Blithewood Garden Panel Discussion, Documentary Premiere, and Self-Guided Garden Tours Hosted on Sunday, April 23
On Sunday, April 23, the Friends of Blithewood Garden, the Garden Conservancy, and Bard College will host “Vision & View: Creating a Classical Landscape on the Hudson,” a panel discussion and film premiere focusing on the rehabilitation of the historic Blithewood Garden at Bard College. The event takes place from 2 to 4 pm at the Levy Economics Institute at Bard College, with a wine and cheese reception before the discussion and screening, followed by self-guided garden tours. The fee is $25 for Garden Conservancy members, $30 for nonmembers. Reservations are required. Visit bard.edu/arboretum/gardens/blithewood.
Blithewood Garden is considered a nationally significant Beaux Arts, Italianate garden with important connections to the evolution of American landscape design and is one of the few intact Hudson River estate gardens that remain from the Gilded Age. Bard College has partnered with the Garden Conservancy, a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to preserve and share America’s gardens, on the restoration of Blithewood Garden.
The panel discussion will examine the history of Blithewood and other Gilded Age estates in the Hudson River Valley, addressing their significance to local and national history as well as the challenges of preserving these spaces. It begins at 2:30 pm and features historic preservation expert Kurt Hirschberg, Associate Partner of Jan Hird Pokorny Associates, Harvey Flad, Professor Emeritus of Vassar College, Dimitri Stratis of the National Park Service for the Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site, and Amy Parrella ’99, Director of Horticulture & Arboretum at Bard College. James Brayton Hall, President and CEO of The Garden Conservancy, will lead the conversation. The documentary film, featuring Bard alumna and award-winning actress Blythe Danner ‘65, will screen after the discussion and explores Blithewood’s rich preservation story.
Post Date: 03-31-2023
Blithewood Garden is considered a nationally significant Beaux Arts, Italianate garden with important connections to the evolution of American landscape design and is one of the few intact Hudson River estate gardens that remain from the Gilded Age. Bard College has partnered with the Garden Conservancy, a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to preserve and share America’s gardens, on the restoration of Blithewood Garden.
The panel discussion will examine the history of Blithewood and other Gilded Age estates in the Hudson River Valley, addressing their significance to local and national history as well as the challenges of preserving these spaces. It begins at 2:30 pm and features historic preservation expert Kurt Hirschberg, Associate Partner of Jan Hird Pokorny Associates, Harvey Flad, Professor Emeritus of Vassar College, Dimitri Stratis of the National Park Service for the Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site, and Amy Parrella ’99, Director of Horticulture & Arboretum at Bard College. James Brayton Hall, President and CEO of The Garden Conservancy, will lead the conversation. The documentary film, featuring Bard alumna and award-winning actress Blythe Danner ‘65, will screen after the discussion and explores Blithewood’s rich preservation story.
Post Date: 03-31-2023