Events

    2024 Mar 26

    Lauret Savoy, “Trace: Memory, History, Race, and the American Landscape”

    6:30pm to 8:00pm

    Location: 

    Graduate School of Design, Gund Hall Piper Auditorium

    Sand and stone are Earth’s fragmented memory. Each of us is also a landscape inscribed by memory and loss. Lauret Savoy’s Trace interweaves journeys and historical inquiry across a continent and time to explore how this country’s still unfolding history has marked the land, this society, and her. From twisted terrain within the San Andreas Fault zone to a South Carolina plantation, from national parks to burial grounds to names on the land, from “Indian Territory” and the U.S.-Mexico Border to the U.S. capital, Trace grapples with a searing national history to reveal the often-unvoiced...

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    2023 Sep 17

    ¡Celebremos El Salvador!

    12:00pm to 3:00pm

    Location: 

    Harvard Museum of Natural History, 26 Oxford St., Cambridge

    Celebrate the vibrant culture and natural history of El Salvador. Enjoy captivating folk dances by Grupo Torogoz and try hands-on activities including corn grinding and painting with cochineal insects. Go on a scavenger hunt and discover the rich heritage of animals, minerals, and artifacts from the region. Join an archaeologist for a live-streamed tour of Joya de Cerén, the Pompeii of Latin America. Take a break with Spanish Story Time, enjoy traditional Salvadoran cuisine (available for purchase), and enter a raffle to win a museum gift basket.

    All are welcome to explore,...

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    2023 Aug 13

    Second Sundays at the Arnold Arboretum

    12:00pm to 3:00pm

    Location: 

    Peters Hill, Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway, Boston

    Bring your family and friends to Peters Hill for an afternoon of free tours, crafts, family activities, and more! Did we mention free ice cream and bubbles? Free activities open to all ages include:

    • Tours of Peters Hill offered in both English and Spanish

    • Plant information tents featuring wildflowers and plant defenses, fascinating Arboretum plant highlights, know-how of Arboretum experts, and a rich assortment of cuttings to view up close

    • Ice cream, art activities, lawn games, StoryWalks®, and more!...

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    2023 May 13

    Science Spotlights

    2:00pm to 3:30pm

    Location: 

    Harvard Museum of Natural History, 26 Oxford St., Cambridge

    Meet up-and-coming scientists and learn about questions at the forefront of research today in this series of short talks. Perhaps you’ll discuss how studying dog reactions help us learn about the evolution of social behavior? Maybe you’ll consider the regrowth of a microscopic worm after injury and what that can teach us about any animal cell. Will you look at how trees manage the tradeoffs of building woody tissue or look for geological evidence of Earth’s first billion years? Each Science Spotlight in the series will include several short research talks.

    Ages 10–Adults....

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    2023 May 06

    Guided Tours at Arnold Arboretum

    Repeats every week on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday until Tue May 30 2023 except Sun May 14 2023, Tue May 16 2023, Sun May 28 2023, Mon May 29 2023.
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    Location: 

    Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway, Boston

    Join us for a walk through the Arboretum! Tour seasonal plant highlights and learn about Arboretum history from a trained docent. Tour is 90 minutes long.

    Tour times are at 10:30am or 1:00pm, depending on availability.

    Learn more and RSVP.

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    2023 Apr 22

    Tour: Frederick Law Olmsted and the Arnold Arboretum

    10:30am to 11:45am

    Location: 

    Hunnewell Visitor Center, Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway, Boston

    Frederick Law Olmsted designed the Arnold Arboretum and played an important role in its genesis as a public park. Join docent Bill Beizer for a tour identifying the elements of the Arboretum that best reflect Olmsted's philosophy and design approach.

    Learn more and RSVP.

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    2023 Mar 23

    Plant Exploration: Then and Now

    6:30pm to 8:00pm

    Location: 

    Arnold Arboretum, Weld Hill Research Building, 1300 Centre Street, Boston

    The Arnold Arboretum has been collecting plants from around the world for 150 years, but plant exploration today looks very different than it did in the 1800s. From changes in collecting practices to an evolving relationship between the Arboretum and its international partners, a lot has changed in the last century. Join Head of the Library and Archives Lisa Pearson and Keeper of the Living Collections Michael Dosmann to learn what these trips were like in the days of yore, and what they are like now.

    ...

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    2023 Mar 18

    Tour: Frederick Law Olmsted and the Arnold Arboretum

    10:30am to 12:00pm

    Location: 

    Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway, Boston

    Frederick Law Olmsted, considered the father of landscape architecture, designed some 500 public spaces in North America. The Arnold Arboretum, the only arboretum he designed, is a National Historic Landmark and a model for others around the world. Arboretum docent, Bill Beizer, will identify the elements of the Arnold Arboretum that best reflect Olmsted's philosophy and approach to landscape design.

    Learn more...

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    2023 Feb 18

    Tour: Witch-Hazel Walk

    1:00pm to 2:15pm

    Location: 

    Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway, Boston

    Join a docent tour through the Arboretum looking for the vibrant colors of the witch-hazel flowers. Learn about plants native to China and Japan, those from the Ozarks and Mississippi, and even one that was introduced right here at the Arnold Arboretum! Dress warmly and wear boots for a 75-minute tour on and off the paths.

    Learn more and RSVP.

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    2023 Feb 14

    Tour : Witch-Hazel Walk

    1:00pm to 2:15pm

    Location: 

    Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway, Boston

    Bring your Valentine on a docent -led tour through the Arboretum looking for the vibrant colors of the witch-hazel flowers. Learn about plants native to China and Japan, those from the Ozarks and Mississippi, and even one that was introduced right here at the Arnold Arboretum! Dress warmly and wear boots for a 75-minute tour on and off the paths.

    Learn more and RSVP.

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    2023 Feb 03

    Tour: Witch-Hazels with Andrew Gapinski

    1:00pm to 2:30pm

    Location: 

    Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway, Boston

    In the Arnold Arboretum, there is something blooming every month of the year—including February! Join Andrew Gapinski, Director of Horticulture, to explore the beauty of the Arboretum’s witch-hazel family collection and its captivating history of development, evaluation, and scientific study here at the Arboretum.

    Learn more and RSVP.

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    2023 Jan 26

    Book Talk: Wicked Plants by Amy Stewart

    7:00pm to 8:00pm

    Location: 

    Arnold Arboretum—Online

    In her New York Times bestseller Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln’s Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities, Amy Stewart takes on Mother Nature’s most appalling creations. It’s an A to Z of plants that kill, maim, intoxicate, and otherwise offend. Drawing on history, medicine, science, and legend, Stewart presents tales of bloodcurdling botany that will entertain, alarm, and enlighten even the most intrepid gardeners and nature lovers.

    ...

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    2023 Jan 04

    Roslindale Gateway Path Tour

    2:00pm to 3:00pm

    Location: 

    Arnold Arboretum, South Street Gate, Boston

    Join us for a tour of the proposed Roslindale Gateway Path: an accessible shared-use pedestrian and cycling path through the Arnold Arboretum. When complete, this path will provide a missing pedestrian link between Forest Hills Subway Station and Roslindale Village Commuter Rail Station, offering carbon-free commuting options and connecting Boston residents with the natural spaces in their own neighborhoods. Come learn about this collaborative project with the Arboretum's Head of Operations and Project Management, Danny Schissler.

    Note that this tour will include walking...

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    2022 Dec 09

    Art Workshop | Botanical Cyanotype

    1:00pm to 3:30pm

    Location: 

    Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway, Boston

    Learn how to make beautiful seasonal cards and prints using the alternative photography method known as Cyanotype. Participants will collect leaves and seeds in the landscape and arrange them on special paper to create a deep blue print with bright, ghost-white silhouettes. This historic photography method, otherwise known as blueprints (sunprints), is one of the earliest forms of photography, and offers participants the ability to perform something that seems like magic.

    Led by Tonya Lemos of Blazing Star Herbal School.

    This workshop will take place...

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    2022 Oct 25

    Obsessions: Fellow Organisms in the Arnold Arboretum

    7:00pm to 8:30pm

    Location: 

    Online or at Weld Hill Research Building, 1300 Centre St., Boston

    Join the Arnold Arboretum’s Director William (Ned) Friedman for the annual Director’s Series! To celebrate the Arboretum’s sesquicentennial, this year’s series will explore the Magic and Meaning of a Garden of Trees. Over the course of four sessions, we will trace the Arnold’s significance in the landscape architecture movement, value for the people of Boston, and leadership in creating global connections between plants and people. This final session will feature a talk from Director Friedman on fellow organisms in the Arboretum.

    ...

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    2022 Oct 15

    Olmsted: Bicentennial Perspectives (Day 2)

    9:00am to 5:00pm

    Location: 

    Arnold Arboretum, Weld Hill Research Building, 1300 Centre St., Boston

    The Harvard University Graduate School of Design, in partnership with the Arnold Arboretum, is hosting a two-day academic conference as part of the national Olmsted 200 celebration. While Olmsted was central to the conceptual formation of the degree program in landscape architecture at Harvard University and the design of the Arnold Arboretum, the interpretive ambitions of the conference are anything but parochial.

    Day 2 of the conference (Saturday, October 15) will take place at the Arnold Arboretum’s Weld Hill Research Building, 1300 Centre St, Boston, MA 02131.

    ...

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    2022 Oct 08

    National Fossil Day: More Than Dinosaurs!

    1:00pm to 4:00pm

    Location: 

    Harvard Museum of Natural History, 26 Oxford St., Cambridge

    Paleontology is about more than dinosaurs! Harvard paleontologists study amazing non-dinosaur fossils including early mammals, ancient invertebrates, whales, crabs, and more! Meet members of the Stephanie E. Pierce Lab for Vertebrate Paleontology and the Ortega-Hernández Lab for Invertebrate Paleontology to see their favorite fossils, learn about their research, and ask them your questions. See what new techniques and technologies are being used to study fossils, learn what fossils can teach us about evolution, and hear about current research projects. Join us to celebrate National...

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    2022 Sep 13

    Journeys: The Arnold Arboretum Meets the World’s Plants and Peoples

    7:00pm to 8:30pm

    Location: 

    Weld Hill Research Building, Arnold Arboretum, 1300 Centre St., Boston

    Join the Arnold Arboretum’s Director William (Ned) Friedman for the annual Director's Series! To celebrate the Arboretum's sesquicentennial, this year's series will explore the Magic and Meaning of a Garden of Trees. Over the course of four sessions, we will trace the Arnold’s significance in the landscape architecture movement, value for the people of Boston, and leadership in creating global connections between plants and people.

    This session will include brief presentations and a moderated panel. The program is free and is offered both in person and livestreamed.

    ... Read more about Journeys: The Arnold Arboretum Meets the World’s Plants and Peoples
    2022 Jul 09

    MassQ Ball 2022: Origin

    2:00pm to 7:00pm

    Location: 

    Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway, Boston

    The MassQ Ball 2022: Origin will feature the diverse artistic expressions of Boston’s communities of color. Interact with the landscape in new and creative ways, transform into a walking work of art through the practice of MassQing (a ritual application of paint to the face derived from ancient traditions of body decoration), and enjoy performances and art work by Boston cultural artists including:

    2:00pm–4:00pm:

    • ...

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    2022 Jul 07

    Bonsai and Penjing Information at the Arnold Arboretum

    Repeats every week on Sunday, Thursday until Sun Jul 24 2022 .
    11:00am to 1:00pm

    11:00am to 1:00pm
    11:00am to 1:00pm
    11:00am to 1:00pm
    11:00am to 1:00pm
    11:00am to 1:00pm

    Location: 

    Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway, Boston

    Visit the Bonsai and Penjing Pavilion from 11am–1pm to learn about this collection of historic trees from our knowledgeable docents.

    Learn more.

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