UW Botanic Gardens – UW News /news Fri, 09 Jan 2026 18:02:25 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 Arboretum Foundation and UW Botanic Gardens unite after decades of partnership /news/2026/01/09/arboretum-foundation-and-uw-botanic-gardens-unite-after-decades-of-partnership/ Fri, 09 Jan 2026 18:02:25 +0000 /news/?p=90240
The Washington Park Arboretum is jointly managed by the Arboretum Foundation, the UW Botanic Gardens and the City of Seattle. Under this new agreement, Seattle Botanic Gardens will continue to work in close partnership with the UW and Seattle Parks and Recreation on the stewardship of the Arboretum and its collection. Photo: Dennis Wise/天美影视传媒

After nearly 90 years of collaborative partnership, the Arboretum Foundation and the 天美影视传媒 Botanic Gardens announced Friday that they will combine operations under a single nonprofit organization: Seattle Botanic Gardens. An Operations and Management Agreement, approved by the Arboretum Foundation Board on Jan. 6, 2026, and by the 天美影视传媒 Board of Regents on Jan. 8, 2026, establishes a new relationship for these organizations, marking an important milestone in one of Seattle’s longest-running institutional partnerships.

鈥淪eattle is a place where nature and the urban environment intersect in an exceptional way,鈥 said Maribeth O鈥機onnor, board president of the Arboretum Foundation. 鈥淲hether you’re a visitor seeking quiet refuge or a scientist studying the vital connections between people and plants, the Arboretum and the Center for Urban Horticulture are a natural treasure.鈥

The Washington Park Arboretum is jointly managed by the Arboretum Foundation, the UW Botanic Gardens and the City of Seattle. Under this new agreement, Seattle Botanic Gardens will continue to work in close partnership with the UW and Seattle Parks and Recreation on the stewardship of the Arboretum and its collection. This agreement strengthens the organization’s ability to serve as an effective partner to the City of Seattle, stewarding urban green spaces and contributing research-backed solutions to environmental challenges facing the region.

“The 天美影视传媒 has been a steward of botanical science and education in the Pacific Northwest for generations,” said Maggie Walker, a member of the UW Board of Regents. “This partnership ensures that this important work continues and grows, while allowing the University to maintain its deep connection to research, teaching and community engagement through these extraordinary living collections.”

For Seattle’s broader community, this means expanded access to nature, science and cultural experiences. As a unified organization, Seattle Botanic Gardens will have greater capacity to offer diverse programming 鈥 from youth education and summer camps to volunteer opportunities and cultural celebrations 鈥 while maintaining free public access to the Arboretum and gardens. It will be better positioned to invest in facilities, amenities and transportation options that make these spaces more welcoming and accessible.

The UW Botanic Gardens currently owns and maintains the plant collections of the Washington Park Arboretum, conducts plant conservation research, and provides educational programming in the Washington Park Arboretum and at the Center for Urban Horticulture. The Arboretum Foundation provides funding for the horticultural and education programs of the UW Botanic Gardens and supports visitor engagement at the Arboretum and Japanese Garden. Together, the two organizations have shared volunteer resources, outdoor and indoor spaces, and collaborated on initiatives ranging from the Fiddleheads outdoor preschool to public art installations like the John Grade Union sculpture.

The new organization will manage and operate three locations: the 230-acre Washington Park Arboretum, the Seattle Japanese Garden and the Center for Urban Horticulture, which includes the 74-acre Union Bay Natural Area. Together, these sites attract hundreds of thousands of visitors annually and serve as vital resources for recreation, education, conservation and scientific research.

“This change unites the robust fundraising, advocacy, and volunteer network of the Arboretum Foundation with the horticultural expertise, strong public programming, and impactful conservation research of the UW Botanic Gardens,” said Christina Owen, director of the UW Botanic Gardens. “The result will be something extraordinary 鈥 a destination botanic garden for Seattle that provides an exemplary visitor experience, meaningful research and inclusive access to some of our city鈥檚 most treasured green spaces.”

The organization is currently conducting a national search for its first CEO/president, who will lead Seattle Botanic Gardens into this new chapter. All current permanent UWBG employees will be offered employment by the new organization.

For more information, contact Maribeth O鈥機onnor, board president, Arboretum Foundation at BoardPresident@arboretumfoundation.org, or Dan Brown, director, UW School of Environmental and Forest Sciences at danbro@uw.edu.

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New direction for UW Botanic Gardens focuses on diversity, equity and inclusion /news/2022/09/15/new-direction-for-uw-botanic-gardens-focuses-on-diversity-equity-and-inclusion/ Thu, 15 Sep 2022 21:35:45 +0000 /news/?p=79444 Orange flowers on a tree branch
The New Directions in Public Gardens speaker series started in May and will conclude with the final speaker on Sept. 20. Photo: 天美影视传媒

Botanical gardens historically are exclusive spaces, but the 天美影视传媒 is working to change that.

Many gardens originated as private spaces for predominantly white and wealthy individuals, said UW Botanic Gardens director . The collections were often curated through a process of stealing and renaming before the gardens were gifted as land to cities and universities.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a history of colonialism in many botanic gardens,鈥 said Owen. 鈥淭hat is the bedrock on which we鈥檙e standing. Plants and collections that exist throughout the world were collected in ways that did not honor the people and did not honor the plants themselves. They鈥檙e driven by the colonial age. That鈥檚 a history that all gardens must grapple with.鈥

That鈥檚 the challenge for the , which includes both the Washington Park Arboretum and the Center for Urban Horticulture. When Owen was hired in July 2021, UWBG already had an Equity and Justice Committee and was organizing an ongoing speaker series, , which explores how public gardens can evolve to meet the needs of local communities.

Owen is shifting the focus from bottom-up initiatives to work that is supported with and through leadership.

鈥淧art of what we鈥檙e looking at is having regular updates with our leadership team,鈥 Owen said, 鈥渁nd having the leadership team get more engaged in equity and social justice work and developing better onboarding. One of my big long-term goals is to see an increase in the diversity of staff. I think that starts with us and making sure that our culture is supportive for candidates of color and for employees of color.鈥

That is a major barrier for public gardens, according to a recently published by the , an initiative housed at Denver Botanic Gardens that helps public gardens become more accessible spaces. The upcoming report found that lack of institutional diversification could be addressed through adjustments to hiring processes and procedures.

鈥淭he other piece is the need for training and professional development,鈥 said , director of the IDEA Center and a speaker in UWBG鈥檚 New Directions series. 鈥淭he way to support intuitional diversification is through training. The other part is organizational culture and leadership 鈥 the awareness that there needs to be an internal culture shift as a key step.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of fear, a lack of buy-in or resistance to change. You can do all the training and all the changes you want, but it鈥檚 basically superficial unless there鈥檚 a culture change.鈥

A new direction

The New Directions speaker series started in May, with past guests addressing topics like engaging with local Indigenous populations, youth leadership development, job training programs and opportunities for public land to support urban food systems and engage with BIPOC communities.

is a free speaker series held over Zoom. to hear the final speaker, Sean M. Watts, on Sept. 20 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. of past speakers are also available. The New Directions in Public Gardens Town Hall: Breaking New Ground will be held in-person at Washington Park Arboretum on Sept. 21. to attend the free event.

Sean M. Watts, principal of SM Watts Consulting and co-founder of , will give the final talk on Sept. 20. Watts鈥 lecture will explore how public gardens can support the work to drive environmental and land use policy and help white-led organizations act on diversity, equity and inclusion.

鈥淚 think we’re learning a lot about the priorities of the communities that we want to connect with,鈥 said adult education supervisor for UWBG. 鈥淚鈥檓 realizing that if we鈥檙e going to build relationships, we need to be addressing the priorities of those communities.鈥

Plummer suggested ending the speaker series with a town hall, which is now scheduled for Sept. 21. The half-day, co-creative workshop will help create an action plan to address community challenges.

鈥淲e invite people from within the region,鈥 said Plummer, who plans to use the town hall as a prototype, 鈥渁nd we start by saying, 鈥榃hat were some of the big things that really resonated from the lecture series? What do we want to change? Can we set some actions?鈥欌

UWBG鈥檚 outreach will continue on October with the . This year鈥檚 event will focus on bridging the gap between tribal practices and local government. The Coast Salish people have been included in the planning.

鈥淲e’re going to be looking at Indigenous people’s access to and role in the management of the local urban forests,鈥 Farmer said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e looking at an identity shift for our organization, but we need to hear from others in the community and not have it be an insular conversation.鈥

Growing gardens

UWBG has collections from around the world. In the alone, visitors can view plants from Cascadia, Australia, China, Chile and New Zealand.

鈥淚t’s important to be intentional and thoughtful about these plants and places, how they鈥檙e collected and grown and the meaning to the people that are from there,鈥 Owen said.

The history of how corrected were curated has factored into the explicit and implicit exclusion from botanical gardens, said Farmer. UWBG is working to undo a perception of exclusivity by hosting programs like the speaker series and holding a summer camp that offers scholarships and is otherwise filled through a lottery system.

UWBG also launched . Each meeting is centered around a single topic 鈥 examples include the colonial past of botanical gardens, segregation in Seattle and problematic plant names 鈥 and Equity and Justice Committee members distribute resources and materials for staff to view before attending the discussion.

鈥淚t鈥檚 really helped establish some common goals and common identity around this work,鈥 Farmer said. 鈥淧reviously, some on our staff felt like diversity, equity and inclusion work was the role of our education and outreach team but didn鈥檛 see how it fit into their work with facilities or horticulture. It鈥檚 really helped the gardeners see how much of an ambassador they are to the public when they鈥檙e out on the grounds.鈥

For more information, contact Owen at crowen@uw.edu or Farmer at jsfarmer@uw.edu.

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Video: UW Farm’s Perry Acworth talks about pumpkins large and small /news/2021/10/28/video-uw-farms-perry-acworth-talks-about-pumpkins-large-and-small/ Thu, 28 Oct 2021 22:37:54 +0000 /news/?p=76358

Pumpkins are part of a large and varied family. The听cucurbitaceae family includes melons, cucumbers and squash as well as the orange pumpkin that we’re accustomed to seeing around Halloween.

, UW Farm manager, talks in this video about the different varieties of winter squash 鈥 from the palm-sized pie pumpkin to Cucurbita maxima, which can produce giant pumpkins.

Perry Acworth, UW Farm manager Photo: Kiyomi Taguchi / 天美影视传媒

In addition to ample water, sun, good soil and genetics, farmers encourage the growth of giant pumpkins by removing most of the pumpkins on a vine and allowing the plant to focus its energy on just a few fruit. A pumpkin blossom also needs to be visited an average of 10 times by a pollinator to form a fruit. For that reason, 听plants sunflowers among its pumpkin rows to attract bees.

Acworth said that most pumpkins are edible, though the smallest varieties are usually the tastiest. Pumpkins also make great feed for livestock, and the seeds can even have medicinal qualities for humans.

“In other parts of the world, ground pumpkin seeds are used as a natural parasitic,” she explained.

Acworth recommends roasting pumpkin seeds for an autumnal snack 鈥 that is, if you aren’t saving them to grow your own pumpkins next year. She thinks cucurbitaceae are among the easiest plant family to grow and encourages people to try growing pumpkin, squash or zucchini at home.

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Faculty/staff honors: Rare Care plant program honor, society presidency, Jackson School Task Force recognized 鈥 and a powerful personal essay /news/2020/05/13/faculty-staff-honors-rare-care-plant-program-honor-society-presidency-jackson-school-task-force-recognized-and-a-powerful-personal-essay/ Wed, 13 May 2020 15:51:39 +0000 /news/?p=68112 Recent honors to 天美影视传媒 faculty and staff have come from the Journal of the American Medical Association, the Washington Native Plant Society, the American Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy and the Republic of Ghana.

Journal of American Medical Association lauds personal essay by UW Medicine’s Dr. Roberto Montenegro, ‘My Name is Not ‘Interpreter”听

UW's Dr. Roberto Montenegro
Dr. Roberto Montenegro

The Journal of the American Medical Association has named a powerful first-person essay by UW Medicine’s one of the top pieces from the last 10 years in the journal’s ongoing “A Piece of My Mind” series.

His essay, “‘,” was published in May of 2016. The article has been reprinted in the journal’s “A Piece of My Mind” , celebrating and reprinting the editors’ 40 favorite essays from the last 10 years.

In the essay, Montenegro describes his experience being the target of microaggressions based on his appearance, and his realization that he unwittingly committed them as well. Microaggressions, he wrote, “do not respect boundaries 鈥 they exist in our personal, academic and work lives and are detrimental to the training and well-being of our colleagues and trainees.”

He concludes with the challenge to reflect on how we perceive each other, in order to shift the conversation about microaggressions “from taboo to mutual understanding.”

He added: “I have no doubt that in our practice of healing, we have the capacity to compassionately listen to one another and further this discourse for the sake of our trainees, colleagues, patients and profession.”

***

Botanic Gardens’ Rare Care program honored by Washington Native Plant Society

Rare Care plant program is honored. The Rare Care program is overseen by Wendy Gibble, associate director of the Botanic Gardens, and Stacy Kinsell is the volunteer and outreach coordinator.
Wendy Gibble

The Washington Native Plant Society has chosen Rare Care, a program of the , for its for 2020.

Rare Care is short for and includes a team of more than 200 volunteer citizen scientists who fan out each summer to study and document plant populations across the state. Rare Care volunteers also collect the seeds of rare plants for permanent storage at the UW.

The Rare Care program is overseen by , associate director of the Botanic Gardens, and is the volunteer and outreach coordinator.

The native plant society gives the award each year to an agency, organization or individual who has made significant contributions to native plant conservation, research or education in Washington state.

***

Jackson School’s Hellmann Task Force prompts possible policy change in Ghana

professor and chair of the UW's African Studies Program,
Danny Hoffman

It’s not often that work by UW students and their professor affects the very policies of another nation. But that might be the case for the Jackson School’s and The Republic of Ghana, in Africa.

The Task Force program is the school’s undergraduate capstone for its International Studies Program. There are several; one in particular, overseen by , professor and chair of the , along with doctoral student , used Ghana as a principle case study for an examination of best practices for how energy infrastructure can reach rural Africa. The report is titled “.”

Francis Abugbilla of UW Jackson School
Francis Abugbilla

Hoffman learned recently from the Honorable Amin Adam, Ghana’s deputy minister of energy 鈥 who also was among the evaluators for the students’ presentations 鈥 that two of the students’ recommendations for energy use have been written into the country’s new draft national energy policy, soon to be finalized for the government to approve.

One recommendation is to expand Ghana’s National Electrification Scheme for rural electrification to include mini-grids or off-grid communities; the other is to develop regulations to promote and govern bio-energy industries.

“It would be hard for me to overstate how proud I was to get this,” Hoffman said.

Learn more about this Task Force, its 13 undergraduate members and their work on the Jackson School .

***

UW affiliate Dr. Klaus Mergener named president of American Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy

Dr. Klaus Mergener, an affiliate professor with the UW Division of Gastroenterology in the School of Medicine, has been president of the , after serving a term as vice president. As president, among other duties he will lead the group’s COVID Response Management Team.

Mergener is also a partner at Washington Gastroenterology in Tacoma. His term as president will run until May 2021. The society, founded in 1941, has more than15,000 members worldwide.

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ArtSci Roundup: Earth Day with the Department of History, Ask Your Farmer, and more /news/2020/04/15/artsci-roundup-earth-day-with-the-department-of-history-colloquia-series-lecture-returns-online-ask-your-farmer-and-more/ Wed, 15 Apr 2020 23:57:56 +0000 /news/?p=67480 During this time of uncertainty and isolation, find solace in digital opportunities听to connect, share, and engage. Each week, we will share upcoming events that bring the UW, and greater community, together online.听

Many of these online opportunities are streamed through Zoom. All UW faculty, staff, and students have access to听.听


Earth Day 50th Anniversary: Gaia Has a Fever

April 22, 2:00 PM听触 Livestream

Join the Department of History, College of the Environment听补苍诲 UW Earth Day in celebrating the 50th anniversary of Earth Day.听Dr. Jennifer Thomson will give a talk听untangling the history of oil corporations, climate justice, and environmental听governance. Beginning with physicist James Lovelock鈥檚 Gaia hypothesis, she鈥檒l discuss the involvement of oil corporations in climate research, and explore a truly听liberatory environmental politics.

Free, please register for access听触听


COURSE:听Introduction to Basic Plant Morphology – Learning the Parts of the Plant

April 22 and April 23, 6:00 – 7:00 PM | Online Classroom

Celebrate Earth Day by expanding your plant vocabulary!听David Giblin, Collections Manager of the UW Herbarium,听teaches this two-part class. Learning the basic vegetative and reproductive parts of vascular plants that we know from our gardens, kitchens, and walks in nature, provides an opportunity to improve plant identification skills.

This class is offered online. Viewing instructions will be sent before the start of the class.

Cost is $20听触听Register & More Info


After the Blast The Ecological Recovery of Mount St. Helens: Webinar with Dr. Eric Wagner

April 22, 10:00 – 11:30 AM | Zoom Webinar

In anticipation of the 40th Anniversary of the major Mount St. Helens eruption, UW Libraries and UW Press are proud to host a zoom webinar featuring Eric Wagner, Ph.D., author of After the Blast: The Ecological Recovery of Mount St. Helens.

Since it’s eruption in 1980,听Mount St. Helens has been surprising ecologists and in After the Blast,听Wagner takes readers on a fascinating journey through the blast area and beyond. From fireweed to elk, the plants and animals forest scientists saw would not just change how ecologists approached the eruption and its landscape, but also prompt them to think in new ways about how life responds in the face of seemingly total devastation.

Free, please register for access听触听Register & More Info


Ask Your Farmer!

April 23, 11:00 AM |

The UW Farm is still producing food, but under restricted operations and without the usual dedicated crew of student volunteers. Farm manager Perry Acworth will host this Instagram Live session, showing the work that鈥檚 happening on the UW Farm and answering questions about the Farm and our food systems. If anyone has questions on how they can grow food for themselves, this is your moment!

Livestream takes place on and will begin at 11 AM.

贵谤别别听触听More Info


Virtual Poetry Caf茅 for Poetry Month

Month of April | Online engagement

Since launching in April 1996,听National Poetry Month听has given people an annual occasion to celebrate the importance of poets and poetry in our culture. This April feels like an especially great time to explore the power of poetry and how it can be used to craft connection and celebrate the things that mean most to us!

Join Whole U this April for a virtual听UW Poetry Caf茅听to share the poems we love, write some of our own, and connect with our wider community over the written word.听To help get your creativity flowing, The Whole U devised UW-themed poetry prompts to try on your own or with colleagues and friends.

Pick the prompt that resonates most with you then share your favorite poems or original compositions with us by sending them to听wholeu@uw.edu听or by tagging them听#UWPoetryMonth听on social media.

贵谤别别听|


Crossing North Podcast

Ongoing | Online

Crossing North听is a podcast about Nordic and Baltic society and culture. Episodes feature interviews with authors, performers, and leaders from Scandinavia and the Baltic, as well as discussions with faculty in the Scandinavian Studies Department and Baltic Studies Program.

In the most recent episode, released April 15, Colin Gioia Connors interviews author Nora Ikstena and听assistant professor Liina-Ly Roos. Learn why Ikstena’s novel听Soviet Milk about Soviet-occupied Latvia was so popular that libraries had to create a special loan policy for the book.


Missing the Henry? View the online collection!

Ongoing 触听

From photography to textiles, the Henry Art Gallery’s permanent collection contains more than 27,00 objects from around the world.听 The collection originated with the gift of nineteenth- and twentieth-century paintings donated to the 天美影视传媒 by听Horace C. Henry听in 1926. It has grown over the years through acquisitions from exhibitions and through the generosity of art collectors, artists, and donors.

Luckily for those looking to reconnect with art while working remote, the Henry has an extensive听the online collection database. Learn more and .

Looking for more ways to engage? The Henry is also sharing content across their social media platforms daily!

| |


#BurkeFromHome Trivia Night

Every Friday, 8:00 PM听触听Virtual Event

Join the Burke Museum online on Fridays at 8 PM for #BurkeFromHome Trivia. The popular Burke Trivia Night is back鈥攖his time online to practice social distancing while having loads of fun! Get your nerd on with natural history and culture-themed trivia.

BYOB, snacks, and slippers! Check out for a preview!

Free, please register for access听触


Staying home? Here’s what to watch

Ongoing | Your favorite streaming service

Looking for ways to stay entertained while staying at home?听If you’ve already binged all the shows in your Netflix queue, fear not. Faculty in the Department of Cinema & Media Studies听have gathered television and film recommendations to fit every mood.


Looking for more?

Check out UWAA’s Stronger Together web page for听more digital engagement opportunities.

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ArtSci Roundup: Lecture with IVA Professor Whitney Lynn, In Plain Sight Screening, Childhood Bilingualism Talk, and more /news/2020/04/08/artsci-roundup-lecture-with-iva-professor-whitney-lynn-in-plain-sight-screening-childhood-bilingualism-talk-and-more/ Wed, 08 Apr 2020 21:56:08 +0000 /news/?p=67324 During this time of uncertainty and isolation, find solace in digital opportunities听to connect, share, and engage. Each week, we will share upcoming events that bring the UW, and greater community, together online.听

Many of these online opportunities are streamed through Zoom. All UW faculty, staff, and students have access to听.听


Earth Day 50th Anniversary: Gaia Has a Fever

April 22, 2:00 PM听触 Livestream

Join the Department of History, College of the Environment听补苍诲 UW Earth Day in celebrating the 50th anniversary of Earth Day.听Dr. Jennifer Thomson will give a talk听untangling the history of oil corporations, climate justice, and environmental听governance. Beginning with physicist James Lovelock鈥檚 Gaia hypothesis, she鈥檒l discuss the involvement of oil corporations in climate research, and explore a truly听liberatory environmental politics.

Free, please register for access听触听


Author Tim Egan presents 2020 Sustaining Our World lecture

April 13, 7:00 PM听触

UW听School of Environmental and Forest Sciences听is proud to welcome听Timothy Egan, National Book Award winner and听New York Times听op-ed writer, as the 2020 Sustaining Our World lecture.听Egan will present, 鈥淯sing the Power of Nature to Forge a New National Narrative.”

贵谤别别听|



Faculty Lecture with Whitney Lynn

April 14, 5:30 – 6:30 PM | Zoom Livestream

Interdisciplinary Visual Arts Assistant Professor Whitney Lynn gives a lecture titled “Ambiguous Figures.”

Whitney Lynn mines artifacts from art history and popular culture to reframe narratives of familiar objects, images, and events. Utilizing expanded forms of sculpture, photography, drawing and performance, her work amplifies and subverts embedded meanings, seeking to destabilize what is seemingly inherent.

贵谤别别听触听


In Plain Sight Film Series: Sight Lines – Video Poetry Showcase

April 15, 7:30 – 9:30 PM | Livestream

Presented in partnership with听,听, and the UW Bothell听, The Henry Art Gallery and Northwest Film Forum co-present the听听on the occasion of the Henry’s exhibition,听.
This series invites engagement with hidden histories and contexts unearthed with the aid of moving image media. Programs explore the myriad shades of nuance in disciplinary synthesis and delight in the discovery of new relationships between poetry, artifactology, and cinema.

Tickets are sliding scale: $0-$25, please register for access听触听


Professional Actor Training Program – Virtual Showcase Launch

April 15 | Goes live at听

Join the School of Drama and the Professional Actor Training Program Class听of 2020听in launching the first-ever Virtual Showcase!

The UW Professional Actor Training Program (PATP) has been a highly regarded three-year conservatory training program for more than forty years. The program leads to a Master of Fine Arts in acting. The program is devoted to preparing carefully-selected actors for the professional world of theatre, film, television, and new media.

Free, RSVP to receive听a reminder to check it out听触听


Gardening with the Seasons: Spring

April 16, 7:00 – 8:30 PM听触听Livestream Class

UW Botanic Gardens welcomes Christina Pfeiffer to share advice to kick start your seasonal garden care.

As spring approaches and things start moving fast in the garden, it can be hard to keep up or decide what to do first. With a focus on seasonal growth patterns, and best tools and techniques, this session will help home gardeners determine what tasks will have the most effect for the progress over the next months. Key topics will include planting, seasonal care for shrubs, vines, and perennial plants, lawn care, mulching and preparing for summer irrigation.

This class is offered online. Viewing instructions will be sent before the start of the class.

Tickets are $28听| Tickets & More Info


Childhood Bilingualism and Biliteracy:听What are the cognitive, linguistic, and education benefits?

April 16, 4:00 – 5:00 PM听触听Zoom Livestream

UW Friends of Chinese听补苍诲 Department of Asian Language and Literature听demystify childhood bilingualism and biliteracy, especially when the two languages are as disparate as English and Chinese.

Even though over 150 different languages are spoken in the United States, learning two languages simultaneously is not always viewed positively or well supported in our school systems. Yet, other parts of the world embrace the opportunities of bilingualism and biliteracy. Are there cognitive, linguistic, and educational benefits of childhood bilingualism and biliteracy based on current research evidence? If so, what are they? How can parents foster such skills?

Free, please register for access听| Register & More Info


#BurkeFromHome Trivia Night

Every Friday, 8:00 PM听触听Virtual Event

Join the Burke Museum online on Fridays at 8 PM for #BurkeFromHome Trivia. The popular Burke Trivia Night is back鈥攖his time online to practice social distancing while having loads of fun! Get your nerd on with natural history and culture-themed trivia.

BYOB, snacks, and slippers! Check out for a preview!

Free, please register for access听触


Looking for more?

Check out UWAA’s Stronger Together web page for听more digital engagement opportunities.

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ArtsUW Roundup: Olmstead in Seattle, the Music of Somalia’s Disco Era, Artist Talk with Kameelah Janan Rasheed, and more /news/2019/11/07/artsuw-roundup-olmstead-in-seattle-the-music-of-somalias-disco-era-artist-talk-with-kameelah-janan-rasheed-and-more/ Thu, 07 Nov 2019 20:04:29 +0000 /news/?p=64742 This week in the arts, see a mind-blowing troupe of wildly creative and physically daring dancers at Meany Center, learn about Somali funk, disco, soul and reggae of the 1970s and 80s, and more!


Olmstead in Seattle

November 12, 7 pm | Center for Urban Horticulture

Seattle has one of the most extensively developed Olmsted park systems in the United States, yet the story of how it came into existence has never been fully explored or described 鈥 until now, that is.

Olmsted in Seattle: Creating a Park System for a Modern City, by Jennifer Ott, traces the story of how, in the midst of galloping growth at the turn of the twentieth century, Seattle鈥檚 city leaders seized on the confluence of a roaring economy with the City Beautiful movement to hire the Olmsted Brothers landscape architecture firm. Their 1903 plan led to a supplemental plan, a playground plan, numerous park and boulevard designs, changes to park system management, and a ripple effect for the firm, as the Olmsted Brothers were subsequently hired to design public and private landscapes throughout the region.

Free with a suggested donation of $5听| More Info


Pilobolus: Come to Your Senses

November 14 – 16 | Meany Center

This 鈥渕ind-blowing troupe of wildly creative and physically daring dancers鈥 (NY Newsday) tests the limits of human physicality. Performing for 300,000+ people each year, Pilobolus has been honored with a TED Fellowship, a Grammy nomination, a Primetime Emmy Award and several Cannes Lion Awards. In their new show, Come to Your Senses, the company unravels the mystery of the origin of life, explores the beauty and strength of human connection, and celebrates our orientation in the biosphere.

Tickets are $61听|

$10 tickets for UW students when you show your Husky ID in advance at the听or on the night of the show at the Box Office at Meany Hall.


Funky Mogadishu: The Music of Somalia’s Disco Era

November 15, 2:30 pm – 4 pm | Denny 221

In the 1970s and 1980s, Mogadishu’s airwaves were filled with Somali funk, disco, soul and reggae. Musicians rocking afros and bell-bottom trousers performed at the city’s trendiest nightclubs. But this era of creative fusion was short-lived. With the outbreak of war in the late 1980s, musicians fled to all corners of the world, and Somalia’s vibrant music scene fell apart. This presentation will explore the music and style of Somalia’s most popular bands during this era and the impact of their music elsewhere in East Africa and beyond.

Simon Okelo is the founder and executive director of One Vibe Africa, a non-profit which promotes African culture in the Pacific Northwest and runs arts and music education programs through its center in Kisumu, Kenya’s third largest city. Raised in the slums of Manyatta in Kisumu, Simon first encountered Somali music and musicians while working as a DJ and political activist in Kenya.

Free听触听

Artist Talk w/ Kameelah Janan Rasheed

November 15, 6 – 7 pm | Jacob Lawrence Gallery

The Black Embodiments Studio is bringing in Kameelah Janan Rasheed to give a talk about her practice. Rasheed is a Brooklyn-based learner from East Palo Alto, CA. In her work, she inquiries about the deeply intertwined spiritual, socio-political, ecological, and cognitive processes of learning/unlearning. She is interested in how proclamations of certainty, containment, and coherence assert themselves through language, institutional structures, and architecture.

贵谤别别听|


Three Sisters

November 16 – December 8 | Glenn Hughes Penthouse Theatre

In a room in a house in a provincial town, three sisters, Olga, Masha, and Irina, wait for their lives to begin. This is the deceptively simple premise of Chekhov鈥檚 tragicomic masterpiece,听Three Sisters. UW Drama faculty member Jeffrey Frac茅, an expert in devised performance who spent 10 years as an Associate Artist of Anne Bogart鈥檚 SITI company, brings us a spare reimagining of this sublime study of human longing.

Tickets are $5 – $20听触听


MFON: Women Photographers of the African Diaspora

November 16, 2:00 pm | Frye Museum, Auditorium

As a part of the Seattle presentation of MFON: Women Photographers of the African Diaspora taking place across three institutions鈥擣rye Art Museum, Jacob Lawrence Gallery, and Photographic Center Northwest鈥攃o-authors Laylah Amatullah Barrayn and Adama Delphine Fawundu will be joined by artist Berette Macaulay and photography specialist Michelle Dunn Marsh in a discussion about the global trajectories of the MFON project, and the works and practice of contemporary African diasporic women photographers.

贵谤别别听|

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ArtsUW Roundup; William Morris and the Kelmscott Press Exhibition, Closing soon – Cecilia Vicu帽a’s About to Happen, and more /news/2019/08/27/artsuw-roundup-william-morris-and-the-kelmscott-press-exhibition-closing-soon-cecilia-vicunas-about-to-happen-and-more/ Tue, 27 Aug 2019 18:18:07 +0000 /news/?p=63701 In the arts, purchase tickets for the New Burke Opening Weekend, attend a rare duet setting performance by two School of Music faculty members, view a selection of gowns from the Henry鈥檚 collection of clothing and textiles, and more!


New Burke Opening October 12th

Ticket sales open on September 3rd for the New Burke Museum Grand Opening Weekend. Celebrate with听multicultural music and dance performances, family-friendly activities, and food trucks.

听food truck will open it’s first brick-and-mortar location in the new Burke caf茅 space.

Tickets are $0 – $22 |


Ted Poor & Cuong Vu

September 5, 8 pm | Good Shepherd Center

Two School of Music faculty members take the stage at Chapel Performance Space. Ted Poor joined Cuong Vu’s band in the Spring of 2003 and the two have been making music together ever since. They have made numerous records together and toured the world over. Drawing on their vast history, the two come together in a rare duet setting to celebrate new beginnings. The tables are now turned with Ted supplying the repertoire and driving the initial aesthetic. This concert will surely be a celebration of space, groove, melody and resonance.

Tickets are $10 鈥 $15听触听


Closing Soon: Exhibition | Cecilia Vicu帽a: About to Happen

April 27 – September 15 | Henry Art Gallery

Cecilia Vicu帽a: About to Happen, the first major United States solo exhibition of the influential Chilean-born artist, traces Vicu帽a鈥檚 career-long commitment to exploring discarded and displaced materials, peoples, and landscapes in a time of global climate change. Working within the overlapping discourses of conceptual art, land art, poetry, and feminist art practices, Vicu帽a (Chile, born 1948) has long refused categorical distinctions, operating fluidly between concept and craft, text and textile. The exhibition includes sculpture, installation, drawing, video, and text-based work from Vicu帽a鈥檚 practice since the late 1960s, weaving together the artist鈥檚 many artistic disciplines as well as communities with shared relationships to the land and sea. Reframing dematerialization as both a formal consequence of 1960s conceptualism and radical climate change, the exhibition examines a process that shapes public memory and responsibility.

Free entrance for UW Students, Faculty, and Staff听触听

Poetry in Translation – Kon Kon

September 11, 8pm | Northwest Film Forum

In this documentary poem, Cecilia returns to Con Con beach, the birthplace of her art in Chile, where the sea is dying and an ancient tradition is being wiped out.

Tickets are $7 – $20听触听


From the Collection: Women’s Lives through Womenswear

September 12, 6:30 pm | Henry Art Gallery Study Center

On the occasion of the exhibition, Beverly Semmes, come see a selection of gowns from the Henry鈥檚 impressive collection of clothing and textiles. We鈥檒l be looking at beautiful examples from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries to learn more about how the clothing they wore shaped women鈥檚 lives, reflected societal values, and projected individual personalities.

Free听触听


Miller Lecture: Peter Zale presents Plant Exploration at Longwood Gardens: Past, Present, and Future

September 12, 7 pm | Meany Hall

The Pendleton and Elisabeth C. Miller Charitable Foundation听presents the 25th Annual Elisabeth C. Miller Memorial Lecture听featuring Peter Zale, Ph.D. Associate Director, Conservation, Plant Breeding, and Collections at Longwood Gardens, Kennett Square, Penn.

Free听触听More info


Exhibition | The Quest for the Beautiful Book: William Morris and the Kelmscott Press

July 8 鈥 October 25 | Allen Library South Basement

Immerse yourself in the influences on Morris and his creative artistic work in textiles, stained glass, furniture, wallpaper, ceramics and ultimately type designing and letterpress printing. Morris鈥 extensive output of poems, heroic stories and essays will be featured. His influences include medieval manuscripts, historic architecture, the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, socialism, John Ruskin, early literary sources, nature, and his complex personal and public life. In his 62 years, Morris amassed a large body of artistic work.

This exhibit complements and coincides with Seattle Art Museum鈥檚 Victorian Radicals From the Pre-Raphaelites to the Arts and Crafts Movement, closing Sept 8. Curated by听Sandra Kroupa, Book Arts and Rare Book Curator, this is the first time the Libraries has exhibited on William Morris since 1995.

Free听触听


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Video: Snow may have delayed some blooms for the first day of spring /news/2019/03/21/snow-may-have-delayed-some-blooms-for-the-first-day-of-spring-2/ Thu, 21 Mar 2019 20:02:31 +0000 /news/?p=61358

The first day of spring, when daylight hours begin to exceed nighttime hours, seems especially significant this year 鈥 record warm temperatures in the Northwest are marking the change of seasons. But our blooms may be a couple weeks behind schedule after February鈥檚 snow and cold weather.

Ray Larson, curator at , explains that earlier cold temperatures may have delayed flowering plants, with bulbs and perennials being weeks behind their normal blooming time. But he says while warmth is a big factor in how plants grow, springtime鈥檚 increasing daylight plays an even bigger role.

After a few mild winters, he says this year鈥檚 cold snap may have tested the hardiness of some plants 鈥 but not to give up on them coming back yet. Don鈥檛 assume they are dead; give them until May or June before removing weather-beaten plants.

For more information:

Contact Kiyomi Taguchi, UW News video producer: ktaguchi@uw.edu or 206-685-2716.

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Soundbites: Snow may have delayed some blooms for the first day of spring /news/2019/03/20/snow-may-have-delayed-some-blooms-for-the-first-day-of-spring/ Wed, 20 Mar 2019 20:32:25 +0000 /news/?p=61071

For the media:

The first day of spring, when daylight hours begin to exceed nighttime hours, seems especially significant this year听鈥 record warm temperatures in the Northwest are marking the change of seasons. But our blooms may be a couple weeks behind schedule after February鈥檚 snow and cold weather.

Ray Larson, curator at听, explains that earlier cold temperatures may have delayed flowering plants, with bulbs and perennials being weeks behind their normal blooming time. But he says while warmth is a big factor in how plants grow, springtime鈥檚 increasing daylight plays an even bigger role.

After a few mild winters, he says this year鈥檚 cold snap may have tested the hardiness of some plants 鈥 but not to give up on them coming back yet. Don鈥檛 assume they are dead; give them until May or June before removing weather-beaten plants.

For more information:

Contact Kiyomi Taguchi, UW News video producer: ktaguchi@uw.edu or 206-685-2716.

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