[PCA] May 19-Explore art, conservation, gardens with ART GOES WILD grand opening New England Wild Flower Society

Wed Apr 25 15:06:43 CDT 2007

Dear Olivia,  

New England Wild Flower Society's ART GOES WILD:  Innovation With Native Plants opens at Garden in the Woods in Framingham, MA on Saturday May 19 and I hope you can help us share the announcement below and the  story, May 19-October 31.  

This environmental art exhibiton, part of the celebration of Garden in the Woods' 75th anniversary are important milestones,  not only in taking a role as a unique convergence of art and plants, but also because these events touch on a  GREEN story in a playful, optimistic, and vivid way.   Conservation is a serious issue but we can make fun choices in our own gardens for beauty, a connection with nature, and sustainability, without sacrificing a smidgeon of aethetic sophistication. 

As we face CLIMATE CHANGE and its impact on our native plants, the show is not just inspiring and beautiful but it unearths critical issues where our own actions have a direct impact.    Read more about the Society's new CLIMATE CHANGE POLICY 
at www.newenglandWILD.org/conserve. 

To review  the stories and listings of the ART GOES WILD epress kit (ongoing updates) visit:  
http://www.newfs.org/artgoeswild/agwpress.html

Do you have a deadline for June-October stories or listings right now? Do you need hi-res images?  If you let me know soon at dstrick at newenglandWILD.org, <mailto:dstrick at newenglandWILD.org,>   I can forward you what you need right away. 

SEE BELOW FOR GRAND OPENING FESTIVITIES LISTING on May 19.  Scroll down further for more events, and a full press release. 

ART GOES WILD:  Innovation with Native Plants
An exuberant site-specific  installation by W. Gary Smith
Performances, events, music, tours, and celebration
May 19-October 31, 2007

New England Wild Flower Society's Garden in the Woods
Framingham, Massachusetts
Environmental artist and landscape architect- W. Gary Smith

SAVE THE DATES--GO WILD!

Art Goes Wild 75th anniversary Symposium:  "The Art of Livable Landscapes" with Rick Darke, W. Gary Smith, and Gwen Stauffer, 9-4:30 Friday, May 18, 2007 and includes lectures and a live preview of the exhibit. 

GRAND OPENING LISTING: 

Contact:  Debra Strick, Marketing and PR Director

dstrick at newenglandWILD.org <mailto:dstrick at newfs.org> 

508-877-7630x3501

Images at lmattei at newenglandWILD.org

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NATURE LISTINGS/  MUSEUM LISTINGS/  ART LISTINGS/ATTRACTIONS/MUSIC LISTINGS/FESTIVALS LECTURES

NEW ENGLAND WILD FLOWER SOCIETY'S GARDEN IN THE WOODS, botanical garden and native plant sanctuary, 45 acres with 1,500 native varieties, including 200 rare and endangered species. Nursery features 600 wildflower species.    180 Hemenway Road, Framingham, MA. (508) 877-7630, www.newenglandWILD.org <http://www.newenglandwild.org/> . 75th Anniversary Celebration and Environmental Art Exhibit, "ART GOES WILD: Innovation with Native Plants by W. Gary Smith, May 19-October 31, 2007.  SPRING HOURS: Open daily, April 15-August 31; 9 a.m.- 7 p.m.; Sept. 1-October 31, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Admission: $7, Seniors: $5, Children and Young Adults (6-18 yrs): $3, Members and Children under 6: Free. Tours daily at 10 Weekends at 2, no reservations required. Museum store, bookstore, native plant nursery and special events.  Memberships and all purchases support plant conservation. 

SPECIAL EVENTS:

GRAND OPENING of ART GOES WILD Saturday, May 19, 2007, 10-5. It's a WILD 75th anniversary party!  Site-specific environmental art installation features 11 Destination Gardens by W. Gary Smith celebrating 75 years of New England Wild Flower Society's Garden in the Woods. MEET THE ARTIST at the MINI-GARDEN PARK and make a dish garden. Guided walks at 11 and 1, and the DEDICATION CEREMONY at 1 pm.  Meet "WILL CURTIS" (re-enactment of Garden founder), and "SANDY BEECH" (costumed tree character) LIVE MUSIC performances by the acclaimed folk and bluegrass group, THE RESOPHONICS, 12:30-2 pm at the Woodland Stage.   Live DEMONSTRATIONS, "75 Great Native Plants at 10 am, and CONTAINER GARDENING at 3 pm at the IDEA GARDEN. See details at www.newenglandWILD.org <http://www.newenglandwild.org/> .   EXHIBIT and opening events included FREE with admission. WILD gift purchases, native plant purchases, and memberships support the Society's plant conservation programs.  508-877-7630.     

Other Select Anniversary Celebration Dates

May 19-Oct 31 Garden DEMOS free with admission on weekends at the Cottage Garden
June 8 ART GOES WILD Plant Sale Preview Party
June 9  PLANT SALE celebration event
June 17-ART GOES WILD family performing art series begins with "Singing RInging Tree"
June 25 Animal Ambassadors Series begins
July 14 ART GOES WILD  Twilight Performance and Picnic Series begins with Patino Vasquez and Los Sugar Kings
July 29   family performing art series continues with "Les Julian and Color Outside the Lines
Aug 26 ART GOES WILD  MEADOW MADNESS festival
Aug 11  ART GOES WILD Twilight Series with D'Rafael with Gitano
Sept 15  GARDENERS DAY festival 10-3
Oct 14    FALL FAMILY FESTIVAL

STORY OF ART GOES WILD

Contact:  Debra Strick, Marketing and Public Relations 

 (508) 877-7630, x 3501 dstrick at newenglandWILD.org

Images <http://www.newfs.org/>  at lmattei at newenglandWILD.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ART GOES WILD Exhibit Celebrates Museum's 75 Year Anniversary

             Framingham, Massachusetts-- New England Wild Flower Society celebrates the 75th  year of its living museum, Garden in the Woods  With the Garden and its premier collection of 1,500 North American wildflower species as the medium and the artist's eye of famed landscape architect and environmental artist W. Gary Smith, the Society marks the anniversary of this beloved living museum with a spectacular site-specific art installation.  From May 19 through October 31, 2007, take a walk on the WILD side with ART GOES WILD: Innovation with Native Plants, on exhibit at the convergence of environmental art and native plant horticulture.  The show features eleven "destination gardens" within the 45 acres of Garden in the Woods itself and promises to be the most important show of the decade for revealing the future of nature-based fine art, and livable landscapes for all. With CLIMATE CHANGE facing all of us, combining art with the ethics of lightening our footprint in our own landscapes is gives a special resonance to the idea of environmental art in 2007.  

 The Society is proud to host the first major public installation in New England of the work of W. Gary Smith, perhaps the most significant garden designer in the country today, specializing in native plantings. Smith's award-winning works include sites at Peirce's Woods at Longwood Gardens, Winterthur Gardens in Delaware and Calloway Gardens in Georgia, and public and private gardens nationwide.  The Garden is not compromised by Smith's sometimes dramatic, sometimes subtle "visual riffs," but rather is elevated in the 75th anniversary tribute to "a magical place," as the artist describes the naturalistic garden started by Will Curtis in 1932. The fresh exhibition honors the greatness of the past, while offering an entrée into an entirely different time scale as the exhibit itself changes with the light and plant palette through the seasons. "This is a much more challenging art form than many, dealing with light and texture, serendipity and the changing aspects of nature." Smith continues, "Ecosystems are much more complex than anyone can recreate-they are going to surprise you.  The plants themselves will be beautiful, unlike what happens with much nature-based fine art, where the artists may not understand what plants need to thrive. With New England Wild Flower Society the native plants selected will be grown beautifully, and very well suited to the various sculptural expressions.  The plants are as much part of the excitement and exuberance of the exhibition as the artistic elements." 

"ART GOES WILD" challenges us to review our pre-conceptions about native plant design. Says Smith, "No one does highly designed work with native plants today. The majority of people using these plant materials have been focusing on restoration or naturalistic design."        

Inspired by the formal abstract elements each plant presents, "ART GOES WILD" invites us to change our thinking about using native plants in highly ORNAMENTAL ways - a concept as innovative now as Garden in the Woods creator Will Curtis' naturalistic landscaping was in the 1930's.  "ART GOES WILD" invites us all to consider design where the primary purpose is to be interesting as a work of art, while still honoring ecological considerations.   In sharp contrast with naturalistic garden design of the twentieth century, "ART GOES WILD" emphasizes the mark of the human intervention and the sensibility of the artist. 

"An artist's way of engaging is very different from a garden designer or an ecologist," says Smith, who doesn't initiate his projects as most landscape architects do, with budgets, programs, and directives.  He first draws what is right in front of him, without pre-thinking.  Soon a sense of order or structure emerges-and that is where the eleven "destination gardens" of the exhibit derive their inspiration. Rather than trying to fit the environment to suit his designs, Smith is known for reading the land and ecosystems and fitting his designs to the environment, highlighting the particular beauty inherent in the location, and then tuning into the unique qualities of that location.  He creates playful, fun, and special environments.  

The exhibit features installations in the context of a large-scale public garden space, yet the aim of the exhibit is to showcase ideas that are specifically designed for easy adaptation to the scale of the home garden and smaller art installations. Demonstrations for gardeners, families, artists, and the general public are included in programming from May 18 through October 31.  "ART GOES WILD" event highlights include THE ART OF LIVABLE LANDSCAPES symposium with Rick Darke and W. Gary Smith, Gardeners Day, Meadow Madness-at the peak of the meadow bloom period, Fall Family Festival, and a Twilight Performing Arts Series. 

 "ART GOES WILD:  Innovation with Native Plants" is an exciting preview of the NEXT glorious 75 years.  New England Wild Flower Society, Garden in the Woods, 180 Hemenway Road, Framingham, MA. 508-877-7630. Visit www.newenglandWILD.org <http://www.newenglandwild.org/>    Cart tours for mobility assistance, and group tours may be scheduled with Bonnie Drexler at bdrexler at newenglandWILD.org  or x 3501. Garden Trails and Museum Store Hours: April 14-August 31: Open daily 9-7; September 1-October 31, Open daily 9-5.  Informal tours weekdays at 10 a.m. and weekends at 2:00 p.m. included with admission, no reservations required.  Adults $7; Seniors& Students $5; Youths 6-18 $3; Members and children 5 and under FREE.  New England Wild Flower Society offers the nation's largest public native plant school.  Memberships and purchases support the award-winning conservation programs of the Society.       

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