Adkins Mystery Monday: What Ethereal Organism is Found in our Parking Lots Gardens?
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The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.
The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.
Full of light and atmosphere, the artworks in Discovering the Native Landscapes of Maryland’s Eastern Shore, Adkins Arboretum’s 22nd annual Juried Art Show, tell of the astonishing and ever-changing beauty of our region. On view in the Visitor’s Center through April 29, this exhibit was juried by Teddy Johnson, a painter who serves as the director of Anne Arundel Community College’s Cade Gallery and an assistant professor of visual arts. He will speak about his choices at a reception on Sat., March 12 from 2 to 4 p.m.
In jurying this show, Johnson was excited by the diverse ways artists found to approach its theme. From a record 158 entries, he chose 22 artworks in a variety of mediums, including painting, photography, prints, ceramics and mixed mediums. Tracing the changing seasons, there are sultry sunsets, towering thunderclouds, golden marshes, winter grasses tinged luminous cinnamon brown and glittering ice sheathing the branches of a waterside tree.
For the annual Leon Andrus Awards, named for the Arboretum’s first benefactor, Johnson gave First Place to “Autumn Pond” by John Eiseman of Hebron, Md. Aglow with colorful fall foliage reflected in the deep blue of a pond, this large, impressionistic oil painting shows a quiet stretch of water surrounded by trees and a solitary man fishing from a small boat.
“It transports me to a specific place,” Johnson explained. “It’s the atmosphere, time of day, season, and how the light changes as you move through the picture. It feels like an intimate experience of nature. It feels very personal.”
For Second Place, Johnson chose three wintry photographs of quintessential Eastern Shore landscapes by Benjamin Tankersley of Baltimore: “Spriggs Island, 2013,” “New Year’s Eve Milkweed Pods, 2020” and “Sandy and Molly on Wye Island, 2009.”
Speaking of the woman standing with her dog at the edge of a lonely shoreline in “Sandy and Molly on Wye Island, 2009,” he said, “I enjoy that she doesn’t feel posed. It’s a quiet moment when she’s able to reflect internally while also experiencing the environment. The natural spaces around us affect us internally. It’s part of the benefit that nature is so healing.”
Johnson awarded three Honorable Mentions. One went to “Thunderhead,” a tiny monoprint by Easton artist Maire McArdle in which a strange dark mass hovers above what may be a horizon line between green-blue water and an ochre sky.
“It’s open for interpretation,” he said. “I like a piece of artwork that doesn’t spell it all out for you, that you can bring yourself and your experiences to.”
Another Honorable Mention was awarded to Chestertown ceramicist Chris Neiman for his sculpture “Reflections.” Inspired by a walk along the Arboretum’s Blockston Branch creek, Neiman stained a twisted piece of driftwood with a horizontal “waterline” and dangled a row of slim ceramic tiles from it. Etched with intricate smoky patterns left from raku firing, they evoke the ripples and reflections he saw in the woodland creek.
Johnson said, “It projects a really beautiful internal quality and a very specific voice. It’s the artist trying to make sense of a personal connection to nature, which is something that drew me to a lot of the pieces here.”
He also awarded an Honorable Mention to two encaustic paintings by Cathy Leaycraft of Parkville, Md. Titled “Planetary Lines: Earth,” both are extremely simplified waterscapes in which the artist painted encaustic (a mixture of beeswax, resin and pigment) onto photographs, adding layers of lush, translucent texture until the photographs nearly vanish.
“The wax has a luminosity, and it’s creamy and just really gorgeous,” Johnson said. “I like how these are a little nebulous. You can’t really tell where you are in that space. It’s a very unusual abstraction where you have a landscape that almost disappears. There’s the feeling that you’re inside of the space instead of just looking at it from the outside.”
For Johnson, experimentation and exploration are crucial to creating exciting, engaging art.
“I do like an artwork that has an openness to it,” he explained, “that doesn’t necessarily nail everything down for us. When you hold off from depicting everything, it can bring you in to have a more broad and profound experience of the piece.”
This show is part of Adkins Arboretum’s ongoing exhibition series of work on natural themes by regional artists. It is on view through April 29 at the Arboretum Visitor’s Center located at 12610 Eveland Road near Tuckahoe State Park in Ridgely. Contact the Arboretum at 410–634–2847, ext. 0 or [email protected] for gallery hours.
Adkins Arboretum is a 400-acre native garden and preserve at the headwaters of the Tuckahoe Creek in Caroline County. For more information, visit adkinsarboretum.org or call 410-634-2847, ext. 0.
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Six years ago, filmmaker and art director, George Burroughs and Lauren Giordano, were living in Washington DC., but they both had a yearning to be outdoors more and grow their own food that urban living wasn’t satisfying. On one of many trips to the eastern shore, they stumbled upon a renovated one-room schoolhouse in Cordova on a few acres that was for sale. In no time, they made the leap, relocated and started growing tomatoes, eggplant and more. Burroughs was the Creative Director at the Brookings Institution and led a team that collaborated with the scholars at Brookings to develop visual presentations and Giordano has served as art director to several national and regional publications, including The Atlantic. Now, the artistic duo has their own creative studio called, Schoolhouse Farmhouse.
Their latest project is a 25-minute film and companion website commissioned by Adkins Arboretum. It’s called, Rooted Wisdom: Nature’s Role in The Underground Railroad. You can view the trailer here. Tubman biographer Kate Clifford Larson calls the film, “Simply breathtaking!.” Larson says its’, “Beautifully filmed and narrated…this remarkable film confirms freedom seekers and their families as early naturalists with enormous wells of knowledge about the flora and fauna of their worlds and offers us a fresh look at history on landscapes teeming with life.”
That landscape can be found at Adkins Arboretum, the backdrop for what the filmmakers describe as a “guided experience” allowing audiences to explore how self-liberators used the natural landscape to forge a path to freedom. The Arboretum plans to launch both the film and companion website on March 11, 2022, at 7:00 pm. with a premiere of the film via livestream hosted by the Avalon Foundation and viewable on the project’s website . Viewers can livestream the film and watch a panel discussion with the filmmakers and historians free, though registration is encouraged. Register here.. The website contains the film as five chapters and is infused with detailed accounts of self-liberators, related historical sites and the landscape around them. Adkins wrote about Adkins Arboretum’s virtual film event here a few weeks back.
The film and website were supported by a grant from the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) and funded by the Department of the Interior, National Park Service. Additional funding was received from the Dock Street Foundation and other private funders for promotion, live tours that narrator, Anthony Cohen will lead at Adkins and school curriculums that expand the film and website.
After spending weekends hiking the 400 acres of native plants and beautifully landscaped paths at Adkins Arboretum in Ridgely, Maryland and volunteering, the couple started working with the Arboretum on a series of short films about native trees. Shortly after the completion of the project, Ginna Tiernan, the Arboretum’s Executive Director, approached Burroughs and Giordano about expanding their Underground Railroad programming. Through this project and additional Rooted Wisdom programming at the Arboretum, they hope to broaden the conventional narrative surrounding the history of the Underground Railroad. Giordano says this project has the potential to engage a larger community,
“You can get people learning about history through nature and the environment and you can get people to learn about nature and the environment through history.”
Adkins wrote about Cohen a few weeks ago and you can read and listen to him talk about his unique approach to history here . Cohen will be leading tours at the Arboretum on April 22, June 17, and September 23.
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Happy Mystery Monday! Do you know what is popping up in the forest floodplain?
Last week, we asked you about trichomes! Trichomes are the plant hairs that you may find on stems, leaves, and other plant parts. These hairs can serve a variety of functions including: insulating the plant from frost, retaining moisture, and protecting the plant from potential predators. Plant details like trichomes can also help you to properly identify a plant!
Adkins Mystery Monday is sponsored by the Spy and Adkins Arboretum. For more information go here.
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Prepare for spring in the garden! Adkins Arboretum, offering the Chesapeake gardener the best selection of landscape-ready native plants for more than two decades, announces its Spring Native Plant Sale. All proceeds benefit the Arboretum’s rich variety of education programs that teach about the Delmarva’s native plants and their connection to a healthy Chesapeake Bay.
To ensure the best-quality plants, sales will be conducted entirely online. Orders will be accepted Thurs., March 3 through Thurs., March 31 at adkinsarboretum.org and will be fulfilled via timed, scheduled pickup in late April and early May.
Plants for sale include a large variety of native perennials, ferns, vines, grasses and flowering trees and shrubs for spring planting. Native flowers and trees provide food and habitat for wildlife and make colorful additions to home landscapes, whether in a perennial border, a woodland garden or a restoration project. Native honeysuckle entices hummingbirds, while tall spikes of purplish flowers grace blue wild indigo. Milkweed provides critical energy for monarch butterflies on their winter migration to Mexico, and native azaleas present a veritable rainbow of colorful blooms.
As always, Arboretum members receive a generous discount on plants that varies according to membership level. To join, renew your membership or give an Arboretum membership as a gift, visit adkinsarboretum.org or contact Kellen McCluskey at [email protected].
For more information on plants, purchasing or pickup procedures, visit adkinsarboretum.org, send email to [email protected] or call 410-634-2847, ext. 0.
Adkins Arboretum is a 400-acre native garden and preserve at the headwaters of the Tuckahoe Creek in Caroline County. For more information, visit adkinsarboretum.org or call 410-634-2847, ext. 0.
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Experiential history is at the core of Adkins Arboretum’s Rooted Wisdom: Nature’s Role in the Underground Railroad guided experience—short film and online companion—that explores how self-liberators used nature to forge a path to freedom. The main tenant of experiential history is putting people on the physical landscape, or giving them an object, and allowing them to connect in a tangible way to the history of that place or object. Watch the interview above to hear historian and Rooted Wisdom project collaborator Anthony Cohen discuss how he uses experiential history to tell the story of the Underground Railroad through the natural landscape at Adkins Arboretum.
Sign up for an in-person tour with Anthony Cohen at Adkins Arboretum here.
Film too can provide a platform for experiential history, enabling audiences to see and hear things that might be missed on a single, or even multiple visits to a place. In Rooted Wisdom, the audience is transported through four seasons, day, night, varied weather conditions, and are exposed to an abundance of wildlife. While one goal of Rooted Wisdom is to invite the audience to Adkins Arboretum to explore this history in person, it also provides access to this story beyond a physical visit to the Arboretum—and encourages viewers to look at the natural landscape in a new way.
Rooted Wisdom will launch on Friday, March 11 at 7pm, with a livestream of the 25-minute documentary film followed by a live panel discussion and Q&A at naturesrole.org The event is free, though registration is encouraged. For more information visit here.
Adkins wrote more about Rooted Wisdom and the launch event here and here.
The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.
The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.
Adkins Arboretum has announced the 2022 lineup for its popular Soup ’n Walk programs. Discover early blooms and wildlife, ephemeral flowers, sure signs of spring, meadow grasses, fall color and autumn nuts and berries. Following a guided walk through the Arboretum’s forest, meadow and wetland communities, enjoy a delicious lunch and a short talk about nutrition. Copies of recipes are provided, and all gift shop purchases on these days receive a 20% discount. This year’s offerings include:
Early Blooms, Songbirds & Spring Frogs
Sat., March 19, 11 a.m.–1:30 p.m.
Listen for songbirds and spring frogs while searching for early purple, pink and white blooms. Plants of interest include skunk cabbage, paw paw, spring beauty and bloodroot. Menu: country bean and red cabbage soup, quinoa-red pepper salad, pumpernickel bread with spinach spread, Black Forest cake with cherries.
Spring Ephemerals & Pollinators
Sat., April 16, 11 a.m.–1:30 p.m.
Look again! The blooms of ephemeral plants, trees and shrubs are here and gone in the blink of an eye. Look for pink, white and yellow blooms and listen for early pollinators. Plants of interest include pink spring beauty, may apple, dogwood, golden groundsel, spicebush, sassafras and white beech. Menu: ginger sweet potato soup, Eastern Shore crunchy coleslaw, wheat flaxseed bread with peach jam, almond cupcake with lemon frosting.
Beavers, Tuckahoe Creek & Beyond
Sat., May 21, 11 a.m.–1:30 p.m.
Observe the beautiful Tuckahoe Creek view while scouting for signs of beavers. Plants of interest include mountain laurel, beech, tulip tree, pink lady’s slipper, Solomon’s seal and may apple. Menu: minestrone, oven-roasted red beets and carrots, brown rice bread with raspberry jam, cinnamon crunch apple cake.
Sunny Meadows
Sat., Sept. 17, 11 a.m.–1:30 p.m.
Walk the meadows in search of golden-brown grasses and yellow and purple flowers while watching and listening for bluebirds and dragonflies. Plants of interest include milkweed, black-eyed Susan, goldenrod, Indian grass, big bluestem and sumac berries. Menu: lentil and greens soup, wild rice berry salad, anadama cornbread with salsa, ginger oatmeal walnut cookies.
Sat., Oct. 15, 11 a.m.–1:30 p.m.
Fall colors dazzle the eye and pique the appetite. Listen for migrating birds and woodpeckers while watching for changing color on sweet gum, sassafras, tupelo, sumac, dogwood, paw paw, hickory, beech and tulip trees. Menu: cream of broccoli soup, black-eyed pea salad, dill cottage cheese bread with strawberry jam, old-fashioned pear cobbler.
Sat., Nov. 19, 11 a.m.–1:30 p.m.
Enjoy the autumn harvest as we hunt for nutritious berries, nuts and seeds and check for signs of beaver. Plants of interest include dogwood, hibiscus, partridge berry, oak, loblolly pine, juniper, verbena, ironwood and strawberry bush. Menu: kale and chicken soup, apple date salad, cinnamon raisin bread, baked cranberry apples.
Soup ’n Walk programs are $25 for members and $30 for non-members. Advance registration is required; early registration is recommended. Visit adkinsarboretum.org or call 410-634-2847, ext. 0 for more information or to register.
Adkins Arboretum is a 400-acre native garden and preserve at the headwaters of the Tuckahoe Creek in Caroline County. For more information, visit adkinsarboretum.org or call 410-634-2847, ext. 0.
The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.
Over the past few decades the historical community has been redefining how we speak about, and understand, slavery. Watch the video above to hear historian and Rooted Wisdom project collaborator Anthony Cohen discuss this important shift that speaks to the condition of a person, rather than defining them as less or more than another. In addition to changing the way we speak about slavery, over the past quarter century, new research channels have also revealed a more complete picture of this part of American history. It has become clear that lives of enslaved people and freedom seekers were significantly different from how they have been previously depicted—revealing people who were resilient and determined.
Through Rooted Wisdom: Nature’s Role in the Underground Railroad, a guided experience—short film and online companion—from Adkins Arboretum, this more complete picture of the lives of enslaved people and freedom seekers is explored. Viewers are introduced to the stories of self-liberators who used their deep connection to, and understanding of, the land to forge their way to freedom.
Rooted Wisdom will launch on Friday, March 11 at 7pm, with a livestream of the 25-minute documentary film followed by a live panel discussion and Q&A at naturesrole.org <link to site: https://www.naturesrole.org/ The event is free, though registration is encouraged. For more information visit: bit.ly/RootedWisdomPremiere <link to https://bit.ly/RootedWisdomPremiere
There is more about Rooted Wisdom and its launch event here and more about Cohen here.
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