The Missouri Botanical Garden is launching a new series, Nature Speaks, aimed at fostering connections between nature, art, and historical context during the gardens extended Thursday evening hours.
Hosted weekly on Thursdays at 5 p.m. until the gardens close at 8 p.m., the events will bring in local artists and guest lecturers to facilitate discovery-based learning for visitors and connect the gardens to deeper artistic and historical contexts. Admission to Nature Speaks series events is included with general admission to the gardens.
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“The idea of Nature Speaks emerged from the garden’s commitment to connecting people with the natural world—especially those who have not been to the Garden,” says Sean Doherty, vice president of education at the Missouri Botanical Garden. “Members of the Therapeutic Horticulture Team developed the series with the hope of fostering these connections in new and creative ways, while also reinforcing the benefits of nature on well-being.”
The first three events in the weekly series will be Nature Speaks…Through Art—A Plein Air Expérience on August 8, Nature Speaks…Through History—The Influencers with Abra Lee on August 15, and Nature Speaks…Through Art History and Open Studio on August 22. The event series will continue through September 26.
Nature Speaks Through Art, organized in collaboration with the Missouri Plein Air Painters’ Association, will bring in 15 local artists to describe the process of capturing the beauty of landscape in the great outdoors. Nature Speaks Through History highlights the important impact of nature on culture for many Black Americans. Nature Speaks Through Art History and Open Studio will feature Justice Henderson and Romare Bearden educating guests on artists Robert Duncanson and Edward Bannister, two Black painters who captured the essence of the natural world during the 19th century.
“The heart of the series is experiential learning through art, history, written word, music, movement, and discovery,” Doherty says. “We want to engage visitors through varied modalities in order for them to see and value nature in different ways.”
For more information and a schedule of events, visit missouribotanicalgarden.org.
