2026 Art & the Landscape Artists Unite for Cronin Lecture
Three artists—Ella Mahoney, May Babcock, and Posey Moulton—have been commissioned for the latest installations in The Trustees Art & the Landscape initiative, titled The Land Tells Our Stories. All three will be together at deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum in March for the annual Paul J. Cronin Memorial Lecture. They will introduce their commissioned sculptures and the district landscapes that will host their site-responsive works—Rock House Reservation, Moose Hill Farm, and Castle Hill on the Crane Estate. “This is a great early look into how each project reflects the artists’ personal histories, ecological narratives, and place-based storytelling,” said Tess Lukey, Curator of The Land Tells Our Stories. “I’m looking forward to hearing their answers to the question at the heart of this year’s lecture: Can art create an ecology?” The free Paul J. Cronin Memorial Lecture series was established in 1981 thanks to a generous grant from Grover J. Cronin. This year’s lecture will take place at deCordova in Lincoln on Thursday, March 26. For more information and to register, visit https://thetrustees.org/event/442448/
Nature for MA Advances Land and Water Conservation Work
On December 1, 2025, supporters of the ‘Protect Water and Nature’ ballot initiative, hiked across the Charles River and up Beacon Hill to rally outside the State House. The ballot initiative seeks to dedicate funds from the existing state sales tax on sporting goods toward efforts to protect and conserve water and nature. The march was the culmination of the first phase of our work with conservation colleagues and organizations across the Commonwealth, along with the Nature for MA Coalition, as we turned in more than 90,000 certified signatures to advance the measure toward the 2026 statewide ballot.
Learn more and find out about next steps at natureforma.org.
Update on The Trustees’ Notchview Forest Resilience Work
Work has been underway at Notchview, The Trustees’ popular cross-country ski and snowshoe center in the Berkshires, since early 2025 to help adapt the reservation’s 3,100-acre forest to the effects of climate change. The goal here is to encourage species like red oak and hickory to replace current species—including basalm fir and red spruce—which are predicted to decline as the climate warms. In 2025, a ten-foot-high “slash wall” was constructed to protect the tender saplings from deer browse, in a twelve-acre plot.
The project has already begun to yield significant results with Project Manager Kate Conlin noting, “In just one growing season (pre-planting!) the conditions inside the slash wall and outside are noticeably different, with natural regeneration occurring inside and lacking outside.” Look for ongoing updates on the project in Special Places, Trustees E-Newsletters, and through the Forest Resilience at Notchview storymap.
