Events

This month we will explore the hidden gems of the Botanic Gardens. Discover spots in the outdoor gardens that are lesser known such as Cedar Knoll, Pine Knoll, and the newly installed Bamboo sculpture in the Wet Meadow. We will be joined by Prof. Justin Armstrong, who will discuss these spaces through a literary and anthropological lens.

Sheep grazed at Meandering Meadow as part of the Botanic Gardens meadow diversification project. Through grazing, seeding and planting, the Botanic Gardens aims to increase the diversity of native New England species, improve wildlife habitat, and enhance the meadow's beauty.

Plant Connections is a debut art exhibition for the Wellesley College Botanic Gardens visitor center, put forward as part of the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the WCBG. The exhibit supports the gardens' newly reworked mission to inspire generations of changemakers to cultivate reciprocal relationships with plants and land. 

Join Botanic Gardens staff and students to engage with our new mission, and consider what it can mean for you! A planning picnic in spring 2024 launched our work on the new mission, and we are excited to picnic again, exploring the mission together over lunch.

This month we will visit the Meandering Meadow and learn about the ongoing meadow restoration project. We will be joined by Prof. Heather R. Mattila, who will bring a pollinator focus to the walk. 

Learn about the Botany & Empire exhibit in the Global Flora Conservatory in relation to Prof. Subramanium's latest book, Botany of Empire: Plant Worlds and the Scientific Legacies of Colonialism.

Come hear Cornille Distiguished Scholar Hilda Lloréns in conversation with Prof. Banu Subramaniam at the Newhouse Center's Cornille event discussing Lloréns' forthcoming book Nature Practices: The Latinx Outdoors at the End of Nature.

Join WCBG Director Kristina Jones for a sensory tour of this beautiful, abundant and ecologically sound food garden.

Enjoy art created by the Wellesley community that explores or interprets the new mission statement to cultivate reciprocal relationships with plants and land. Refreshments and snacks will be served. The jury will announce prizes at 4pm, and Yanvalou will perform in Global Flora at 4:30pm.

Using materials such as walnuts from the Botanic Gardens, the Paulson Initiative will be joined by artist Stephen Hamilton as he guides students in exploring our relationship with nature and Yoruba spirituality.

This month we will visit the Silver Thread, one of the oldest features of the gardens. Learn about the history and the memories held in this stream that connects the landscape of the outdoor gardens. We will be joined by Prof. Pinar Keskin, who will discuss the landscape through an economics lens.

Celebrate the foundational oak tree that shelters the Edible Ecosystem classroom, as a manifestation of Black and Indigenous resilience, connection and joy. Dr. Fiona Maurissette and her students lead the dedication of the tree to Octavia Butler, toward a better future for humanity and our kindred beings.

Cap off an exciting Week of Chocolate at Wellesley by meeting a young cacao tree, propagated from a spectacular tree at the Smith College greenhouse, to be planted in Global Flora in the spring. Professors Chipo Dendere and Baafra Abeberese join Ghanaian chocolatier Jeanne Donkoh of Bioko Treats to welcome the tree to its new home at Wellesley.

"Freedom Farms: Seeding Abolition" features a panel of Indigenous and Black land stewards and farmers in conversation with Botanic Gardens Associate Director Melchor Hall about the relationship between land justice and freedom movements. 

Part of a full day event of the Anti-Carceral Co+Laboratory Dreaming Abolition: 

Reflections on Radical Reciprocal Learning 

Wellesley College's Anti-Carceral Co+Laboratory will be dreaming abolition at a full day celebration at Mumbet's Freedom Farm that will include a farm tour, harvest activities, farm fresh lunch, and dance performance (with discussion).

Join Professor Irene Mata's class, "Lessons of Childhood: Representations of Difference in Children's Media" for a provocative discussion about the decolonial implications of the story of Pocahontas, as told to children.

This month we will visit The Kettle, a favorite spot in the Hunnewell Arboretum. We will discuss the transformation that began this past August, when a concrete liner was removed from Ephemeral Pool to restore the wetland habitat.

Join in collaborating with the Knapp Center to create responses to the Reciprocal Relationships art exhibition in the WCBG Visitor Center. Actively practice attunement, observation, and reflection in this contemplative body-mind session that brings together STEM, the arts, and social sciences.