Conway Institute Talks and Lectures

Learn how our personal health and that of the surrounding landscape are inter-connected and how native medicinal plants can restore not only large-scale ecological systems, but also small-scale systems like our immune system.

Date: Next course offering dates TBD
Max Number of Participants: 100 

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could support our health and help create habitat? Learn how our personal health and that of the surrounding landscape are inter-connected, how native medicinal plants can restore not only large-scale ecological systems, but also small-scale systems like our immune system. I’ll share background research, explore several of my own projects that illustrate the connections between ecological and human health and give an in-depth description of selected plants and their healing and ecological attributes, so that your landscape can reflect a commitment to personal health and the health of the landscape around you.

Join us for this one-hour presentation with thirty additional minutes provided for questions and discussion. Hand-outs and additional resources will be provided to participants prior to the session.

Art can inspire people to become immersed in a garden in ways that they might not have without the draw or inspiration of a piece or series of pieces of art. As we transition out of the period of long dark nights, let’s come together to be inspired by art connected to and living in nature.

Date: Next course offering dates TBD
Max Number of Participants: 100 

Art can inspire people to become immersed in a garden in ways that they might not have without the draw or inspiration of a piece or series of pieces of art. Sculpture and installations can significantly enhance the landscape, create focal points, and add color, whimsy and structure throughout the year. Narrative and poetry can also infuse a garden’s design and layout, from something abstract like a story, to the literal meter or “feet of a poem” informing the length and width of a path. At its best, art integrated into a landscape setting helps to tell the story of the place and deepens the spirit of the atmosphere there.

Join us for this one-hour journey and be inspired by some great examples of art in the landscape, learn a methodology for how to site art work through the design process, and explore options on how to create your own site-specific piece.

Presenter Todd Lynch is a long-time friend of the Conway School and is excited to bring this talk to the Conway Institute. Todd studied medieval garden literature and studio art at Bowdoin College, and completed the post-baccalaureate program in painting and environmental art at the Maryland Institute, College of Art in Baltimore. He holds a Masters in Landscape Architecture degree from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and a Master of Art in Landscape Design from the Conway School of Landscape Design.

Art integrated into a landscape setting helps to illustrate the ecological, social, and historical narrative of a garden or landscape and can contribute to the overall sense of place.

Date: Next course offering dates TBD
Max Number of Participants: 100

Get a window into the process of Environmental Art from idea to installation through an examination of Todd’s project “The Nest” at the Hitchcock Center for the Environment as a case study. You’ll see films, onsite commentary, and have time for Q and A with Todd.

Todd Lynch is the principal of Ecotropy LLC, a landscape design studio that integrates medicinal plants, ecology, and art to create outdoor spaces to strengthen and illustrate the connections shared by human and ecological wellness. Each project seeks to empower people to take a more active part in their surroundings and their well-being, while contributing to the health of the planet. Todd is certified in Health Care Garden Design and in Community Herbalism. He served on the board of United Plant Savers, a national organization devoted to the conservation of rare, native medicinal plants, and is an active member of the Conservation Commission in Williamsburg, Massachusetts. Todd has collaborated on health, landscape restoration, and art installations across the US and has won several Massachusetts Cultural Council grants for environmental art installations and science- and art-based education programs. Todd has also lectured at universities, garden organizations, and apothecaries about medicinal plants in the landscape, and has served as a design critic at the Conway School of Landscape Design, Smith College, and UMass Amherst. He blogs about the intersections of landscape, wellness, and art at www.ecotropy.net, and on Twitter and Instagram @ecotropy.

• MLA, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
• MALD, The Conway School
• BA, Bowdoin College