12 – 4 p.m. | At the Garden
Come and meet the creators of our tables! Get to know the artists through discussions accompanied by interactive, entertaining, and celebratory activities that reflect the artists’ interests.
*Please note there will be no Art of the Table programming on June 12, 18, or 20.
Reina Mia Brill Friday, June 3 Perennial Garden
For artist Reina Mia Brill, gardens have been both a source of inspiration and material for her art work. Like her table, we invite you to be inspired by your surroundings and design your own seed packets using collage techniques! While you craft, enjoy a tasty snack in the form of an edible plant.
Dina Weinberg Saturday, June 4 Everett Children’s Adventure Garden
Learn how to paint what you eat with longtime teacher and artist Dina Weinberg.
Shawn Hill Sunday, June 5 Edible Academy Amphitheater
Inspired by the Crop Over festival in Barbados, we invite you to join us at Shawn Hill’s table for an afternoon of steel pan music and discussion in the tradition of the festival. Music performed by Khuent Rose.
Matthew López-Jensen Saturday, June 11 Native Plant Garden
Do you have a food love story? A favorite meal you cook together? A shared food memory? In celebration of his work, “Lamb’s Quarters: A Love Story,” for the New York Botanical Garden’s Around the Table initiative, environmental artist and educator Matthew López-Jensen invites LGBTQ+ couples based in the Bronx to share their stories, which will be available in excerpts online. While you’re there, scan the QR code to listen to a recording of López-Jensen’s original essay celebrating the connection between foraging, love, and queer identity (available in both Spanish and English).
Jill Cohen-Nuñez Saturday, June 25 Ross Hall Entrance
Artist Jill Cohen-Nuñez has created a sculptural masterpiece loosely representing a traditional Passover Seder to honor her Jewish and Dominican heritage. Listen to her tell the stories of the figure at each place, and record your own memory of sitting around the table with loved ones.
William Bentley Saturday, June 26 Enid A. Haupt Conservatory Lawn
Celebrate Ethiopian culture with William Bentley through dance and taste! Learn the movements of the traditional Ethiopian dance Eskista or join in on demonstrations showing how the grain teff is prepared to make injera.
Nicky Enright Saturday, July 2 Enid A. Haupt Conservatory Lawn
How long does it take a plantain to ripen? Artist Nicky Enright (also known as DJ Lightbolt) presents an immersive soundscape as a meditation on the cycles of time that produce the foods we love.
Joely Saravia Sunday, July 3 Everett Children’s Adventure Garden
Join artist Joely Saravia for a printmaking workshop using the templates she created as part of her table!
Ruth Marshall Monday, July 4 Enid A. Haupt Conservatory Lawn
For Ruth Marshall, fine art textiles explore the creative possibilities of knotting. Learn how to utilize paracord—versatile nylon material—to make a bracelet!
Francesca Capone Saturday, July 16 Visitor Center Cantina
Channeling her grandmother’s love of basil, Francesca Capone will demonstrate how to paint this beloved herb in a watercolor session. Take your creation home with you to inspire a season of growing your own basil plants from seed. While you craft, enjoy a sampling of the herb as a zesty snack!
Eric Escalante Sunday, July 17 Home Gardening Center
Join visual artist and musician Eric Escalante for an interactive jam session in nature combining a fusion of Andean styles such as Wayno, San Juanito, Pasillo, and Bomba. Groove to these contemporary, funk, jazz, and Caribbean sounds with Escalante and his fellow musicians.
Leenda Bonilla Saturday, July 23 Clay Family Picnic Pavilion
Artist Leenda Bonilla chose colors from the signature plates her mother used throughout her childhood to adorn her table, an homage to her mother and the fusion of mainland and island heritage drawn from her Puerto Rican roots. When you think of community around a table in your childhood, what do you imagine? Join Leenda to design a plate inspired by your youth.
Santina Amato Sunday, July 24 Home Gardening Center
Australian-Italian artist Santina Amato has created a table as an homage to her mother. Watch as Santina prepares, cooks, and shares delicious gnocchi from a family recipe.
Sylvia Vigliani Saturday, July 30 Benenson Conifer Collection
Artist Sylvia Vigliani’s table invites us to look at the many layers that make up common histories and cultures around food. Follow along as Sylvia demonstrates the unique mosaic collage methods she used, or make your own mosaic project to take home!
Yoshiko Mori Sunday, July 31 Oak Collection
Fold, cut, or collage with artist Yoshiko Mori and learn more about the origami mugwort leaves she used to create a table that explores the delicious and healing qualities of native and non-native plants in New York and Japan. Enjoy a tasty bite of mochi made with the mugwort plant that inspired Yoshiko’s design!
Anthony Joseph Saturday, August 6 Benenson Conifer Collection
Gather around Anthony’s table for a celebration of Haitian culture with special emphasis on the role that pineapple and other tropical fruits play in creating community and cultural memory. Take part in an augmented reality experience or sample delicious Haitian cuisine from Chef Nadège Fleurimond, a New York-based caterer and food writer!
Natalie Collette Wood Sunday, August 7 Enid A. Haupt Conservatory Courtyard
Naturalist and multidisciplinary artist Natalie Wood continues her Swallowed by Nature series at NYBG with a highlight of the “three sisters” crops—corn, beans, and squash. Inspired by nature and her Bronx communities, the series literally and figuratively gives nature the final say and “seat” at the table. Succulents, moss, and seeds reclaim the everyday picnic table and become one being—as a community joins together to build each other up. Join Natalie as she presents her work through a family-friendly workshop to help you create your own mini “swallowed-by-nature” creation!
Blanka Amezkua Saturday, August 13 Fountain of Life
Groove to the sounds of Ruben Albarran, Jose Bautista, and Antonio Carrilo while crafting flags and learning about the history of salsa verde with artist and educator Blanka Amezkua. In addition, sample a variety of Bronx restaurants’ interpretations of this integral sauce.
Gayle Asch Sunday, August 14 Enid A. Haupt Conservatory Lawn
Artist Gayle Asch’s contribution to Around the Table is inspired by the Seven Species from the Torah—featuring barley, wheat, pomegranates, figs, grapes, olives, and dates, which played an important role in the diet of the Israelites and are considered to possess both medicinal and spiritual properties. Join us for a celebration of these cultural staples with live music performed by jazz group Trio KAN!
Laura Álvarez Fernández August 20 Enid A. Haupt Conservatory Lawn
Artist Laura Álvarez Fernández traces her roots back to Valencia, Spain in this celebration of Spanish paella, a versatile rice dish. On this afternoon, you are invited to join Laura to design a plate that features your favorite ancestral dish.
Ariel Alvarez Saturday, August 21 Enid A. Haupt Conservatory Courtyard
Dominican-American artist Ariel Alvarez set out to create a table that explores the violent and passionate history of the sugarcane crop in the Dominican Republic. As both an artist and semi-retired registered nurse, Alvarez notes a disconnect between the sweetness of the product and the trauma that its cultivation has wreaked for generations, and which continues today in the DR in the form of wage poverty. Inspired by the resistance of those working the plantations and the surrealism of Dali, Alvarez invites visitors to join him around the table to explore the cultural history surrounding this crop through song and dance.
Elizabeth Hamby Sunday, August 21 Native Plant Garden
How much do you know about urban foraging? Have you ever plucked a ripe blackberry or clipped fresh kale from a public garden or simply out in nature? Join artist Elizabeth Hamby and representatives from the Bronx River Foodway to sample refreshing herbal teas made from ingredients grown at the Bronx River Foodway, and respond to a variety of thoughtful, family-friendly conversation starters about where our food comes from.
Odalys Burgoa Saturday, August 27 Edible Academy Amphitheater
For digital artist Odayls Burgoa, some of her most treasured items are her family’s printed photographs. Through her work, Burgoa scans these images to preserve, share, and use in her artwork. She invites you to bring your printed photographs from home to scan for a digitized memory! She is joined by Uptown Vinyl Supreme, who will spin favorites on vinyl.
Noble Dre Ali Sunday, August 28 Fountain of Life
Artist Noble Dre Ali’s contribution is inspired by his grandmother’s life and legacy in Jamaica. Join him to color a family-friendly coloring book highlighting the fruits of his upbringing and his grandmother’s culinary wisdom, then slow down to enjoy a guided meditation session to reflect on your own connections to food and culture.
Carlos Wilfredo Encarnación Sunday, August 28 Enid A. Haupt Conservatory House 4
Catherine Herrick Lewis Saturday, September 3 LuEsther T. Mertz Library Orchid Rotunda
Catherine Herrick Lewis is a professor, artist, and mom working at the intersection of intergenerational design and parenthood. Her designs often comment on themes of duality or juxtaposition in domesticity and art, with a focus on delicate embroidery that creates time for self-care as well as follows a traditional feminine art form. At Catherine’s table, you are invited to find your own zen in creating art with others—partner up with family or friends and practice your own embroidery skills on a canvas you can take home or leave as part of the installation.
Priscilla Aleman Saturday, September 3 Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden
For artist Priscilla Aleman, color is a sense of play and a way of connecting to your surroundings. Some colors make you feel calm while others bring a surge of energy. She invites you to join her on a search for color in the Rose Garden. Find a color that reminds you of someone you love and design a postcard just for them!
Emily Henretta Sunday, September 4 Fountain of Life
Join artist and teacher Emily Henretta for a pop-up screen-printing session! Breathe new life into old clothes with a permanent edible flower print from Emily’s table. Feel free to bring in an article of clothing in need of a new look, or use one of ours.
Lovie Pignata Saturday, September 10 Bird Pavilion along Mitsubishi Wetland Trail
What is foraging? Who are foragers? Learn about foraging with artist Lovie Pignata and join her for a crafting activity that showcases your knowledge, or join an expert for a tour on identifying plants for foraging!
Michele Brody Sunday, September 11 Visitor Center Cantina
Join artist Michele Brody for an afternoon of reflection and celebration around tea. Write your meditations on drinking and sharing tea on homemade mugwort paper, then fold it into a beautiful butterfly. Afterwards, join Ting Zhang for a guided tea ceremony.
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