Newport County will host the author on Thursday, November 1 at 6 pm at Rosecliff, 548 Bellevue Avenue in Newport. Advance ticket purchase is required. Preservation Society Members $10 / General Public $15. You may purchase tickets at https://www.newportmansions.org/learn/adult-programs
