This talk will focus on Ben Shahn’s photographs of the lively streets of American cities and towns during the 1930s.

Our galleries are full of stories—this series of drop-in talks gives visitors a chance to hear the best ones! The talks highlight new works on view, take a fresh look at old favorites, investigate artists’ materials and techniques, and reveal the latest discoveries by curators, conservators, fellows, visiting artists, technologists, and other contributors.

Offered by:
Katherine Mintie, John R. and Barbara Robinson Family Research...

Read more about Gallery Talk: Ben Shahn’s Street Photography

Join us for an hourlong architectural tour of the Harvard Art Museums, led by Peter Atkinson, director of facilities planning and management.

Recognized in the National Register of Historic Places, the Harvard Art Museums are a dynamic laboratory for the arts where teaching and research unite with world-class collections. The tour will begin in the historic Calderwood Courtyard, where the original 1927 Fogg Art Museum building, designed by Shepley Bullfinch, meets the contemporary design created by Renzo Piano Building Workshop and completed in 2014. As you explore...

Read more about Tour: The Architectural History of the Harvard Art Museums

Join curator Lynette Roth for a closer look at Chair Shadows #3 (1931), a recently acquired photograph by German artist Raoul Hausmann.

Our galleries are full of stories—this series of drop-in talks gives visitors a chance to hear the best ones! The talks highlight new works on view, take a fresh look at old favorites, investigate artists’ materials and techniques, and reveal the latest discoveries by curators, conservators, fellows, visiting artists, technologists, and other contributors.

Offered by:
Lynette Roth, Daimler...

Read more about Gallery Talk: An Homage to Darkness

Fellow Camran Mani explores the contradictory pressures that shaped a John Singer Sargent portrait for an egalitarian student organization at Harvard, around 1902.

Our galleries are full of stories—this series of drop-in talks gives visitors a chance to hear the best ones! The talks highlight new works on view, take a fresh look at old favorites, investigate artists’ materials and techniques, and reveal the latest discoveries by curators, conservators, fellows, visiting artists, technologists, and other contributors.

Offered by:
Camran Mani,...

Read more about Gallery Talk: Sargent Portrait for a Democratized Harvard?

Families need nature all year round! Meet inside the main gate at 125 Arborway. We’ll use nets and bug boxes to find insects in the meadow and the woods. Go on a StoryWalk, get a tattoo, and look at insects under microscopes! Free and open to all.

In case of inclement weather, contact 617.384.5209.

Families need nature all year round! Meet inside the main gate at 125 Arborway. We’ll look at buds and blooms and learn how bees find flowers. Go on a StoryWalk, get a bee tattoo, and look at flowers under microscopes. Free and open to all.

In case of inclement weather, contact 617.384.5209.

Families need nature all year round! Meet inside the main gate at 125 Arborway. We’ll search for signs of spring along Meadow Road, looking for flowers, insects, birdsong, and more! Free and open to all.

In case of inclement weather, contact 617.384.5209.

Speakers:

• Jennifer Jewell, Creator/Host, Cultivating Place, NPR Radio Show and Podcast; Garden Writer
• Kaki Martin, ASLA, PLA, Principal of Klopfer Martin Design Group
• Kristin McCullin, Horticulturist, Allen C. Haskell Public Gardens
• Patricia Spence, President...

Read more about Cultivating Space: Women in Horticulture and Place-making

Grafting is the technique of joining parts of separate plants in such a manner that they unite and continue their growth as one. Learn basic principles of grafting with an overview of different types of dormant-season grafts. Arnold Arboretum propagator Sean Halloran will provide step-by-step instructions so that you can practice both cleft and side veneer grafts using apple root stock. Simple after-care will be required until planting out in springtime. Registrants will need to sign an Assumption of Risk and Release in order to participate in this class.
Fee $48 member, $58... Read more about Grafting Woody Plants: Fruit Trees

More than enough food is produced to feed every person, yet nearly 40% of food is wasted in the United States. This waste squanders our natural resources and has negative impacts on the environment and the economy. The Harvard Law School Food Law and Policy Clinic has been at the forefront nationally in terms of educating about the relevant laws, supporting innovative models to increase food recovery, and driving policy change at the federal, state, and local levels to align incentives to reduce food waste. Emily Broad Leib will share the key knowledge developed by FLPC, providing an...

Read more about Directors Lecture Series: Food Waste Policy: Using Systems Change to Stop Squandering One of Our Greatest Resources

Families need nature all year round! Meet inside the main gate at the Visitor Center. We will find a place to play together, making snow angels, snow humans, and more! Afterwards, families are invited to come inside the Lecture Hall to warm up with cookies and cocoa. Free and open to all, most suitable for children ages four through ten.

In case of inclement weather, contact 617.384.5209.

Docent Robbie Apfel leads this winter walk in an exploration of the Arboretum's conifer collection. Beginning from the Bussey Street Gate, you will be introduced to the Arboretum's grand gymnosperms, learn the botany of conifers, and hear about Hemlock Hill's evolving ecosystem. This tour will also introduce you to native and non-native conifers in the winter landscape.

In case of inclement weather, please call 617 384-5209.

Free, registration is limited and requested at my.arboretum.harvard.edu...

Read more about Conifers in Winter

“Eastern Asia – eastern North America temperate woody disjuncts” is a mouthful. But, once you get the hang of it, you will discover the fascinating evolutionary stories of botanical emigrants that have journeyed from Asia to North America and evolved into much of what now makes up forest ecosystems in the eastern United States. You will also discover that the Arnold Arboretum holds one of the most important collections of such disjuncts, and that for nearly a century and a half, has been facilitating family reunions between such long-separated evolutionary cousins. This biogeographic...

Read more about Directors Lecture Series: Asa Gray, Charles Darwin, and the Discovery of Intercontinental Disjuncts

Most of us have an intuitive sense of what counts as "biodiversity" and why it is important to live in a biodiverse world, but these questions have also powered decades of revelatory and complex ecological research. Join Putnam Postdoctoral Fellow Jake Grossman for an exploration of the world of biodiversity research. Our focus will be on how scientists define and quantify biodiversity and how biodiversity loss affects the way that ecosystems work. Jake will share highlights from his dissertation research, which entailed the use of experimentally planted "forests" to study the role of... Read more about Botany Blast: What is Biodiversity and Why Does It Matter?

Without their leaves, trees can be challenging to identify in the winter. However, if you consider a tree’s branching structure and buds, you can often determine its species. Former Arboretum horticulturist and now a high school teacher, Sue Pfeiffer will speak about the clues to look for and the keys available to help you definitively identify specific trees. Dress in layers for indoor and outdoor learning.
Fee $40 member; $52 nonmember

Register at... Read more about Winter Tree Identification