Courtesy Nadia Peattie
The Trustees Celebrates 250 Years of American Independence
On Saturday, April 19, The Trustees joins America in commemorating the 250th Anniversary of the start of the American Revolution in Concord. Tens of thousands are expected to memorialize the first shots of the war which rang out only a few hundred yards from The Old Manse. To honor this National Historic Landmark’s—and The Trustees’ many other—connections to the founding of our nation, the organization is releasing a new American Independence Tour. “From the Berkshires to the South Shore, Trustees sites across Massachusetts are linked to esteemed figures, key battles, or under-represented stories from this famed period in history,” said Cindy Brockway, Trustees Senior Managing Director of Cultural Resources. “From colonial homes to fields, farms, gorges, and hills, the diversity of these landscapes echoes the variety of stories they tell.” To coincide with the self-guided tour, a new American Independence webpage is also being launched to provide a deeper dive into both untold histories and familiar watershed moments linked to Trustees special places across the state.
New Outdoor Exhibition to Open during deCordova’s 75th Anniversary
On June 5, deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum opens Nature Sanctuary, an outdoor sculpture exhibition exploring the unique relationships between the natural world and ideas of home. Six women artists—Venetia Dale, Kapwani Kiwanga, Joiri Minaya, Zohra Opoku, Kathy Ruttenberg, and Evelyn Rydz—center their creative relationships with nature across the Sculpture Park’s front lawn and beyond. “We are excited to support such talented artists whose works foster connections between the land and people that make deCordova unique and beloved,” said Sarah Montross, Museum Director and Chief Curator, deCordova, The Trustees. “We have never done an outdoor exhibition like this, in which the artworks together help link deCordova’s ecological resources, its past as a family home, and its present as part of a land conservation organization.” Learn more about Nature Sanctuary before it opens in early June as deCordova celebrates 75 years of the Sculpture Park and Museum in Lincoln.
Image Caption: Kathy Ruttenberg, A Snail’s Pace, 2018. Cast silicon bronze, polychrome patina, cast acrylic, ceramic, cast polyurethane resin, and LED lighting. 74 x 114 x 48 inches. Courtesy of the Artist and Lyles & King, New York. Photo by Mel Taing.
New Species of Fungus Discovered at World’s End
In March of 2024, Dr. Danny Haelewaters discovered a new species of fungus, Simocybe ramosa at World’s End in Hingham. Dr. Haelewaters is a mycologist, a scientist who specializes in the study of fungi, including their classification, structure, physiology, and ecological roles.
“Halewaters found Simocybe ramosa shyly growing under the bark of a lone oak tree at World’s End,” shared the National Park Service in a piece on the discovery. World’s End is part of the Boston Harbor Islands, where mycologists have identified an average of 12 additional species of fungi each year since 2018, shared the National Park Service. Simocybe ramosa is not the first new fungus to be discovered at World’s End. In 2021, Xylaria finismundoensis or the “End of the World Fungus” was formally documented at World’s End.
The specimen collected at World’s End is the only known specimen of its kind to date, even years after it was first collected by Halewaters. Studying the specimen can reveal new details about the ecosystems of the Boston Harbor Islands.
