Career Change: A Recent NYBG Graduate’s Perspective
Curtis Eaves received a Landscape Design Certificate from NYBG’s Continuing Education program and is the founder of iGreen, an environmental landscape design firm located in the Hamptons.
A little over two years ago I decided to change careers. I wanted to work in a field I had a real passion for. My background was design—textiles, clothing, interiors—but I was looking for something that would take me outdoors and connect me with nature.
After researching different institutions that offered programs in Horticulture and Landscape Design, I decided that The New York Botanical Garden offered the very best program, and therefore I enrolled to pursue a Certificate in Landscape Design.
Several years ago when I taught design courses at the Fashion Institute of Technology, I realized that curriculum is enhanced when presented by experienced professionals. This approach to teaching is just one of the many great things about courses taught at the Botanical Garden. As practicing industry leaders, the Garden staff and faculty have the unique ability to share their “real world” experiences and insights with the students.
My time enrolled in the Landscape Design Certificate Program became such an enlightening experience, filled with the new creative challenges I was seeking. Not only did I gain a solid foundation, but the comprehensive class material provided by the knowledgeable faculty made the Garden an exciting and fascinating atmosphere in which to learn. I feel certain that I have been provided with the necessary tools, knowledge, and confidence to succeed in the landscape industry while pursuing my dreams and goals.
Just after graduation this past June I launched iGreen, a landscape design business that is based on the east end of Long Island. I am amazed at the level of respect and trust I receive from new clients when they become aware that I received my certification from The New York Botanical Garden. NYBG has inspired me with passion to create and build sustainable “green” designs that are both aesthetically pleasing and environmentally sensitive.
This eco-friendly philosophy is the driving force behind iGreen, so to stay current and informed on how to implement these ecological techniques, I plan to attend the new Environmental Gardening courses now being offered at the Botanical Garden.
Written by Genna Federico, a senior at St. John’s University, with additional reporting by Kate Murphy, a junior at Fordham University. Both were interns in the Communications Department this summer.
Imagine a small sanctuary filled with green grass, bold flowers, and bountiful fruits. Now imagine that you are in the middle of the Bronx—and no, you are not at the NYBG. You are in one of the more than 100 community gardens throughout the area that Bronx Green- Up has helped make over and maintain.
Bronx Green- Up, celebrating 20 years as a program of the Botanical Garden, transforms vacant lots into vibrant green spaces, involving the community and people of all ages and cultures. Besides renovating the space, Bronx Green-Up (BGU) staff continue supporting the site through periodic visits to give ideas, supply materials, and catch up with friends. This Saturday BGU celebrates with community gardeners throughout the Bronx at its annual Harvest Festival, from 1 to 5 p.m. at Padre Plaza Community Garden.
During our field trip as volunteers for a day, we got a chance to see four of these urban oases and to witness Bronx Green-Up at work. Follow us on our field trip visits after the jump.
Nick Leshi is Associate Director of Public Relations and Electronic Media.
In the few months since its opening, Moore in America, the exhibition of monumental sculpture on display at The New York Botanical Garden, has generated quite a bit of positive media reaction. One of the highlights was Channel Thirteen’s SundayArts feature, which included the Moore exhibition as the lead story in its news segment.
Host Christina Ha visited the Botanical Garden and shared with viewers some of the 20 artworks by Henry Moore that are placed throughout the Garden’s 250 acres, including Reclining Mother and Child in the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden. The SundayArts program airs weekly on Thirteen/WNET-TV, the flagship public broadcaster in the New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut metro area. The program showcases local arts news about gallery and museum exhibits and world-class performances. Its Web site is rich with artist profiles, blogs, calendar listings, multi-media content, and more.
In addition to covering Moore in America, PBS has featured other stories about the Botanical Garden as well.
David Hartman later returned to the Garden for a behind-the-scenes look at what goes into making NYBG’s crowd-favorite Holiday Train Show, filming a documentary about Paul Busse and his team at Applied Imagination.
As the Botanical Garden continues to attract the attention of an ever-growing landscape of traditional and new media, public television continues to be a source of thought-provoking and engaging content not easily found elsewhere, sharing with its millions of viewers topics about education, science, culture and the arts, and much, much more.
It’s crunch time, making sure all the plans are in order for the all-day annual celebration of Fiesta de Flores on Sunday, September 14. Performers—check. Helpful staff and volunteers—check. Flowers blooming impeccably—check! I can’t quite take credit for the last one, but flowers are a top feature of the day.
All around the Garden I have helped coordinate the day’s activities, which range from children’s botanical crafts to gardening demonstrations to salsa dancing and face painting. The celebration of flora and culture relates to the Garden’s scientific research program, which began in the Caribbean region in the 1890s and where our scientists are still active today. Imagine being out in the field with them by visiting the replicated rain forests in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory.
This year the celebration is complemented by a concert with Dan Zanes and Friends (see the blog post of September 9), who just released a Spanish-language CD that brings together many voices from many Latin American countries.
I get to learn a lot of new skills and new lingo working with so many different people to put on events. It is quite a long list of things to keep track of, but I hope you can come out and enjoy this wonderful day with me. Afterward, I’ll be back planning events for your next visit. Keep your fingers crossed for nice weather!
Jamie Boyer is Associate Director of Teacher Professional Development.
Just mention Dan Zanes and Friends to children and you can see the thrill in their faces. In fact, they will probably start singing one of the group’s catchy songs while dancing around the room.
This Grammy-winning band plays music that has a folksy feel, with a mix of traditional and non-traditional instruments. Dan Zanes likes to say that he makes “family music,” not just “kid’s music,” and you can understand why he makes this distinction. Unlike a lot of children’s music, when you hear this group you find yourself singing along because you truly enjoy the songs.
For years my family has enjoyed Dan Zanes and Friends through their albums and video. We got to experience the fun of a Dan Zanes concert when he came to Carnegie Hall in 2006. It was a great performance with songs both old and new and special guests such as Natalie Merchant, who joined the band on stage. The audience was singing and dancing at their seats; we didn’t want the concert to end.
You can imagine my children’s excitement when I mentioned that this celebrated group would be performing at The New York Botanical Garden on September 14. I know my family and I will be there, singing right along. So if you have children, or if you’re just young-at-heart, don’t miss this one-of-a-kind event to see Dan Zanes and Friends on Daffodil Hill.
Andrew Haight is Manager of the Everett Children’s Adventure Garden.
Sounds of pitter-pattering feet, swishing legs, and giggling voices float across the pond. I see through the alders a dozen or more youngsters angling their bodies to dance as if flapping in a blustery wind. Under the watchful eye of a Teaching Artist from New York City Ballet’s Education Department, the children excitedly reshape their bodies into droplets of water, now hurtling through the air.
This group and several others like it were participating in Ballet Among the Blooms, which The New York Botanical Garden hosts annually in conjunction with the School of American Ballet. Spread out across the 12 acres of the Everett Children’s Garden, young visitors embark on a myriad of adventures through mazes, colorfully planted galleries, and, this year only, onto the inspiring Henry Moore sculpture Large Two Forms, on Daffodil Hill. Along the way Teaching Artists arrange impromptu dances and expressive movements. With each area different from the last, children eagerly scamper around the bends in the path to see what the next nook or cranny of the Garden may hold.
The afternoon culminates with a presentation by students from the School of American Ballet in the Everett Children’s Adventure Garden’s Discovery Plaza. Eyes wide with anticipation, the Garden’s youngest visitors peer at the dancers as they walk and stretch at the bar, just a few feet away. Framed by giant topiary caterpillars, the dancers then display their skills and techniques for the enchanted children.
In a day full of dance and flowers, excitement is found in the lighthearted adventure and satisfaction displayed in each child’s movement and expression.
This year’s Ballet Among the Blooms is Sunday, September 7, from 2 to 4 p.m. Entry included with an All-Garden Pass.
Written by Kate Murphy, a junior at Fordham University, with additional reporting by Genna Federico, a senior at St. John’s University. Both interned in the Communications Department this summer.
One of the great things about The New York Botanical Garden is that it is nestled in the borough of the Bronx. One way the Garden reaches out to the neighboring community is through the Bronx Green-Up program.
Since 1988 Bronx Green-Up staff have provided gardening advice, technical assistance, and training to community gardens, school groups, and other organizations interested in improving urban neighborhoods in the Bronx through greening projects.
It sounded like a way of spreading the beauty of gardening throughout the borough. So Genna and I decided to get out of the office and into the field to become Bronx Green-Up community garden volunteers for a day. First thing in the morning we piled into an NYBG pickup truck and headed off to the Morrisania section of the South Bronx. Our leaders were Director of Bronx Green-Up and Community Horticulture Ursula Chanse, Community Horticulturalist Sara Katz, and intern Kris Lau.
Read about the rest of Kate and Genna’s adventures after the jump.
A little over two years ago I decided to change careers. I wanted to work in a field I had a real passion for. My background was design—textiles, clothing, interiors—but I was looking for something that would take me outdoors and connect me with nature.
In the few months since its opening, Moore in America, the exhibition of monumental sculpture on display at The New York Botanical Garden, has generated quite a bit of positive media reaction. One of the highlights was Channel Thirteen’s SundayArts feature, which included the Moore exhibition as 
Just mention Dan Zanes and Friends to children and you can see the thrill in their faces. In fact, they will probably start singing one of the group’s catchy songs while dancing around the room.
