Boston Flora

Tag: Rhode Island School of Design

  • Friday, October 25, 10:00 am – 5:00 pm – Native Plant Design Symposium

    Native Plant Trust, the nation’s first plant conservation organization and the only one solely focused on New England’s native plants, announces a Native Plant Design Symposium in partnership with the Audubon Society of Rhode Island, featuring experts in ecological design and in landscape architecture. It will take place Friday, October 25, from 10 – 5 at the Audubon Society of Rhode Island’s Nature Center in Bristol, Rhode Island (pictured below). Space is limited and early registration is encouraged. Visit the “Learn” section of http://nativeplanttrust.org to sign up.

    The full day event highlights ecological design methods and strategies using native plants in both public and private spaces, and the role of native plants in shaping our ecosystems. It includes a keynote address by Ann Kearsley of Rhode Island School of Design, a panel discussion, and workshops. The Symposium will address large-scale issues, such as design’s role in habitat restoration.

  • Saturday, May 18, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm – Opening Reception, Drawn to Paint

    Artist Paul Olson has been discovering the nuances of the Arnold Arboretum’s collections since he first passed through its gates in 2011. A landscape painter for decades, Olson explores the grounds with sketchbook in hand, typically in the early morning hours. His goal is to be unencumbered by any agenda and open to what the light of the day presents. In 2012, he had an exhibition at the Arnold Arboretum entitled Drawn to Woods. The expressive ink drawings in that show were all completed en plein air – on site in open air/ In this new show, running May 10 – July 21 in the Hunnewell Building at the Arnold Arboretum, Olson brings his on-site observations into the painting studio to work in color, reflecting on his real world experience, but searching for that delightful sense of childlike discovery found in nature. These works on paper and canvas also feature paintings of bonsai from the Bonsai and Penjing collection. Paul Olson is an instructor at his alma mater, Rhode Island School of Design, and also teaches in the illustration department at Massachusetts College of Art. He has exhibited in various group and solo shows in the United States. He also makes pottery for bonsai and is an avid bonsai cultivator. The opening reception takes place May 18 from 1 – 3 and is free and open to the public.

  • Wednesday, August 8, 11:00 am – The Intersection of Past & Present: Contemporary Sculpture in Historic Places

    Whether presented as an exhibition, as part of a permanent installation or as a singular focal point in the landscape, sculpture has always been an important element of the design of private and public outdoor spaces. Today, more and more institutions and historic house museums around the country and the world are integrating contemporary sculpture exhibits into their programmatic offerings. Ms. Kelley will share her research into the variety of outdoor sculpture exhibitions and installations which today include an unlimited range of media and physical expression and tend towards the experiential or sensorial with the goal of further enlivening and activating the landscape for visitors to historic sites.

    The Hartfield Foundation 2018 Research Fellows Lecture will take place on Wednesday, August 8 at Rosecliff, 548 Bellevue Avenue in Newport. Tanya Kelley is a designer with thirty years of experience and is the founder and Principal of PLACEstudio Landscape Design in Newport, RI. She received a Bachelor of Science in Landscape Architecture from the City College of the City of New York and a Masters in Landscape Architecture from The Rhode Island School of Design.

    Following Ms. Kelley’s talk, there will be an additional lecture on Rivalry and Friendship: The Contrasting Decorative Art of Robert Winthrop Chanler and Howard Gardiner Cushing. Complete information is available at http://www.newportmansions.org/learn/adult-programs or by calling 401-847-1000, Ext 178. Preservation Society members free, general public $5.

    Image result for contemporary sculpture in historic garden

  • Saturday, September 17 – Garden Dialogues: Connecticut

    The Garden Dialogues program began five years ago at Manatuck, the Stonington, Connecticut home of The Cultural Landscape Foundation Board Member Barbara Dixon and her husband Chris, inspired by a casual conversation between Dixon and her landscape architect Douglas Reed, a founding TCLF Board Member, as they walked the property. The September 17 Dialogue at Manatuck will anchor a rich exploration of the cultural and environmental landscape of Stonington through the lens of an up-close and intimate tour along the town’s North Main street corridor.

    At the Dixon estate, with its unprecedented panoramic views of Stonington’s natural land form and breathtaking pastoral coastal views that connect farm to ocean, attendees will first hear about the town’s natural and cultural history from a renowned local historian. Next, Reed and the Dixons will elaborate on their on-going twenty-year collaboration, and the story of the project to open up the landscape and reconnect it with the earlier historic farmland.

    A short walk through the inner fields, meadows, woodlands and wetlands that parallel North Main street will lead to the historic Stone Acre Farm property (picture below courtesy of www.oldhouseonline.com), one of the state’s oldest farms. Attendees will be treated to lunch and a talk about the future of Stone Acres Farm, which will become a “Farm to Community Table” campus for sustainable living and practices conceived through a deep and abiding commitment to connecting the local community to its local, natural and human resources.

    The final stop is a mid-century Modernist residence once owned by John Lincoln, an architect and co-inventor of the Quonset and former chair of the Rhode Island School of Design’s architecture department. Here Joeb Moore, another TCLF Board Member, and Reed will present the recent major renovations and on-going transformations of the property and house.

    Thanks to the generosity of our hosts and sponsors, tickets for Garden Dialogues are tax deductible and proceeds benefit the educational programs of The Cultural Landscape Foundation.  $300.  Register online at http://www.tclf.org.

  • Andrew T. Crawford Ironworks

    In a departure from our usual event-based posts, we want to highlight the ornamental ironwork of Andrew T. Crawford (no relation to past Garden Club of the Back Bay President Francine Crawford), in the event anyone in our reader group is in the market for a stunning piece of ornamental metal.

    Crawford attended the Rhode Island School of Design where he studied sculpture. After graduating in 1993, he returned home to Atlanta and opened his workshop and studio, the Andrew T Crawford Ironworks. His goal was to create functional objects with an emphasis on blacksmithing. As Crawford built his business and his clientele, he continued to receive attention for his unique ornamental gates. This format has consistently been an identifiable trait throughout his career.

    Along with dozens of private commissions, Crawford has created ironwork and sculpture for schools, businesses, and municipalities. Some of his most prominent works have been for the Atlanta Botanical Garden, the Federal Reserve Bank, and the City of Washington D.C. His works are also among the collections of several American museums.

    We were fortunate to meet Andrew last spring in Boston, covet his work, and wish to share some stunning photos of his garden oriented pieces, aptly named Sunflower Gates, Lizard Gates, and more. Further information can be found at www.ironking.com.

  • Sunday, April 27 – Wednesday, April 30 – The 22nd Annual Newport Symposium: East Meets West, Centuries of Exchange

    Join The Preservation Society of Newport County to celebrate the centennial of Alva Vanderbilt Belmont’s Chinese Tea House at Marble House through an exploration of the complex and varied responses to the Far East “ real and imagined “ in the visual arts of Western Europe and The United States. On Sunday, April 27 – Wednesday, April 30, leading scholars will discuss the exchange of objects and the myriad interpretations of Chinoiserie through the lens of European and American architecture, furniture, painting, ceramics, textiles, gardens and collections from the 18th through the 20th centuries.

    Newport has been a nationally significant repository for treasures from the Far East from its Golden Age in the eighteenth century to the Gilded Age. Boasting examples ranging from the rich collections of China trade objects at Hunter House (c. 1748), Kingscote (1841), and Chateau-sur-Mer (1852) to the incorporation of 18th century Chinese lacquer panels into the decoration of The Elms (1902), the Preservation Society’s properties provide a uniquely focused lens through which participants will see the interplay of Eastern and Western design influences on American design and decorative arts. Featured speakers include:

    Sir Hugh Roberts
    Former Director of the Royal Collection and Surveyor of the Queen’s Works of Art
    United Kingdom

    Joan de Jean
    Trustee Professor of French, University of Pennsylvania

    Lee Glazer
    Curator of American Art, Freer-Sackler Galleries (Smithsonian)
    Washington, D.C.

    Carolyn Sargentson
    Senior Research Fellow, Victoria and Albert Museum
    London

    Judy Bullington
    Chair, Art Department, Belmont University
    Nashville, TN

    Ronald Fuchs
    Curator, Reeves Collection, Washington & Lee University
    Lexington, VA

    Laurie Brewer
    Assistant Curator of Costume and Designs, Rhode Island School of Design
    Providence, RI

    Maggie Lidz
    Estate Historian, Winterthur Museum, Delaware

    Noel Fahden Briceno
    Category Manager, Vintage and Antiques, One King’s Lane

    Admission is $500 for Preservation Society Members, $550 for nonmembers, which includes a one-year membership. Register now at http://www.newportmansions.org/events/newport-symposium or call 401-847-1000, ext. 154. There are special room rates at the Hotel Viking: log on to www.hotelviking.com, click on Reserve, click on Enter Group/Negotiated Code under the calendar, which will take you to the online booking portal, then enter online booking code 1JU603 under Special Codes.

  • Thursday, March 27, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – Mikyoung Kim’s Transformational Landscapes

    Mikyoung Kim, M.L.A., Landscape Architect, Mikyoung Kim Designs and Professor Emerita, Rhode Island School of Design, will speak on Thursday, March 27 at 7 pm at the Weld Hill Research Building, Arnold Arboretum, Jamaica Plain. The interplay of sound, light, and color is ever-present in the award-winning designs of Mikyoung Kim. She juxtaposes constructs of intimacy with vibrancy, solitude amid community, technology with nature, and formality with playfulness in the public spaces she designs for respite and revitalization. With a background in music, her work is an alchemy of multisensory experience. Mikyoung Kim will speak about her design process, where she finds inspiration, and the ways that her landscapes inform and move people, in a range of project types; from healing environments to public parks. She will discuss her most notable projects: the ChongGae Canal Restoration in Seoul’s Central Business District for which her firm transformed two superblocks into a central gathering space, re-engaging visitors with the ChongGae River and the Crown Sky Garden (pictured below), a healing environment for the Chicago Lurie Children’s Hospital, which was recently highlighted in The New York Times. Free for Arboretum members and students, $15 nonmember.  Register on line at www.my.arboretum.harvard.edu.

    http://worldlandscapearchitect.com/2013/mykd/MYKD_Crown-Sky-Garden_04.jpg

  • Saturday, January 19, 1:00 pm – 3:30 pm – Drawn to the Woods Opening Reception

    Sketchbook in hand, Paul Olson walks the Arboretum’s less traveled paths observing and reflecting on the diversity of life and the passing of time. A teacher in the Illustration Departments of both MassArt and Rhode Island School of Design, Olson has created illustrations and paintings in varied subjects over the years. All the work in this new exhibition—from quick sketches to larger drawings and paintings—were completed in the landscape of the Arnold Arboretum. The opening reception will take place Saturday, January 19, from 1 – 3:30. The exhibit will run through March 24, and an artist’s talk will be given on February 21 from 7 – 8:30 pm. For more information visit www.arboretum.harvard.edu.

  • Friday, August 31 – Sunday, September 30 – Echoes of the Olmsted Elm: Works from RISD’s 2011 Witness Tree Project

    The Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site, in collaboration with the Rhode Island School of Design’s Witness Tree Project and the Friends of Fairsted, is pleased to present an exhibit of artworks produced from the wood of the historic Olmsted Elm that graced the landscape at 99 Warren Street, Brookline, Massachusetts until March 2011, when it succumbed to old age, a serious fungal infection, and exposure in recent years to Dutch elm disease. Echoes of the Olmsted Elm: Works from RISD’s 2011 Witness Tree Project will take place in the rehabilitated barn at Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site in Brookline from Friday, August 31 through Sunday, September 30. The exhibit will be open to walk-in visitors on Thursday evenings from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. as well as Saturdays and Sundays from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The regular on-site tours taking place Wednesday through Sunday will also make stops at the exhibit. Finally, a special opening reception for the public will be held the evening of September 14. For further information, please call 617-566-1689 or visit, www.nps.gov/frla starting in mid-August.

  • Wednesdays, June 16 – July 21, 10:00 am – Great Newport Landscapes, 1840 – 1940

    The Preservation Society of Newport County and Rhode Island School of Design Continuing Education present a six-week landscape course, led by John R. Tschirch, Architectural Historian of the Preservation Society, beginning June 16 through July 21.  Each session will begin at 10:00 am at 424 Bellevue Avenue in Newport.

    This course will examine the landmark landscapes of Newport, created during the 19th and early 20th centuries, when the city was one of the most fashionable summer resorts in the nation. Known as the “Eden of America,” Newport and its environs have a rich garden design and horticultural heritage. Lectures and site visits will consider Newport landscapes by leading figures in American design and planning, horticulture, the history of plant and tree collection and propagation, species identification, garden architecture and sculpture, preservation practices, and stylistic elements of Victorian and Gilded Age period landscapes.

    June 16: The Picturesque 19th Century Landscape in Newport
    June 23: Kingscote: A Victorian Landscape in Newport
    June 30: Frederick Law Olmsted and Sons: Masters of American Landscape Architecture
    July 7: The Breakers Cutting Garden: Caring for the Gilded Age Landscape
    July 14: The Elms: A Classical Revival Garden
    July 21: Green Animals: An American Original

    Admission for each lecture: Preservation Society members $10, general admission $15.  Advance registration is required.  You may register on-line at www.newportmansions.org, or call 401-847-1000, ext. 154.  If you wish to register for the entire lecture series as part of a RISD Continuing Education course, please contact RISD at 401-454-6209.

    http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2111/3540539032_3e82652ee7.jpg