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:
Hemlock Hill and Conifer Collection, Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway, Boston
Led by Bengali culture worker Pampi, this audience participatory workshop allows attendees to weave love letters into hand-crafted ceremonial vessels for their loved ones. Vessels will be fashioned out of natural materials sourced from the Arboretum grounds and displayed in the MassQ Ball on July 9.
Arborway Gate, Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway, Boston
With four actors, a live DJ, and one of Shakespeare’s funniest comedies, The Bomb-itty of Errors by Jordan Allen-Dutton, Jason Catalano, Gregory J. Qaiyum, Jeffrey Qaiyum, and Erik Weiner is a hip-hop-opera that moves the crowd! Directed by Christopher V. Edwards and performed by Actors' Shakespeare Project against the historic brick backdrop of the Hunnewell Building, The Bomb-itty of Errors comes to the Arboretum during our 150th anniversary year. A modern remix of a well-loved classic, the play encapsulates the ethos of our sesquicentennial celebrations as we honor...
Join artist Daina Swagerty and poet Joyce Swagerty for a conversation about Stoneroot Epistle, their artistic collaboration now on view at the Arboretum's Hunnewell Visitor Center. Their show invites us to contemplate our capacity for wonder through the lens of an acorn through the seasons. Select pages of vivid imagery and inspirational poetry offer a layered landscape exploring the movement of universal journey.
Hunnewell Building, Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway, Boston
Enjoy a multimedia glimpse into how plants use visual signals to communicate with the world around them with Wendy Clement’s multimedia exhibition using the design initiatives of Chris Ault’s Interactive Multimedia class at The College of New Jersey. Now on view at the Arnold Arboretum’s Hunnewell Building.
Bradley Rosaceous Collection, Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway, Boston
Led by Castle of our Skins’ Director of Education Taylor Lena McTootle, “Making a Mythos” focuses on the creative power of storytelling. Young participants will experience firsthand how fictional tales can reflect our cultural values and create them.
The Arnold Arboretum's sesquicentennial Director's Series traces 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.
Panelists include:
Dr. Michelle Kondo, Research Social Scientist, UDSA-Forest Service
Rev. Mariama White-Hammond, Chief of Environment, Energy, and Open Space, City of Boston
Laurence Cotton, Consulting Producer, “Frederick Law Olmsted: Designing...
Arnold Arboretum (Hunnewell Building), 125 Arborway, Boston
Dr. Liseli A. Fitzpatrick, a Trinidadian-scholar in the field of African Diasporic cosmologies and sacred ontologies, will lead an engaging lecture and discussion exploring African mythologies and folkloric cultures.
Join us for the first Lilac Sunday since 2019! We’ll be celebrating 150 years of Arboretum history and 112 Lilac Sundays.
Experience the springtime bloom of our renowned collection of nearly 400 lilacs. Visit for tours with Arboretum experts, hands-on children’s programming, and more.
Arnold Arboretum (Hunnewell Building), 125 Arborway, Boston
Ukrainian culture is rich with references to the natural world. Join a one-hour walking tour with Arboretum Horticulturist Brendan Keegan. Learn about plants within the Arboretum's collections that are notable in Ukrainian history, cuisine, agriculture, and more. The tour is in support of our colleagues at botanical institutions throughout Ukraine.
Repeats every week on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday until Sat Jun 25 2022 .
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Location:
Arnold Arboretum (Hunnewell Visitor Center), 125 Arborway, Boston
Visit the Arnold Arboretum's newly reopened Hunnewell Visitor Center and immerse yourself in this truly unique exhibition. The book, Stoneroot Epistle, was born out of Joyce Swagerty (Harvard class of '78) and Daina Swagerty's desire to understand the connection between themselves, the natural world, and the universal journey inspired by the African diaspora. The project by this mother and daughter was a spiritual adventure.
Hunnewell Building, Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway, Boston
Led by poet and Castle of our Skins’ Shirley Graham Du Bois Creative in Residence Marlanda Dekine, this participatory workshop will use writing and meditation to consider how our individual origin stories and ancestries influence our being.
Repeats every week every Saturday until Sat Apr 30 2022 .
10:30am to 12:00pm
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Hunnewell Building, Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway, Boston
On Saturdays and Sundays in April, join us for a 90-minute walk through the Arboretum! Tour seasonal plant highlights and learn about Arboretum history from a trained docent.
Repeats every week every Sunday until Sun Apr 24 2022 .
1:00pm to 2:30pm
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Location:
Hunnewell Building, Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway, Boston
On Saturdays and Sundays in April, join us for a 90-minute walk through the Arboretum! Tour seasonal plant highlights and learn about Arboretum history from a trained docent.
Livestreamed or at Weld Hill Research Building, 1300 Centre St., Boston
The Arnold Arboretum was founded on Friday, March 29, 1872. Exactly 150 years later, we invite you to join Lisa Pearson, Head of the Arboretum Library and Archives, for a special sesquicentennial lecture! Pearson will discuss the earliest benefactors of the Arboretum, the events surrounding the founding of the institution, and the busy first two decades during which the infrastructure and living collections were installed on the grounds.
This event will also be livestreamed to YouTube. To sign up for the virtual livestream instead,...
Online or at Weld Hill Research Building, 1300 Centre St., Boston
Just in time for the Arboretum's sesquicentennial and the bicentennial of the birth of pioneering landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, authors Rolf Diamant and Ethan Carr will speak on their recent book, "Olmsted and Yosemite: Civil War, Abolition, and the National Park Idea." They'll offer a new interpretation of how the American park—urban and national—came to figure so prominently in our cultural identity, and why this more complex and inclusive story deserves to be told.
Laura Fantini uses colored pencil to render seeds in exquisite, hyper-realistic drawings. This series is called “Hope,” and therein lies the power of seeds. They are emblematic of both birth and growth—small, complicated, and extraordinary, like the wonderful drawings in this exhibition.
Arnold Arboretum (Hunnewell Building), 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!
The walk is geared toward adults, and starts from the kiosk in front of the Hunnewell Building at 125 Arborway. This tour is limited to 15 participants. We ask that you only register if you are sure you will attend, and only register one person per form submission. Masks are required if you are unvaccinated.
Make a difference as an Arnold Arboretum Field Study Guide! Training for the spring season of school programs at the Arboretum begins March 29. We are looking for outgoing and mature adults who can commit to two years of volunteering. You do not need to know about plants, but experience working with children is preferred. If you are interested, please complete an application by March 11 for an interview.