Learn about the basics of perennial and dahlia culture. What is a perennial and what makes them special in the garden? How can you get free plants from your current perennials? These questions and so much more will be covered. We will also have a demo on how to divide perennials. Presented by Isaac Wyatt, Agricultural Program Assistant with Henderson County Extension, will teach the basics of perennial and dahlia culture.

• ONSITE | 

  Instructor: Alexandra Holland

  $35 Adult Non-Member

   (**Arboretum Members receive a 10% discount on all classes.)

  BRN – Elective, 2 hours | BREG – Elective, 2 hours | NCEE – Criteria II, 2 hours

  Limit: 15

  Spring is here, and the natural world is waking from its winter rest! Naturalist and botanist Alexandra Holland leads this wildflower walk at the Arboretum, pointing out the array of spring wildflowers emerging and in bloom. Learn some basics of wildflower ecology and identification while taking in the beauty of spring.

  Alexandra Holland graduated from Duke University and earned her Master’s degree in botany from the University of Texas at Austin. She was in the first class of students to be certified as Blue Ridge Naturalists. Alexandra managed the UTEX Culture Collection of Algae at UT Austin and spent many hours working with education programs at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.  She has taught botany for over a decade and leads nature hikes in Western North Carolina for groups of all ages.

Guide: Christa Hebal

$55 Non-member Adult**

 (**Arboretum Members receive a 10% discount on all classes.)

Limit: 15

The changing seasons are rich with wisdom and guidance. Winter is a time for rest and dreaming, followed by spring, ripe with opportunities for renewal and growth. Cultivate those winter dreams and invite them to birth into reality during this enlivening afternoon retreat. Let your most authentic Self emerge from within and flourish amidst the beauty of the early spring! New Graph: Your guide, Christa Hebal, will lead you on a gentle journey through the awakening forest, weaving mindfulness, breathwork, forest bathing (Shinrin Yoku) and nature therapy together for a restorative afternoon on some of the trails less traveled at the North Carolina Arboretum. We’ll celebrate the experience in community, enjoying a wild-foraged tea ceremony and snacks. Bring an open mind and an open heart. All are welcome. Presented through Adult & Continuing Education Programs in collaboration with Asheville Wellness Tours.

Christa Hebal is a certified Nature and Forest Therapy Guide by the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy. Born and raised in the mountains of NE Tennessee, she has lived in Asheville for 23 years. Christa has an adventurous heart, and loves to help others encounter wholeness through embodiment and nature connection practices. She has had a professional bodywork practice for 17 years as a nationally certified Massage Therapist, and is also a practitioner of Ortho-Bionomy®, Usui Reiki Master, Certified Pediatric Massage Therapist, Clinical Aromatherapist, and Certified Traditional Herbalist. She is also certified in CPR and Wilderness First Aid.

Spring Awakening & Renewal Forest Bathing Retreat | ONSITE | Saturday, March 9, 2 – 5 p.m. Or Saturday, March 23, 2 – 5 p.m.

If you like these kinds of events, please consider supporting the Museum’s programming by making a donation.

Support Sigal Music Museum

About Chinobay:

Born and raised in Kampala, Uganda, Chinobay (née Herbert Kinobe) grew up playing the instruments of local Buganda musicians who provided the soundtrack for the Kanyange king’s palace just up the hill from his house. Deeply influenced by these musicians and their history of resistance, much of Chinobay’s earlier work featured folk songs that he learnt from these musicians. A few years later, he started to play updated versions of these folk classics and learning several traditional instruments. Now as a songwriter, educator, and intercultural facilitator, Chinobay’s original work brings people’s stories to life to show the richness of Africa in all of its facets––not only as a backdrop for suffering. His next Album, still in progress, is a meeting point for global cultures, incorporating contributions from numerous musicians from the Global South.

The son of two school teachers, Chinobay’s passion for arts pedagogy as a channel for social change has led him to follow in his parents’ footsteps as an arts educator. Chinobay started his engagement with cross-cultural exchange while still in elementary school, touring Europe in 1995 and sharing the sounds of Uganda with other school children as part of the school’s cultural troupe. In 1999, UNICEF Ambassador to Uganda Michel Sidibe heard Chinobay playing and invited him to join the GEM (Girl Education Movement) initiative, a campaign to advocate for free education for girls that had been denied the opportunity to be in school. Thanks to UNICEF, Chinobay was able to participate in seminars and workshops where his music acted as a powerful tool to reach, communicate with, and educate many people in rural areas about the importance of women’s education. Chinobay’s role as UNICEF ambassador allowed him to delve into the field of social responsibility, and his music permanently shifted to socially relevant topics, with the goal of helping to improve the lives of children.

These formative international and philanthropic experiences would eventually translate into Dance of Hope, Chinobay’s arts education project curated in 2010 in partnership with M-LISADA, a children’s center in Kampala, Uganda. In Dance of Hope, young performers from underprivileged communities and challenging background use the transformational and healing power of music by coming together to hone their craft of music, dance, and percussion, and offer workshops globally to children and families in diverse communities. In 2019 Chinobay also founded the 501(c)3 organization World Bridge Foundation, a philanthropic endeavor dedicated to improving the livelihoods of vulnerable communities through arts and education.

Instructor: Susan Patrice

$24 Non-member Adult**

 (**Arboretum Members receive a 10% discount on all classes.)

Limit: 12

Take a fresh look at the objects, moments and vistas that surround you during this “awe walk” led by documentary photographer Susan Patrice. The contemplative practices she teaches help you experience place through new and loving eyes, to see beauty and wonder in your surroundings. Bring cameras or phones to capture what calls to you in the enveloping landscape. Participants will be sent meeting instructions for this small-group class that will take a slow intentional walk through parts of the Arboretum forest and forest meadow. This walk is a precursor to the generative writing and contemplative photography workshops to be held the following weekend.

Susan Patrice is a documentary photographer, community artist, and founder of Makers Circle. She recently launched Kinship Photography Collective, a global community of practice designed to create rich visual conversations that explore the intimate connections between nature, culture and belonging. Susan’s own photography and public installations focus primarily on the Southern Landscape and its people and feature intimate images that touch deeply into the questions of place, gender, and belonging.

Bill and Sonny will be guiding us through the process of growing your own food, seed to harvest!

• Neighbors will receive $10 RENEW Rewards for each class attended.
• The first 4 classes will be held at Greer Relief, the last 2 will be held at the Community Garden.
• After attending the class neighbors will become eligible to help at the Community Garden and earn RENEW Rewards.

What will this group cover? This group is focused on helping parents teach their children to solve problems and get along with others. During this discussion group, parents and caregivers will work through problems they have faced with fighting and aggression and develop a plan to address these problems.

Who is the group for? All parents and caregivers living in the Spartanburg area with any child between the ages of 0-8

What will I gain from this group? Free meal, gift card, knowledge of Triple P strategies to use at home, a Triple P workbook to take home and refer back to

Is childcare provided for this event? No

There is a Zoom option for parents who need to attend from home. Please indicate in your registration whether you will need to attend via Zoom.

Neil deGrasse Tyson is the Director of the Hayden Planetarium at the Rose Center for Earth and Space in New York City, as well as a renowned astrophysicist. He is the recipient of twenty-one honorary doctorates and the NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal, the highest award given by NASA to a non-government citizen.

He will speak about The Cosmic Perspective: There is no view of the world as emotionally potent as the one granted by a cosmic perspective. It’s one that sees Earth as a planet in a vast empty universe. It profoundly influences what we think and feel about science, culture, politics, and life itself.

The VIP post-show Q&A includes the following:

• One reserved seat ticket
• A private Q&A session with Dr. Neil DeGrasse Tyson