2021 Sep 01
The Arboretum Experience
Wed Sep 1 (All day) to Thu Sep 30 (All day)
Location: 
Arnold Arboretum (125 Arborway, Boston) & American Repertory Theater
Visitors are invited to experience the natural beauty of the Arnold Arboretum on an outdoor, self-guided journey that centers resilience, healing, wellness, and joy. This collaboration between the American Repertory Theater and the Arboretum features multi-genre audio plays for various ages, interactive movement maps, and pop-up performances, all set against the 281-acre backdrop of one of the jewels of Boston’s Emerald Necklace.
The Arboretum is open daily, sunrise to sunset. Visitors entering via the Arborway, Bussey Street, Forest Hills, Centre Street, Walter Street, Peters...
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2021 Aug 07
Arnold Arboretum: Guided Tour
10:30am to 12:00pm
Location: 
Hunnewell Building, Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway, Boston
Join us for a free, 90-minute walk through the Arboretum! Tour seasonal plant highlights and learn about Arboretum history from a trained docent. 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.
Learn more about and RSVP for this event.
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2021 Aug 07
Arnold Arboretum: Guided Tour
10:30am to 12:00pm
Location: 
Hunnewell Building, Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway, Boston
Join us for a free, 90-minute walk through the Arboretum! Tour seasonal plant highlights and learn about Arboretum history from a trained docent. 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.
Learn more about and RSVP for this event.
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2021 Jul 20
Arnold Arboretum: Volunteer Info Session
6:00pm to 7:00pm
Location: 
Arnold Arboretum—Online
We’re recruiting volunteers! Join us for a virtual information session to learn about the various volunteer opportunities at the Arboretum.
Public Programs staff will give a short series of presentations on volunteering at the Arboretum, from leading tours through the landscape to working with schoolchildren. After the presentations, attendees can enter breakout rooms to ask additional questions and chat with Arboretum staff.
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2021 Jun 19
In the Groves
5:30pm to 7:30pm
Location: 
Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway, Boston
Immerse yourself in the deep beauty of trees in this story and music journey through the Arboretum. Led by Oracle award-winning storyteller Diane Edgecomb and Celtic harper Margot Chamberlain, this unfolding performance of ancient tales and songs from cultures around the world takes place in a variety of groves—birch, cherry, and evergreen—at some of the Arboretum’s loveliest spots.
This event is free, but registration is required and limited. Not designed for children under 12, and dogs are not allowed. COVID guidelines will be followed.
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2021 May 22
Forest Bathing with Toadstool Walks
Repeats every week every Sunday until Sun May 30 2021 except Sun May 23 2021.
9:00am to 11:00am
9:00am to 11:00am
Location: 
Bussey Street Gate, Arnold Arboretum, Boston
Join Tam Willey of Toadstool Walks as you slow down and awaken your senses on a guided therapeutic experience in the Arnold Arboretum. Forest bathing is inspired by the Japanese practice of Shinrin-yoku, a restorative sensory exploration that supports health and healing for all beings. Each walk is limited to 8 participants. Meet at the Bussey Street Gate. Participants must follow COVID guidelines including wearing a mask and practicing social distancing, as well as sign a liability and release form.
Learn more about and RSVP for Forest Bathing with Toadstool Walks:
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2021 May 22
Spring Bird Walk
8:00am to 9:30am
Location: 
Peters Hill Gate, Arnold Arboretum, Boston
Join three experienced birders for a 90-minute walk suitable for beginners and experienced birders alike. Meet at the Peters Hill Gate for this walk in the landscape to see Arboretum birds. Space is limited to 30 and the group will be divided into three sections. COVID-19 guidelines of masks and social distancing will be required. Bring binoculars if you have them.
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2021 May 01
Guided Tree Meditation
3:00pm to 4:30pm
Location: 
Outside at the Arnold Arboretum
This guided tree meditation offers an opportunity to connect and ground the self with the environment around.
Surrounded by the beauty and life of the Arnold Arboretum, this meditation will be benefitted by the ancient awareness and alchemy of trees and the subtle healing capacities of nature. Join us if you’re ready to root yourself into the energy of spring! 
Attendance is limited to 10 people so please only register if you can attend. 
This event will be held outside at the Arnold Arboretum, socially distanced with masks required. ...
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2021 Mar 09
Beech Leaf Disease with Bartlett Arboretum & Gardens
1:00pm to 2:30pm
Location: 
Arnold Arboretum—Online
Beech leaf disease (BLD) affects and kills both native and ornamental beech tree species. It is associated with a nematode, Litylenchus crenatae mccannii. This disease has only been discovered in recent years and much about it, including the full cause and how it spreads, is still unknown. Experts from The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, Drs. James LaMondia and Robert Marra, will share what is known of this recently discovered disease and discuss ongoing research to control spread of BLD. This free Zoom webinar is co-hosted by Bartlett Arboretum & Gardens and the Arnold...
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2021 Mar 08
"Every Pecan Tree": Trees, Meaning, and Memory in Enslaved People’s Lives
7:00pm
Location: 
Arnold Arboretum—Online
This is the third lecture in the Arnold Arboretum's 2021 Director's Lecture Series. Tiya Miles takes up the pecan tree as inspiration for exploring the meaning of trees in the lives of enslaved African Americans. Using a family heirloom, slave narratives, oral histories, and missionary records, her talk underscores the importance of trees in the Black experience of captivity and resistance, ultimately revealing the centrality of the natural world to Black, and indeed human, survival.
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2021 Mar 06
A History of Path-Making at the Arnold Arboretum
2:00pm
Location: 
Arnold Arboretum—Online
At the time of its founding in 1872, the land on which the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University is sighted was a patchwork of farmland and forest. As the Arboretum was planted, pathways were developed to lead people through the picturesque landscape. As the landscape developed, economies shifted, wars took place, and directors changed. Each of these factors subtly influenced shifts in the park’s path system. Join the Arnold Arboretum on Zoom with Jared Rubinstein as he reveals the layers of change in this beloved landscape.
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2021 Mar 03
2021 Arnold Arboretum Tournament of Trees
Wed Mar 3 (All day) to Tue Mar 30 (All day)
Location: 
Arnold Arboretum—Online
Participate in the Arnold Arboretum’s 2021 Tournament of Trees! Get to know this year’s Sweet Sixteen contenders (March 3–9) and cast your votes in this fun bracket style tournament. Let the March Tree Madness games begin.
The tournament schedule is:
• Sweet Sixteen Round: March 3-9
• Elite Eight Round: March 10-16
• Final Four Round: March 17-23
• Championship Round: March 24-30
• Winner Announcement: April 1
Learn...
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2021 Mar 01
Everyday Nature Tasks: Simple Activities For Outdoor Fun and Learning
Mon Mar 1 (All day) to Wed Mar 31 (All day)
Location: 
Arnold Arboretum—Online
Shed the winter blues and head outdoors for a new season of exploration and nature noticing. EverydayNature Tasks, a calendar with daily activities to try outdoors, resumes its offerings on March 1. Do something natural every day! Free and open to all.
Learn more about Everyday Nature Tasks: Simple...
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2021 Mar 01
Skunk Cabbage Wonder Spot
Mon Mar 1 (All day) to Wed Mar 31 (All day)
Location: 
Arnold Arboretum—Online
A plant that generates heat and attracts pollinators with its stink? Learn more about skunk cabbage in the Arnold Arboretum’s newest winter Wonder Spot, at the Arboretum meadow’s edge or online. Free and open to all.
Learn more about the Skunk Cabbage Wonder Spot.
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2021 Mar 01
Over Time: Through Art, the Impact of Change in the Arboretum Landscape
Mon Mar 1 (All day) to Fri Apr 30 (All day)
Location: 
Arnold Arboretum—Online
 
Five decades of weekly walks in the Arnold Arboretum find expression in Ginny Zanger’s art. “Ambling” gives her time to sketch and paint. Using the unique possibilities of her favorite medium—watercolor—and printmaking, Zanger explores, with articulate interpretations, the Arboretum’s rich botanical display. In this online show, most of her work is on Yupo, a silky, polypropylene paper that enhances the flow of the watercolor.
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2021 Jan 28
Racial Equity in Urban Climate Action
7:00pm
Location: 
Online—Arnold Arboretum
Joan Fitzgerald, Professor of Urban Planning and Policy at Northeastern University, will build on key concepts in her new book, Greenovation: Urban Leadership on Climate Change (2020). She’ll discuss how cities are rethinking their approach to climate action by placing racial justice at the forefront. She’ll draw from recent experiences with Providence, Austin, and Oakland in creating participatory planning processes and new priorities for a just transition to a carbon-free society. She’ll conclude by discussing how the transition can be linked to jobs in the green economy.
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2020 Dec 08
Observations on Urban Nature
6:00pm to 7:30pm
Location: 
Arnold Arboretum—Online
Peter Del Tredici, Senior Research Scientist Emeritus at the Arnold Arboretum, and Rosetta Elkin, Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture at McGill University, converse about the nature of urban environments. Peter will begin the program with a brief overview of the plant observations he makes in his book, Wild Urban Plants of the Northeast. Following this, Peter and Rosetta will discuss both ecological and design elements that come into play in the cities and suburbs that we call home. Up for discussion are the environments that humans intentionally and unintentionally...
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2020 Oct 29
Voting, Participation, and Why it Matters
5:00pm to 6:00pm
Location: 
Online via Zoom
 
Join Danielle Allen, James Bryant Conant University Professor and Director of the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard University, Cambridge Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui, Tova Wang, a Democracy Visiting Fellow at the Ash Center, Michelle Tassinari, Director and Legal Counsel of the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s Elections Division, and Eneida Tavares the Interim Commissioner for the City of Boston’s Elections Department for a conversation on the importance of local voter participation, education and civic engagement, and to learn more about what’s at stake for our...
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2020 Sep 25
In Pursuit of Equitable Development: Lessons from Washington, Detroit, and Boston
12:30pm to 4:30pm
Location: 
Online—Harvard Graduate School of Design
In this half-day virtual symposium, leading practitioners and scholars from three cities, Washington, DC, Detroit, and Boston, will explore efforts to bring equitable development to their communities and outline how they are responding to current challenges. The presentations and discussions will help students, scholars, community leaders, public officials, and others identify innovative strategies and successful approaches to advancing social justice in low-income neighborhoods and communities of color.
Co-sponsored by the Joint Center for Housing...
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2020 Sep 23
Leaving New Orleans: A Personal Urban History
12:00pm
Location: 
Online—Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard
As the Beatrice Shepherd Blane Fellow, Leslie M. Harris is completing “Leaving New Orleans: A Personal Urban History.” She uses memoir and family, urban, and environmental histories to explore the multiple meanings of New Orleans in the nation, from its founding through its uncertain future amid climate change.
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