Morven Museum & Garden Launches a Variety of Live & Virtual Spring Programs

PRINCETON, N.J. - April 8, 2021 - PRLog -- -- "At Morven, we spotlight a wide range of American history, from the Revolutionary to late 20th century, and our upcoming programming runs the gamut of these eras in new ways, culminating with our much-anticipated Morven in May Garden Party & Plant Sale in our backyard," Morven Museum & Garden Executive Director Jill Barry shared recently.

On April 15 at 4:00 p.m. Morven celebrates the 65th wedding anniversary of Princess Grace and Prince Rainier of Monaco, visitors to Morven during Governor Brendan Byrne's era, with a virtual pressed flower workshop featuring a brief presentation about Grace Kelly's iconic wedding gown by Kristina Haugland, the Le Vine Associate Curator of Costume and Textiles and Supervising Curator for the Study Room at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and author of two books on Grace Kelly's style.  In this pressed flower virtual workshop, led by Morven's Curator of Education and Public Programs Debra Lampert-Rudman, students will recreate one of Princess Grace's favorite designs: a pressed flower crown – a design she chose for the invitation to her first Paris exhibition of her pressed flower art.

Morven's popular "Morven Moments", a free, virtual lunchtime program at noon on Monday, April 19, highlights some of the glamorous garden parties and celebrities who attended them, through a lively moderated discussion featuring docent Kim Gallagher followed by live Q&A.

Poetry Palooza launches April 20 with Dr. Drew Lanham

In celebration of National Poetry Month, the poems of Morven's resident poet Annis Boudinot Stockton and her contemporaries, as well as poetry inspired by Ornithology, a topic examined in our current exhibition In Nature's Realm: The Art of Gerard Rutgers Hardenbergh, Conservation, Morality, and more will be explored.  Writing prompts for participants, relevant beverage recipes, and recordings will be provided. Series and individual program tickets are available at www.morven.org/poetry-palooza

Tuesday, April 20 at 2:00 p.m.

Coloring the Conservation Conversation

Clemson University professor, ornithologist, conservationist and poet Dr. Drew Lanham will discuss what it means to embrace the full breadth of his African-American heritage and his deep kinship to nature and adoration of birds.

Monday, April 26 at 6:30 p.m.

Women, Poetry, and War

Jeffrey Gray, Professor Emeritus at Seton Hall and Mary McAleer Balkun, Professor of English at Seton Hall University and scholar of early American literature, begin their entertaining and enlightening discussion with the poetry of the American Revolution and compare and contrast its counterpart in contemporary poetry.

Galleries and Gardens are Open

While many "zoom" in to Morven's virtual programs, including viewers from as far as Australia and Hawaii regularly tuning in, the museum galleries are open and our newest exhibition, In Nature's Realm will delight guests with beautiful depictions of familiar wildlife and pastoral New Jersey  landscapes now lost in a safe, masked, socially distanced environment.  Timed tickets can be purchased 24 hours in advance on our website with walk in visitors accommodated as space allows.  Boxed lunches in the garden can be purchased to complete your Museum visit. Information is available through Morven's Museum Shop info@morven.org or by calling 609-924-8144 ext.103.

Morven's gardens are beginning to bloom; its front porch wisteria blossoms may appear in time for this year's Morven in May Garden Party & on-site Plant Sale.

"We very much look forward to our largest fundraiser of the year," Barry noted.  "Morven in May salutes the start of Spring and reunites us in support of Morven's exhibitions, programs, and preservation of this treasured institution."  Hosted by Ashley Formento, Liza Morehouse, Martha Sword, Elizabeth Wislar, and Marcia Zweig, garden party tickets are still available at www.morven.org/morven-in-may-21

"Paint Out Princeton", a free event for plein air artists, will be held on Morven's grounds 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Saturday, May 1 and Sunday, May 2. Registration is required and full details are available at www.morven.org/paint-out-princeton-at-morven-in-may  A virtual gallery show of selected works will be developed in collaboration with Arts Council of Princeton following the weekend.

Additional information on Morven's exhibitions and programs is available at www.morven.org or email dlampertrudman@morven.org.

Morven Museum & Garden is open Wednesday through Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and is located at 55 Stockton Street, Princeton, NJ 08540

Funding for In Nature's Realm: The Art of Gerard Rutgers Hardenbergh has been provided, in part, by The Hess Foundation, Fulton Bank, Liza & Schuyler Morehouse, Lisa & Michael Ullmann, and Bob N. Wilson & Michele Plante.  The exhibition is made possible, in part, by the Mercer County Cultural and Heritage Commission through funding from the Mercer County Board of Chosen Commissioners and the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment of the Arts.