Boston Flora

Tag: Rose Kennedy Greenway

  • Brookline Artist Janet Echelman Commissioned by the Rose Kennedy Greenway

    Internationally renowned artist Janet Echelman will create a monumental, aerial sculpture to suspend over the Greenway from Spring 2015 to Fall 2015 as the signature contemporary art installation in the Greenway Conservancy’s Public Art Program.

    Echelman is known for her soft, billowing sculptures the scale of buildings that respond to the forces of nature – wind, water, and light. Her creation for Boston will be a knotted-fiber sculpture suspended hundreds of feet over the central section of the Greenway. The ultra-lightweight art moves gently with the wind in ever-changing patterns. In daylight, it casts shadow-drawings on the ground, and at night it becomes a beacon with dynamic colored light. The sculpture is Echelman’s first major Boston commission and will connect between existing buildings to form a visual linkage and focal point for civic life.

    This major contemporary public art project is made possible by a generous challenge grant from the Richard and Susan Smith Family Foundation. The project has also received initial grants from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the Fund for the Arts, a public art program of the New England Foundation for the Arts, with others pending.  Pictured below is an installation she created over the canals in Amsterdam.

  • Tuesday, June 3, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm – The Rose Kennedy Greenway: Organic Practices, Beautiful Results

    The Rose Kennedy Greenway is the mile-long ribbon of green that replaced Boston’s elevated Central Artery when Route 93 was moved underground as part of the Big Dig.  The Rose Kennedy Greenway is Boston’s only organically maintained Public Park and one of a handful of organically maintained urban parks in the United States.  Because of the Conservancy ground-up approach that encompasses all living things including soil, plants and trees, children and pets can play freely and safely on the lawns without the worry of chemicals or pesticides.  The plants are healthier, more resilient, and better able to withstand the wear of public use.  The Conservancy’s practice of not using herbicides and toxins also ensures that run-off from the parks will not pollute Boston Harbor or harm the delicate marine life.  This tour (Tuesday, June 3, 1 – 3, with a rain date of June 4) will include in depth discussion of the Conservancy’s organic horticultural practices.

    Join tour guides Conservancy Superintendent of Horticulture Stuart Shillaber, and Horticulture Foreman Anthony Ruggiero for a behind the scenes tour of the Greenway. Spanish translation will be provided for this tour.  $20.00 for ELA members, $25 for non-members.  For more information email ela.info@comcast.net.  Register at https://www.eventville.com/catalog/eventregistration1.asp?eventid=1010978.

  • Tuesday, May 13, 6:00 pm – 2014 Greenway Gala

    Co-chairs Alan Rottenberg and Gil Menna ask us to save the date for the 2014 Greenway Gala honoring Boston Properties, to be held Tuesday, May 13, beginning at 6 pm under a tent on the Rose Kennedy Greenway.  To receive an invitation visit www.rosekennedygreenway.org.

    http://www.rosekennedygreenway.org/files/cache/c1fb47e2ed1a2b7afc18356643818676_f249.jpg

  • Jesse Brackenbury to Serve as Executive Director of the Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy

    Jesse Brackenbury to Serve as Executive Director of the Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy

    The Board of Directors of the non-profit Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy named Jesse Brackenbury as the Conservancy’s Executive Director. Brackenbury joined the Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy as Chief Operating Officer in December 2009 and assumed the role of acting Executive Director following the January 2013 departure of founding Executive Director Nancy Brennan.

    Prior to joining the Greenway Conservancy, Brackenbury worked for The Boston Consulting Group where he managed strategy, real estate, organizational development and other projects for Fortune 500 companies and government. Brackenbury also held management roles at the City of New York Department of Parks and Recreation, where he oversaw a billion-dollar capital budget and a 14-person special projects team. He holds an MBA from the University of California at Berkeley and a BA in Political Economy from Williams College.

    http://www.urbanparks2012.org/cms//srv/htdocs/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/J_Brackenbury_sq.jpg

  • Thursday, December 19, 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm – Armenian Heritage Park Labyrinth Walk

    Walk the Labyrinth at Armenian Heritage Park on the Rose Kennedy Greenway with the Labyrinth Guild of New England on Thursday, December 19, beginning at 12:30 pm.  The Labyrinth Guild of New England was formed in 1999 to help create a community of labyrinth walkers, explore a deeper sense of the Spirit and wisdom that the labyrinth reveals, witness the manifestations of the labyrinth in each other, support each other in the creativity that the labyrinth awakens, learn from each other, teach each other, and celebrate all the labyrinths in homes, and houses of worship, schools, hospitals and community centers all over New England!  The Armenian Heritage Park is located on Atlantic Avenue and Cross Street.  Free.  For more information visit www.rosekennedygreenway.org.

    http://northendwaterfront.com//srv/htdocs/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Walking-the-Labyrinth-at-Armenian-Heritage-Park-April-2013.jpg

  • Sunday, October 6, 11:00 am – 5:00 pm – Boston Local Food Festival

    Join Sustainable Business Network of Massachusetts on Sunday, October 6th, 2013 from 11am-5pm for the 4th Annual Boston Local Food Festival.

    For one spectacular day each year, SBN transforms the Rose Kennedy Greenway and the City of Boston into the nation’s largest local & sustainable food hub. Boston Local Food Festival is a free outdoor festival that showcases farmers, local restaurants, food trucks, specialty food producers, fisher folks, and organizations focusing on healthy food and fitness from New England. The festival also features lively chef & DIY demos, a seafood throwdown competition, diverse music and performances, family fun zone and more.

    Festival goers learn about the benefits of sustainably grown and produced food, shop the market, eat delicious local food, participate in fun, educational activities and exhibits, engage with top local chefs and enjoy local music. Themed “Healthy Local Food for All”, the festival connects Massachusetts and New England eaters of all backgrounds with the abundance of fresh, nutritious local food choices available close to home.

    The festival is a zero-waste event, meaning we divert over 91% of our waste each year and we offset 100% of our energy use! All perishable items sold are made from locally sourced products. Best of all, we bring this annual event to the community free of charge. So grab your reusable water bottles and bags and enjoy New England’s largest one day farmers market, while celebrating “Healthy Local Food for All.”  See more at: http://bostonlocalfoodfestival.com/?utm_source=Mural%2C+Pianos%2C+Libraries%2C+and+Service+Opportunities&utm_campaign=8.15.13&utm_medium=email#sthash.UnOBhpMA.dpuf.

    http://dguides.com/boston/files/2011/08/Boston-Local-Food-Festival-2011-500.jpg

  • Tuesday, September 24, 10:00 am – 12:00 noon – The Rose Kennedy Greenway: Ecological Form and Function

    On Tuesday, September 24 (rain date Wednesday, September 25), tour guides Stuart Shillaber and Anthony Ruggiero will lead a tour through the Rose Kennedy Greenway sponsored by the Ecological Landscaping Association.  The Greenway is the mile long ribbon of green that replaced Boston’s elevated Central Artery when Route 93 was moved underground as part of the Big Dig.  The Greenway builds on Boston’s legacy of beautiful parks within the active center of the city.  Its gardens, lawns, and fountains have made it a gathering place than unifies neighborhoods once divided by the elevated highway.  It has brought a unique mix of tranquil green spaces and vibrant urban streetscapes to downtown Boston.

    The Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy manages the parks, supplements them with new plantings, and builds entire new landscapes within the Greenway.  The Conservancy’s horticulture staff is attuned to the behavior of people in parks as well as to the behavior of plants in the city.  They have learned which plants are adapted to the particular demands and stresses of Boston’s urban environment, and they apply those lessons to each new planting.

    The Conservancy is also an innovator in the ecological management of urban landscapes, and this tour will include in depth discussion of the Conservancy’s organic horticultural practices. Join tour guides Conservancy Superintendent of Horticulture Stuart Shillaber and Horticulture Foreman Anthony Ruggiero for a behind the scenes tour of the Greenway.  Registrations are limited.  For more information email ela.info@comcast.net. $20 for ELA members, $25 for nonmembers.  Register online at https://www.eventville.com/catalog/eventregistration1.asp?eventid=1010445.

    http://www.nps.gov/boha/images/T_im_db_0301_WDPa_249_rende.jpg

  • Monday, April 22 – 5% for Earth Day

    Boston has long been known for its commitment to preserving green space. The Boston Common, The Public Garden, the Emerald Necklace, the creation of the Charles River Basin, the clean-up of Boston Harbor, the revitalization of the Waterfront, the completion of Big Dig and the opening of the Rose Kennedy Greenway are but a few examples of the Commonwealth and the City’s dedication to public, open space throughout the years. All of these improvements were made possible through the commitment of a number of non-profit organizations that work hand in hand with our local, state and national government to keep our parks and open spaces in shape.

    For Earth Day 2013, five of these non-profits (the Charles River Conservancy, the Emerald Necklace Conservancy, the Esplanade Association, the Friends of Public Garden, and the Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy) are joining forces to bring 5% for Earth Day to Boston. The campaign, which has seen three years of success in Austin, TX and expanded to the Houston, TX area in 2012, will ask Boston-area retailers to donate 5% of their gross proceeds on Monday April 22, 2013 to a coalition of non-profits that support projects in Boston’s parks and open spaces.

    Kickass Cupcakes, Roxy’s Grilled Cheese, Momogoose, Mei Mei Street Kitchen, Henrietta’s Table, SkinHealth Centers, Shuckin Truck, and The Chubby Chickpea are among the participating businesses. Go to www.give5Boston.org for a complete list.

    http://www.urbanrootsatx.org//srv/htdocs/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/EarthDay_2013Homepage-460x260.jpg

  • Thursday, March 7, 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm – Urban Planning Opening and After Party Reception

    On Thursday, March 7, from 6 – 7 at Dewey Park Square (between Summer Street and Congress Street), join the Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy for the opening of Urban Planning. An after party reception will be held at Good Life from 7 – 9.
    Re-imagine the communities that existed in the 1940’s and 50’s prior to an era of modernization that included the Central Artery construction, which would eventually evolve into the Big Dig and the Rose F. Kennedy Greenway. Join Lumen Collective in re-tracing the Greenway using LED rope lights to plot the buildings that formerly stood on the square. The site-specific installation will feature a collage of sounds from the businesses and movements that once occupied the space. Visitors are invited to explore highlighted sections of Dewey Square Park and interact with a guided audio tour and physical map. Through an illuminated recreation of the site, the work allows viewers to re-consider the roles of public and private space in modern day urban planning.

  • Wednesday, February 20, 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm – Frigid Phrases

    Frigid Phrases is a free interactive outdoor Mad Libs event that explores the creativity of Boston through the beloved word game. Four large-scale Mad Lib poems will be hung on the Rose Kennedy Greenway. Players will be given two mismatched gloves with words printed on them and asked to make new poems using the gloves and following the rules of Mad Libs (e.g., replace a verb with a verb). The objective of the game is to swap your gloves out until you make a matched pair. Best of all, you get to keep the gloves, a limited edition artwork created by the artists and producers of the event, Kate Gilbert (some of her gloves are shown below) and Emily Lombardo. This creative event is their first collaboration together. Both artists have been Boston residents for over 10 years and are excited to highlight the talent of Boston and embrace another cold New England winter with this outdoor event.The event will take place at the Wharf District Parks, near the Aquarium T stop, on Wednesday, February 20 from 4 – 6 pm.