HSNY 15th Annual Fall Luncheon

The Horticultural Society of New York held its 15th Annual Fall Luncheon at The Metropolitan Club with guest speaker Carolyne Roehm. Carolyne worked as a designer for Oscar de la Renta before launching her own fashion house, Carolyne Roehm Inc. Since then, Carolyne has written eight books on subjects ranging from floral design, table tops, food, gardening, interiors, gift wrapping and party planning. This fall she will release her ninth book, A Passion for Blue and White.

CeCe Black, Carolyne Roehm, and Chris Giftos

Mrs. Charles A. Dana, Jr. was presented the HSNY award of excellence in honor of her outstanding contributions to horticulture and conservation. Norma Dana is the co-founder of then Women’s Committee of the Central Park Conservancy, an Honorary Trustee of The Wildlife Conservation Society and a member of the New Canaan Nature Center Advisory Board.

Norma is a long-time supporter of the HSNY.

Norma Dana accepting HSNY award of excellence

Green Team speaker Jeffrey Barrow

Shelia Stephenson and Suzette de Marigny Smith

Betty Scholtz, Tony Smith, and Faity Tuttle

Chris Giftos and Dominique Buaron

Wendy Keys and HSNY Chairman of the Board Bobbie Margolis

HSNY Event: ASBA Opening September 17th

The American Society of Botanical Artists & HSNY Present:
The 11th Annual International Juried Botanical Art Exhibition

SEPTEMBER 17 - NOVEMBER 25, 2008

Opening Reception
Wednesday, September 17, 2008, 6:00 to 8:00pm

The Horticultural Society of New York Gallery
148 West 37th Street, 13th Floor
New York, NY 10018

Gallery hours: Monday – Friday from 11am to 6pm + by appointment

The Eleventh Annual International Juried Botanical Art Exhibition, on view at The Horticultural Society of New York (HSNY) features a juried selection of works from The American Society of Botanical Artists (ASBA).

For the past eleven years the show has been co-sponsored by the two cultural non-profit organizations. Chosen from a field of 198 submissions, the forty artworks selected by jurors Francesca Anderson, Carol E. Hamilton, Dick Rauh, and Jessica Tcherepnine have been created by artists from the US, Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan, and the UK.

Image credit: Catherine Watters, "Collection de Noix", 2005, watercolor, 17 x 15 inches.

Amy Goldman's "The Heirloom Tomato" release at Marders Nursery

If anyone is going to be out on the eastern end of Long Island this weekend please come and join us as we help celebrate the release of Amy Goldman's much anticipated new book The Heirloom Tomato. A book signing and reception will be taking place at Marder's Nursery Saturday evening, August 9th, from 5-7pm. Marders Nursery is located in Bridgehampton on Snake Hollow Road. For more information about Marders, visit their website. Hope to see you there!

Michael Pollan at PS1/MOMA

For Immediate Release:

Michael Pollan
‘Taking the Plant's Point of View’

Friday, August 8, 2008
6:30PM: Exclusive HSNY member’s reception
7:00PM: Doors open to the public
7:30PM: Lecture begins
Rain or shine / $5 suggested donation

P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center
22-25 Jackson Avenue
Long Island City, N.Y. 11101
Visit http://www.ps1.org/ for directions

For the past twenty years, Michael Pollan has been writing books and articles about the places where civilization and the natural world intersect. He is one of today’s most influential, revolutionary investigators of what we eat and how plants impact our daily lives and culture. A long-standing supporter of The Horticultural Society of New York, the award-winning author will lecture on-site at P.F.1 (Public Farm One), a quarter-acre working farm currently installed in the P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center courtyard. P.F.1 is the vibrant creation of WORK Architecture Company, winners of this year’s MoMA/P.S.1 Young Architects Program competition. With this productive urban farm as a backdrop, Pollan will discuss the power of taking the plant's point of view, what that does for us, and why it's important to solving our environmental problems.

The event is also presented in conjunction with The Horticultural Society of New York’s major exhibition of contemporary art at The UBS Art Gallery, Implant, which riffs on ideas put forth by Pollan. Implant will feature plant-based art in a wide variety of media and will include works by Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Pipilotti Rist, Peter Coffin and Francesca Woodman among over 40 others. Influenced specifically by Pollan’s book, The Botany of Desire: A Plant’s Eye View of the World (2001) Curator Jodie Vicenta Jacobson’s exhibition concept exposes the plant’s power to infiltrate the artist’s psyche, cleverly immortalizing itself as a work of art.

Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals was named one of the ten best books of 2006 by the New York Times and the Washington Post. It also won the California Book Award, the Northern California Book Award, the James Beard Award for best food writing, and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. He is also the author A Place of My Own (1997) and Second Nature (1991). A contributing writer to the New York Times Magazine among other prestigious publications, Pollan is the Knight Professor of Journalism at the Graduate School of Journalism at UC-Berkeley and Director of the Knight Program in Science and Environmental Journalism. His most recent book is titled In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto (2008).

Coinciding with P.S.1’s courtyard presentation of P.F.1, The Horticultural Society of New York Gallery will feature architectural models, live-plant sculptures, preparatory drawings, photo-documentation and ephemera from the project. Through September 5, 2008.

Founded in 1900, The Horticultural Society of New York (HSNY) is at the forefront of New York City’s environmental well being. Our innovative multi-use headquarters provide resources for urban gardeners, plant enthusiasts, visual artists and green technology professionals. We promote the art and science of horticulture and its vital role in contemporary life, to diverse communities through out New York. Our outreach programs bring environmental literacy to public school children; gardens and urban agriculture to seniors and residents with special needs and vocational training to men, women and adolescents incarcerated on Rikers Island.

P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center is one of the largest and oldest organizations in the United States solely devoted to contemporary art. Established in 1976 by Alanna Heiss, P.S.1 originated from The Institute for Art and Urban Resources, a not-for-profit organization with a mission of turning abandoned, underutilized buildings in New York City into artist studios and exhibition spaces. P.S.1 became an affiliate of The Museum of Modern Art in 2000. In 2004, P.S.1 launched the world's first Internet art radio station, Art Radio WPS1.org, and Michael Pollan’s talk will be made available there as free streaming audio on-demand.

JOIN HSNY TODAY FOR AN EXCLUSIVE CHANCE TO MEET MICHAEL POLLAN! For a limited time only, you can join HSNY for a special rate of just $25! You’ll gain access to our exclusive reception with Michael Pollan, and you’ll enjoy all the year-long benefits of HSNY Membership. To take advantage of this offer, visit the membership page or call 212-757-0915 x121 and join at the $25 student level (no student ID required for a limited time). But hurry, this special rate ends August 6th!

This program is made possible in part by a grant from Con Edison.
P.S.1 gratefully acknowledges the assistance of The Horticultural Society of New York in providing expertise and maintenance for Public Farm 1.

IMPLANT Exhibition Opening August 7th

The UBS Art Gallery and The Horticultural Society of New York
request the pleasure of your company at the Opening Reception for

IMPLANT

Darren Almond, Lothar Baumgarten, Judith Belzer, Dale Berning, Carol Bove, Stan Brakhage, Julia Margaret Cameron, Ian Campbell, Nick Cave, Caw + Ng, Peter Coffin, Sharon Core, Ann Craven, Tacita Dean, William Eggleston, Roe Ethridge, Jane Freilicher, Robert Gober, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Amy Granat, Zach Harris, Susannah Hewlett, Carsten Höller, Katie Holten, Ellsworth Kelly, Karen Kilimnik, David Melrose, Jude Miller, John O, Hiroko Ohno, Dennis Oppenheim, Edgar Orlaineta, Gabriel Orozco, Guiseppe Penone, Pipilotti Rist, Gino Saccone, Jim Sams, Hiraki Sawa, Roman Signer, Simon Starling, Hellen Van Meene, Klaus Weber, James Welling, Carol Woodin, Francesca Woodman.

Thursday, August 7, 2008, 6:00 to 8:00 pm
This exhibition is curated by Jodie Vicenta Jacobson for The Horticultural Society of New York
The UBS Art Gallery
1285 Avenue of the Americas
(between 51st and 52nd Streets)
New York City

Exhibition on view August 7, 2008 through October 31, 2008 at The UBS Art Gallery.

Gallery hours: Monday — Friday 8:00am to 6:00pm

Implant is organized by The Horticultural Society of New York and sponsored by UBS.

Felix Gonzalez–Torres, “Untitled” (Alice B. Toklas’ and Gertrude Stein’s Grave, Paris), 1992. Framed C-print. 29 1/4 x 36 1/4 in. Image: 15 3/5 x 23 1/4 in. Edition of 4, 1 AP. Photo: Peter Muscato. © The Felix Gonzalez–Torres Foundation. Courtesy of Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York.

Notes from Around Town: GreenBranches Learning Garden at Stone Avenue Library

On July 10, 2008, there was a special little ceremony to celebrate the partnership between The Horticultural Society of New York and the Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation and the new sculptures out at the Stone Avenue branch of the Brooklyn Public Library. Originally opened in 1914, Stone Avenue, once called the Brownsville Children's Library, was the first public library in Brooklyn designed and opened specifically for children. As part of HSNY's GreenBranches program, the garden at Stone Avenue was designed by Marpillero Pollak Architects and installed by the HSNY Green Team during winter of 2006 and opened in spring of 2007. Today it is a beautiful and aesthetic contribution to the neighborhood as well as being a programmatic space and living classroom for the local community.
(PS. if you want, click on the photographs to enlarge them to full size)
When I arrived at lunch time I found a number of our friends and partners from Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation busy working with and teaching kids of all ages.

Meredith McNeal, Director of Education at Rush, and her class of young watercolor painters had gathered and displayed their latest creations on the benches and were having an afternoon critique. Meredith was teaching the kids about everything from artistic composition to constructive criticism, and they weren't missing a beat.

Linda Pollak, above in the striped shirt, from Marpillero Pollak Architects came out to help us celebrate and see how successfully her garden design has been adopted by the local children. You might notice the beds and benches happen to be the perfect height for a small, curious soul. Yet another genius design by Marpillero Pollak. Green Branches Learning Gardens are designed with each individual community in mind and intended to provide a long-term and sustainable benefit to that neighborhood.

Also helping us celebrate were: Gabriel Pacheco, a Brooklyn artist and educator who's handy work you will see below; Paul Levy, Stone Avenue librarian and a great friend of HSNY; and Patricia Dean who runs the Brownsville Heritage House, a must-visit on the second floor of the library.

The real cause for celebration was the completion of amazing, one-of-a-kind wooden sculptures conceptualized and realized by Brooklyn teens under the supervision of Gabriel Pacheco. You see, before the winter of 2006 this exterior space behind the library had been heavily shaded by a number of Ailanthus altissima, commonly called tree of heaven. For those of you that know this tree, you know they grow like wildfire and are known to seed themselves everywhere they are not welcome, so HSNY made the decision to remove them. The result was a tremendous addition of sun that could then be utilized for growing a wide range of flowering annuals and perennials, including some very well-received tomatoes and basil. With the intention to recycle and use as much as possible in the garden, it was then decided that this would be a perfect opportunity to teach the kids a new art form, namely wood carving. Gabriel sat down with the teens and together they conceptualized how each trunk could be transformed and brought back to life. Over two months last year and one month this year the kids worked their hearts out, as did Gabriel, and created a total of five sculptures now permanently on display behind Stone Avenue.
A year later the teens posted their original drawings on the new shade structure in back and talked us through the creative process.
Gabriel and the students found many gallons of paint that could be recycled and cut up over 200 aluminum cans to add both color and and shiny metal adornments to these unique pieces of art.
Here two chess pieces were created to stand tall behind the raised beds overflowing with perennials coming into full flower.
One young woman had in mind an arrow piercing a broken heart, and thanks to the HSNY garden space and the guidance from those at Rush, she was able to make it a reality she is extremely proud of. The more we talked the more she pointed out to me how each sculpture was individual yet spoke to a common theme, the power of both mind and body. I began to see the peices in a whole new light and they became even more amazing to me.

Needless to say we here at HSNY are all extremely proud too. We couldn't be more proud of this garden that the local community can call their own, proud of this amazing partnership with our friends at Rush, and proud of the creative youth who are so uninhibited and inspirational. Bravo!

To learn more about HSNY and our various outreach programs, as well as information about becoming a member and helping to support these necessary efforts to improve the quality of life in New York through horticulture, visit our website, HSNY.org.

This Evening at HSNY

The Horticultural Society of New York presents:

WORK ARCHITECTURE COMPANY

JULY 10 - SEPTEMBER 5, 2008

Opening Reception @ HSNY: Thursday July 10th, 6 to 8 PM

This exhibition is on view at the HSNY Gallery as part of the program for WORK Architecture Company's concurrent outdoor installation PUBLIC FARM 1:'SUR LES PAVES LA FERME!' at PS1/MoMA. Our exhibition will feature architectural models, prepatory drawings, studio sculptures and photo-documentation from this project.

Photo courtesy of WORK Architecture Company

Photo courtesy Elizabeth Felicella and WORK Architecture Company

Gallery hours: Monday - Friday 11am - 6pm & by appointment

Notes from Around Town: the Garden at PS 57

The following images are from a celebration we had at PS 57 on June 24, 2008.

PS 57 is also known as The James Weldon Johnson School. Mr. Israel Soto is the acting Principal. The school is located at 176 East 115th Street, between Lexington and 3rd Avenues, New York, NY, 10029.

The Horticultural Society is connected to PS 57 thanks to our Apple Seed program. Apple Seed offers innovative, hands-on environmental education and activities to expand science, math, and literacy skills in elementary students throughout New York City. The curriculum is based on the National Science Education Standards and serves public schools during and after school in some of New York City’s most underserved neighborhoods.

This is Apple Seed’s fifth year with PS 57. Our relationship started in 1996 when we taught several third grade classes for two years. More recently, Mr. Paul Forbes, Youth Development Manager at the Department of Education, reunited HSNY with PS57. Principal Soto was looking for an educationally based group to help him build a “Garden of Dreams” in a quiet schoolyard. And so, The Horticultural Society of New York installed this beautiful courtyard garden in the Spring of 2005. Students in our Green Team Internship Program built planters and created the waterfall. Apple Seed students then assisted with planting and maintaining a garden on the second floor deck of the school. This year “field trips” to the garden occurred with three classes to encourage garden art, planting annuals, fertilizing the soil, and increasing butterfly populations in the garden.

This garden is a living laboratory that demonstrates the marvels of plant life, its interconnection with the water cycle and the animals who depend on them. It is a vision of Principal Israel Soto, who wants all students to dream and dream BIG. It was designed by HSNY’s John Cannizzo and built by HSNY’s Green Team. This dream became a reality through the generous support of Bob Silver Family Foundation, The City Gardens Club of New York City, and Rodale.

John Cannizzo in the distance working with the students at PS 57 planting a new container.

The garden and outdoor learning facility is loved and utilized by students and teachers alike.

On the day of the celebration the kids were helping to pass out amazing tomato plants.

The new shade structure being unveiled is not only a new outdoor classroom space, but it also incorporates a rain water harvesting system to be used by the local gardeners.

HSNY's first rainwater harvesting system in a New York City public school helps to conserve our public drinking water by capturing rainwater from the roof of the outdoor learning center and storing it for use in the garden. This simple knowledge and technology we hope to introduce to other public school students throughout the city.

A little information about the students at PS57:
Student Population:
69% of students are Latino
23% of students are African-American
23% English Language Learners
90% of the students are receiving free lunch – from low-income families

Kate Chura, President and CEO of The Horticultural Society of New York, (above) and Principal Israel Soto (below) were among the many speakers who helped to welcome the students, parents, and guests to this amazing oasis of learning and discovery.

Also present for the ribbon cutting were Edie Loening from The City Gardens Club of New York City, Scott Meyer from Organic Gardening Magazine (a Rodale publication), and of course, the students.

Following the formal ceremony the students wasted no time getting to work watering the garden.

Healthy and nutritional snacks were provided to make sure we all kept our energy up during the hot summer day.

On-going maintenance of the garden is done by the third graders with the direction of HSNY’s weekly gardening classes. If you have questions about HSNY’s Apple Seed program, contact Pam Ito, Director of Children’s Education, at pito@hsny.org.

Reminder: Intro to Green Walls Thursday Evening 6/19

(image courtesy of G-Sky.com)

Introduction to Green Walls: A Presentation by G-Sky
Thursday, June 19, 2008, 6:00 – 7:30pm
Free for members, $10 for nonmembers
You have heard about the green roof movement, but have you heard about green walls? G-Sky's Living Wall product is a Japanese-developed modular system that has been installed worldwide for nearly 10 years. On June 19th, join representatives from G-Sky's New York office and Corporate office in Vancouver, including the company’s president, Chad Sichello, for an informative presentation on green walls. Learn about the components involved, the benefits, and how easy it is to incorporate their system into your own work. A living wall will be on display, and there will be an interactive presentation with plenty of time for questions.

Movie Screening this Friday at HSNY

Image courtesy of MGM Studios

Come and join us for an environmental cult classic!

HSNY Movie Screening: Soylent Green
Friday, May 23, 2008, 6:30-8:30pm
Suggested Donation $5

Soylent Green
1973
Directed by Richard Fleischer
Starring Charlton Heston and Leigh Taylor-Young
97 minutes

A tale of Earth in despair in 2022. Natural food like fruits, vegetables, and meat among others are now extinct. Earth is overpopulated and New York City has 40 million starving, poverty stricken people. The only way they survive is with water rations and eating a mysterious food called Soylent. A detective investigates the murder of the president of the Soylent Company. The truth he uncovers is more disturbing than the Earth in turmoil when he learns the secret ingredient of Soylent Green.

The Horticultural Society of New York
148 West 37th Street 13th Floor
New York, NY 10018
212.757.0915 x100
www.hsny.org

Last chance: RICCI ALBENDA - 26 DEVOE on view in the HSNY Gallery through May 23rd

Trolley Tour seats still available

Thanks to the generosity of the NYC Department of Parks & Recreation we get to ride around in these classic trolleys to gardens all over the city.

Today we went to four community gardens of the Manhattan Land Trust up in Harlem between 121st and 141st Street. This is one called Five Star, where the HSNY GreenTeam under the supervision of John Cannizzo has been involved and helped a great deal.

The gazebo had to be taken apart and rebuilt in order to be moved to the center of the garden, but now it is easily wheelchair accessible so everyone can visit and enjoy. Michael, wearing red, is one of the community gardeners and was busy filling up the new raised beds with lettuce and peppers. Standing with him is Erica Packard from the Manhattan Land Trust and devoted HSNY members. No question there will be a lot of good veggies coming out of this garden!

From there we moved on to the Hope Steven community garden up on 141st. There the new brick path laid by the HSNY GreenTeam came in handy as we walked to the front so that I could show people the mini green roof that John installed this spring. The green roof is atop the shade structure in the background of the photograph and is planted with a fabulous selection of Sedum and other winter hardy succulents.
As the day warmed up the shade of the fruit trees were becoming more and more welcoming. This peach tree is definitely an important member of the local community up there at Hope Steven.

First off, thank you to all the HSNY members and supporters that joined Erica Packard from the Manhattan Land Trust and I for the HSNY trolley tour of four community gardens today. It was a fabulous crowd and such a pleasure to expose and share these gardens that the local communities, Manhattan Land Trust, and HSNY have invested so much time and energy in.

Also, in related news, there are still seats available for the HSNY trolley tour this Saturday from 10am-2pm. This Saturday we will pick people up at the NW corner of 60th and 5th Avenue in Manhattan by 10am. Then we will venture out to Brooklyn to visit three of HSNY's GreenBranches Learning Gardens. "GreenBranches works within a social context to design, install, and provide educational programs in public gardens at branch libraries to transform under-resourced public space into community learning centers." By visiting these gardens with us you will see how we work with and for the local communities to create green spaces that are both beautiful and programmatic. Each garden is unique and has something special to offer. Tony Smith, HSNY President, will be there to give you a history of the GreenBranches program which he created, and I will be there as well to point out specific plants and flowers and answer any horticultural questions that might arise. We will leave at 10am and hope to return to Manhattan (again to 60th and 5th) by 2pm. We will supply water and snacks. You are welcome to bring lunch if you wish. Lastly, in case there is any confusion, these tours are open to the public so any one can RSVP and join us. Donations the day of the tour are not required, but certainly welcome. We hope very much that you might be able to join us. It will be a great day.

HSNY Trolley Tour: HSNY GreenBranches Learning Gardens
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Donations Accepted, RSVP Required, Limit 25 People
RSVP to Fiona Luhrmann at (212) 757-0915 x100 or fluhrmann@hsny.org
Hop aboard a classic trolley, provided by the NYC Dept. of Parks and Recreation, and join Alex Feleppa, for a tour of three GreenBranches Learning Gardens in Brooklyn. Discover the past, present, and future of this unique outreach program that provides local communities city-wide with both beautiful and programmatic garden space outside their public library branches.
Please Note: Meet at the NW corner of 60th Street and 5th Avenue in Manhattan.

The river birch trees out at the Dekalb GreenBranches garden looked fabulous in the springtime sun on Tuesday. Saturday I am sure I will be talking about how the garden has transitioned from sun to shade and how we attend to that.

HSNY Used Book Sale

(Just a few of the many titles you will find at the HSNY Used Book Sale)

For those of you that used to frequent The Horticultural Society of New York at our old location on 58th Street between 6th and 7th you might remember the ongoing book sale Katherine Powis ran in the HSNY Library reading room. The HSNY Library accepts donations of horticultural and other related publications to be incorporated into our library collection, which is open to the public and now well over 10,000 volumes. Sometimes, however, there are duplicates of books which we already have in our collection and those books can be sold at heavily discounted prices to the public.

It is my pleasure, on behalf of Katherine and the HSNY Library, to announce that we have reinstated the HSNY used book sale at our new home here at 148 West 37th Street on the 13th Floor. We have one full case of used books devoted to the book sale and anyone here can direct you to those when you visit. The books are priced to move and we can accept all forms of payment. The topics and titles vary greatly, so it is best to simply come in to HSNY and see for yourself. We are located on West 37th Street between 7th Avenue and Broadway, and you will find #148 on the south side of the street. We are open to the public 10am - 6pm Monday through Friday and Katherine Powis, HSNY Librarian, is here Monday through Thursday. To learn more about the HSNY Library click here, and for general information about The Horticultural Society of New York, click here.