10th Anniversary Season | We all build

“Every day that we are gifted the opportunity to wake up on Earth, we build … Our 2025-2026 season is an invitation to create pathways toward grace and peace with creativity, empathy, community, and joy together.” – Chelsea Thatcher, Chief Strategic Officer and Founding Creative Director

Over the past 10 years, Grace Farms has welcomed thousands of visitors and hosted world-class performers, artists, and speakers, fostering a space for contemplation and meaningful dialogue. Our 10-Year celebration featured the unveiling of Dancing Trees, new site-specific seating designed by Kazuyo Sejima of SANAA, as well as a conversation between the architect and Grace Farms CEO and Founder Sharon Prince; viewing of a new installation of the With Every Fiber | Pigment, Stone, Glass exhibit, featuring five new commissions inspired by the Design for Freedom movement; artist-in-residence James Florio discussing his new photographic work at Grace Farms, of Haida Gwaii in British Columbia, Canada from which Grace Farms’ new fascia is sourced; viewing of Alicja Kwade’s new permanently installed sculpture, ParaPosition; and musical performances by acclaimed Canadian cellist Arlen Hlusko and GRAMMY® award-winning violinist Joshua Bell. (Feature photo by Dean Kaufman)

New Sculpture by Alicja Kwade

Grace Farms’ 10^th Anniversary Season which runs through May 2026, launched with the unveiling of  a new acquisition and permanent sculpture by Alicja Kwade, ParaPosition, 2024. Comprised of interlocking steel frames supporting two boulders and an inverted chair made of bronze, ParaPosition’s array of metal and stone draws viewers into the frame of this massive, yet fragile, universe. ParaPosition joins other site-specific public art installations on permanent display at Grace Farms, including Beatriz Milhazes’s Moon Love Dreaming (2016), Teresita Fernández’s Double Glass River (2015), and Thomas Demand’s Farm 56 & Farm 88 (2015).

Photo by Dean Kaufman

“Alicja Kwade is approaching themes about society and human flourishing in the same spirit as we are at Grace Farms Foundation — imploring us to expand our perspective by asking questions. At Grace Farms, we seek new outcomes on pressing humanitarian issues by breaking down silos and facilitating dialogue across sectors.” – Sharon Prince, Grace Farms CEO and Founder.

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 “Our 10-year theme is inspired by Sharon Prince, who took an imaginative leap to create Grace Farms, a humanitarian and cultural center rooted in a belief in people’s capacity to act for the good of others and the Earth.” – Chelsea Thatcher

Day of Celebration Highlights

Unveiling of Dancing Trees in the Plaza

The unveiling of Dancing Trees in the Plaza, a new site-specific seating designed by Kazuyo Sejima of SANAA. From left to right: Toshihiro Oki, Grace Farms Architecture Advisor Kazuyo Sejima, Sharon Prince, CEO and Founder of Grace Farms, Chelsea Thatcher, Founding Creative Director, Grace Farms. (photo by Melani Lust)

Award-Winning Violinist Joshua Bell

Award-winning violinist Joshua Bell received a standing ovation during his performance in the Sanctuary. (photo by Melani Lust)

Acclaimed Canadian Cellist Arlen Hlusko

Grace Farms’ Artist-in-Residence and GRAMMY®-winning Canadian cellist Arlen Hlusko performed during the day.

New Commission by Photographer James Florio

Grace Farms Artist-in-Residence James Florio has created a new photographic work, Haida Gwaii, 2025, on permanent display in Grace Farms’ Library. Florio was inspired by his trip through Taan forest in Haida Gwaii, British Columbia, Canada, where Grace Farms procured the Western red cedar wood which was used for their fascia that was installed last spring. The cedar was selected for its longevity, as well as its alignment with the Design for Freedom principles: the Taan forest is ethically and sustainably maintained by the Haida Enterprise Corporation (HaiCo), a company owned 100% by the Haida, the First Nations people who live there.

Hannah Rose Thomas, PhD., Unveils Her Commissioned Painting

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 “Each experience is set intentionally within a seasonal moment, to bring us closer to nature as we develop solutions to make the world a more just, sustainable, and peaceful place.” – Chelsea Thatcher

Ground-Breaking 2025-2026 Season

(Register for events)

The full season of programming features a new, ground-breaking series, Grace Farms Lectures. The Lectures bring together visionary leaders who have shaped our world, inviting them to share the wisdom they have learned through their distinguished careers.  Each lecture is accompanied by a 60-minute concert specially curated by Grace Farms Artist-in-Residence Arlen Hlusko and performed by some of today’s most celebrated musicians. The pieces these artists perform respond directly to the life’s work of each speaker and the impact they continue to make.

On January 10, 2026, Sharon Prince will deliver the inaugural lecture on creating spaces that communicate and catalyze good in the world. Other featured speakers include acclaimed scholar and writer and Founding Director of Yale Center for Faith & Culture Dr. Miroslov Volf and Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer, botanist and acclaimed author.

This season’s programs will include a focus on Grace Farms’ distinctive, daylit music performances in the glass-enclosed Sanctuary, against the backdrop of 80 acres of natural landscapes. Artists include internationally acclaimed cellist and 19-time GRAMMY-winner Yo-Yo Ma, GRAMMY-winning violinist Joshua Bell, a special concert by Grace Farms Artist-in-Residence and GRAMMY-winning Canadian cellist Arlen Hlusko, and a concert with GRAMMY-winning jazz singer Dianne Reeves.

 “Since Grace Farms opened, we have welcomed nearly 1 million visitors and developed programs with world-class performers, celebrated artists, Nobel laureates, social entrepreneurs, and people committed to creating more grace and peace in the world. These programs widen our worldview and create meaningful dialogue.” – Sharon Prince

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new series

Music at Grace Farms

Mon Rovîa

Sunday, November 16, 2025

2 – 3:15 pm

Mon Rovîa reflects journeys of humanity through his Afro Appalachian music as a singer and songwriter, and from his own experiences moving from Liberia during the country’s civil war to the United States.

75-minute performance, no intermission

Broadway Inspirational Voices

Saturday, December 13, 2025

3:30 – 4:30 pm

Broadway Inspirational Voices is a diverse choir and service organization powered by Broadway artists using music to inspire hope and change lives, and will present a holiday repertoire developed by Allen René Louis.

60-minute performance, no intermission

Yo-Yo Ma, cello Solon Gordon, piano

Sunday, January 11, 2026

3 pm

Yo-Yo Ma will perform a recital with pianist Solon Gordon in the Sanctuary, the glass-enclosed indoor amphitheater with 360-degree views of the landscape. Yo-Yo Ma’s multi-faceted career is testament to his belief in culture’s power to generate trust and understanding. Whether performing new or familiar works for cello, bringing communities together to explore culture’s role in society, or engaging unexpected musical forms, Yo-Yo Ma strives to foster connections that stimulate the imagination and reinforce our humanity.

80 min performance

Arlen Hlusko, cello

Saturday, February 21, 2026

4:30 – 6 pm

Hailed for her “sublime cello prowess” (Take Effect) and “absorbing originality” (Gramophone), internationally acclaimed Canadian cellist Arlen Hlusko is a dynamic, versatile artist who has performed extensively across the Americas, Asia, and Europe.

75-minute performance, 15-minute intermission

Dianne Reeves with Romero Lubambo

Saturday, April 18, 2026

4:30 – 6 pm

Dianne Reeves, one of the world’s preeminent jazz vocalists, will perform a program of beautiful duets alongside Brazilian jazz guitarist Romero Lubambo.

75-minute performance, no intermission.

new series

Origin Stories: Celebrating Transformational Leadership

Origin Stories is a series exploring the journeys of visionaries — artists, business leaders, designers, and social entrepreneurs—who have reimagined the world around us.

Grace Farms Tea & Coffee

Origin Stories kicked off on Saturday, September 27, 2025 with Adam Thatcher, Co-Founder and CEO of Grace Farms Tea & Coffee, who shared his journey behind this mission-driven initiative with 100% of profits supporting the Foundation’s humanitarian work to end forced labor.

Adam Thatcher, Co-Founder and CEO of Grace Farms Tea & Coffee, outside the Commons at Grace Farms.

The Empowerment Collective

Thursday, January 22, 2026

11 am – 12 pm

Nasreen Sheikh empowers marginalized women as founder of the Empowerment Collective and Local Women’s Handicrafts and promotes ethical business practices across global supply chains.

Prota Fiori

Thursday March 5, 2026

11 am – 12 pm

Jennifer Stucko launched Prota Fiori to merge craftsmanship with sustainability, using upcycled materials to create elegant, eco-conscious premium quality footwear made in Italy.

new series

Grace Farms Lectures

Sharon Prince

Saturday, January 10, 2026

3 pm Lecture, 4 pm Music

Sharon Prince in the Sanctuary of Grace Farms that provides a 360-degree view of the expansive landscape as well as a view of ParaPosition.

Sharon Prince, CEO and Founder of Grace Farms, will inspire you to see the built environment through new eyes and recognize your own agency in creating spaces that communicate and catalyze good in the world. Chamber Musicians: Jennifer Frautschi, Vijay Gupta, Michelle Ross & Blake Pouliot, violins; Ayane Kozasa & Melissa Reardon, violas; Arlen Hlusko & Gabriel Cabezas, cellos; Anthony Manzo, bass; Pallavi Mahidhara, piano; Emi Ferguson, flute; Yoonah Kim, clarinet; Gina Cuffari, bassoon Optional Workshop: Join the Rest House Workshop by Slade Architecture and put design ideas into action.

Dr. Miroslav Volf

Saturday, February 7, 2026

3 pm Lecture, 4 pm Music

Founding Director of Yale Center for Faith & Culture, and one of the most significant theologians of our time, Dr. Miroslav Volf will create the opportunity to pause and consider the question: what is a life worth living? String Quartet: Adrian Anantawan & Lun Li, violins; Celia Hatton, viola; Arlen Hlusko, cello Optional Workshop: Join Drew Collins, Associate Research Scholar from the Yale Center for Faith & Culture, for a workshop designed to complement the lecture.

Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer

Saturday, March 7, 2026

3 pm Lecture, 4 pm Music

A writer of “rare grace,” Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer offers powerful and poetic explorations of how human beings connect with nature and one another. Flute Quartet: Alex Sopp, flute; Simone Porter & Owen Dalby, violins; Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt, viola; Arlen Hlusko, cello Optional Workshop: Join Director of Horticulture Kimberly Kelly for a workshop designed to complement the lecture.

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During Open Arts Studio

10 am – 2 pm

Children are welcome to create a project that connects with the lecture theme.

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New Installation of With Every Fiber Exhibit

On view beginning October 11, 2025, Grace Farms will open a new iteration of the With Every Fiber exhibit, which offers insights into forced labor in the building materials supply chain.

With Every Fiber presents Design for Freedom, Grace Farms’ work to elevate human rights and eliminate forced and child labor in the built environment. It tells the story of this work through new, commissioned artworks. These pieces have been created by John Sabraw, artist and Professor of Art at Ohio University, Nina Cooke John, Principal of Studio Cooke John Architecture & Design and designer of With Every Fiber, Webb Yates Engineers in London, and artist Hannah Rose Thomas, who will be unveiling a life-size portrait of modern slavery survivor and social entrepreneur Nasreen Sheikh. The London Philharmonic Orchestra, which has a long partnership with Grace Farms, is recording a new commission for this exhibit.

With Every Fiber incorporates Design for Freedom’s principles into its design, including prioritizing circularity. The exhibit is circular in design — materials from past Grace Farms exhibitions are repurposed throughout. Traditionally, exhibit materials, from walls to flooring, are often built for a single use and then discarded. Elements used in this exhibit will be reused in future iterations.

The new iteration of With Every Fiber is designed to help the public reimagine architecture with fair labor. It brings forward innovative solutions in stone, pigment, and glass — building materials that are typically at high-risk of forced and child labor — and highlights breakthrough approaches to ethical sourcing that will create a more humane built environment for all. — Chelsea Thatcher

A portion of With Every Fiber was adapted and included in the Intelligens CANON at the 19th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, curated by Carlo Ratti, open through November 2025.

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10 Years of Extraordinary Outcomes – Highlights

October 2015 – Opening of Grace Farms

Grace Farms welcomes 5,000 visitors on opening day to experience nature, encounter the arts, pursue justice, foster community, and explore faith

Grace Farms is awarded the 2014-2015 Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize, given to the best built work in North and South America

2016 – One Year Anniversary

Grace Farms unveils a new mural, Moon Love Dreaming, 2016 by Beatriz Milhazes, in the West Barn. New York City Ballet principal dancer Wendy Whelan performs and celebrates architects Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa who returns to Grace Farms for the occasion

Grace Farms brought together individuals, corporations, governmental agencies, and nonprofits for a workshop with United Nations University to address human trafficking in conflict zones, which resulted in a United Nations Security Council Resolution 2331

2017 – Artist Collaborations and Artist-in-Residence Launches

Artist Meredith Monk, an artist-in-residence at Grace Farms that year, develops Cellular Songs, inspired in part by Grace Farms’ landscape. The piece premieres at the Brooklyn Academy of Music

Launched the Practicing series, which focused on empathy, awe, silence, and joy, featuring choreographer Bill T. Jones, poet Ilya Kaminsky, choreographer Andrea Miller, and author and scholar Peter C. Bouteneff

Partnered with the United Nations University (UNU) to co-host a convening focused on disrupting the ties between the financial sector and human trafficking, leading to the proposal of 25 specific recommendations published in a UNU workshop report. Convening leads to the formation of Finance Against Slavery and Trafficking

Collaborated with the Yale Center for Faith & Culture to offer the “Life Worth Living” course for the first time outside of Yale University

The American kestrel, America’s smallest falcon and a species of concern, returns to the area due to Grace Farms’ habitat restoration and installation of nesting boxes

The River building is LEED certified, recognizing Grace Farms’ sustainability measures for Building Design and Construction (BD+C)

2018 – Established the Design for Freedom Working Group

Sharon Prince presides over working group meeting with build environment leaders.

Design for Freedom Working Group is established with leaders within the built environment

Julianne Swartz’ temporary site-responsive installation, Joy, Still opens

Journalists Michelle Boorstein of The Washington Post and Wajahat Ali from CNN and New York Times contributor lead a discussion on faith and media

2019 – Significant Expansion of Public Programs

Nicholas Kristof and Dr. Denis Mukwege discuss the treatment for survivors of sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Photo by Vanessa Van-Ryzin

 Welcomed Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr. Denis Mukwege and acclaimed journalist Nicholas Kristof, who discuss the treatment for survivors of sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Supported artist Carrie Mae Weems during her artist-in-residence where she continued her ongoing investigation of gender and racial related violence. Weems’ contributions included a public lecture and a full-cast presentation of her performance-based work, Past Tense

Scaled the Space Grants program to include more national and international organizations, including eight organizations with global reach

U.S. Army Chaplains from around the world, which has been supporting soldiers’ diverse spiritual needs since 1775, traveled to Grace Farms to discuss “What makes life most worth wanting?”

Sharon Prince and Grace Farms receive American Institute of Architects New York Chapter NYC Visionary Award

Grace Farms is awarded LEED Silver certification for Operations + Maintenance

Grace Farms becomes New Canaan founding partner of the Pollinator Pathway, a nationwide movement that protects and establishes essential native habitats for pollinators

2020 – Grace Farms Transformed into a Humanitarian Hub & Launches Design For Freedom

100% of Grace Farms staff is dedicated to relief work to address the COVID-19 crisis

Grace Farms launches the Grace Farms Relief Fund for Connecticut and the Grace Farms Alliance Against COVID, securing $4.8 million in individual donations, grants, in-kind donations, and support from the state of Connecticut for relief efforts

Secures, donates, and delivers 2 M PPE to frontline health care workers, closing the PPE gap

Donates more than 150,000 healthy meals to neighbors to neighbors in need

Launch of the Design for Freedom, the global movement to eliminate forced labor from the building materials supply chain, with over 60 global industry leaders

Publishes the ground-breaking Design for Freedom Report with research of materials at high-risk of forced and child labor and contributions by industry experts

Partner with Working Group member Herman Miller and Design Within Reach to retail an ethically-manufactured face mask inspired by the roof of Grace Farms’ iconic River building. The mask is long-listed by the Dezeen Awards

2021 – Launch of Grace Farms Tea & Coffee

Co-Founders of Grace Farms Tea & Coffee Adam Thatcher and Sharon Prince often visit farmers who supply their tea and coffee ingredients.

The Certified B Corp demonstrates what Grace Farms advocates for: ethical and sustainable supply chains. 100% of profits support Design for Freedom

Governor Ned Lamont signs a bill to modernize the procurement process in Connecticut, signing the legislation at Grace Farms in recognition of Grace Farms’ COVID-relief work

Design for Freedom partners with artist Carrie Mae Weems on her artist-driven education campaign Resist COVID/ Take 6! Together, donated and delivered 44,000 PPE to healthcare centers in Arizona, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Utah that served Native communities

Peace Forest and Common Good Through Crisis, two new exhibits, open

Temporal Shift, a new site responsive sculpture, opens in the Courtyard, the first Design for Freedom Pilot Project

Publish River Retreat, a guide to consider most profound questions of our lives

Grace Farms produces Then and Now about civil rights icon Ruby Bridges, who encourages people to create change by “stepping out of the corner”

Produced Against the Grain series to address innovative initiatives to combat food insecurity featuring organizations such as the Rockefeller Foundation

2022 – Sharon Prince is recognized by Fast Company

Sharon Prince is recognized by Fast Company as one of the 50 most creative people in business for “cleaning up construction”

A series recognizing the important role that women play in our communities. First programs featured Indra Nooyi, former chair and CEO of PepsiCo, Brooke Baldwin, former CNN anchor, and Elizabeth Davis, Principal at the Female Innovators Lab by Barclays and Anthemis Group

Grace Farms launches Education Program, welcoming school groups for programs that align with the Next Generation Science Standards, Common Core, CT State Social Studies Frameworks, and Social and Emotional Learning practices

Launch of the first-ever Design for Freedom Summit and the Design for Freedom Toolkit. Former UN High Commissioner on Human Rights, Prince Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein notes in his welcome address “all good revolutions begin like this”

The first international Design for Freedom Pilot Project, the 21^st Serpentine Pavilion, Black Chapel, designed by Theaster Gates, opens in London. U.K.

Partnership with London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) established; performance on U.N. World Day Against Child Labor with 100 leaders in London at Black Chapel

2023 – Design for Freedom Pilot Projects Expands

Design for Freedom Pilot Project, Shadow of a Face, a monument to Harriet Tubman designed by Nina Cooke John, opens in Newark, NJ

Grace Farms welcomes two-time U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo who speaks on our relationship to the Earth and all living things

As a part of Making Space for Women, held Madam President | Leaders in Higher Education with Sian Leah Beilock, then President of Barnard College and President-Elect of Dartmouth; Frances Bronet, President of Pratt Institute; Helene Gayle, MD, President of Spelman College; and Laura Sparks, President of The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art

Launched Ethical Supply Chain Workshop in partnership with Turner Construction and the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations to explore how to take collective action to reduce the risk of forced labor in the building materials supply chain

Initiated the Living Classroom series to enhance the hands-on learning experiences for visitors, teaching them about biodiversity’s crucial role in purifying air, water, and soil

Grace Farms is certified as a Wildlife Habitat by the National Wildlife Federation, and as a Monarch Waystation by the nonprofit Monarch Watch (Other certifications include Certified Wildlife Habitat Garden, and Grace Farms is a member of the Xerces Society.)

2024 – The London Philharmonic Orchestra Performs at 9^th Anniversary Benefit

Led by 2023/24 Fellow Conductor, Luis Castillo-Briceño, with 31 world-class musicians, the Orchestra’s performance explored Grace Farms and the LPO’s respective themes of “Architecture Moves Us” and “Moments Remembered.” The event was sold out. Photo by Dean Kaufman

With Every Fiber, the first long term exhibit to bring Design for Freedom to the public, opens

Grace Farms Tea & Coffee launches new line of wellness teas and expands into Whole Foods markets in the Northeast and its corporate partnership program to include JPMorganChase, Bloomberg, and others

Launch of the Design for Freedom International Guidance & Toolkit and accelerators in the UK and India

Design for Freedom Pilot Projects now reach across three continents

Gold LEED recertification for Operations and Maintenance (O+M), building on past LEED certifications

Reverend Lisa Lynne Kirkpatrick and Dr. Matthew Croasmun, Associate Research Scholar and the Director of the Life Worth Living program at the Yale Center for Faith & Culture at Yale Divinity School, address how faith plays a pivotal role in mending community divides

More than 3 million various species of native grasses populated our meadows after sowing 18 pounds of native grasses and pollinator plants 

2025 – Grace Farms Celebrates 10 Years

First permanent sculpture at Grace Farms, Paraposition by Alicja Kwade, unveiled

New fascia, made of Western red cedar from Haida Gwaii in British Columbia, is installed along the River building’s half-a-mile-long canopy

New iteration of With Every Fiber: Pigment, Stone, Glass opens

New permanent works by James Florio and Hannah Rose Thomas, PhD are unveiled

Launch of the Humanity in Architecture Film Festival at Grace Farms in collaboration with ADFF

Components of With Every Fiber from Grace Farms is included in Carlo Ratti’s Intelligens CANON, a section of the 19^th International Architecture Exhibition in Venice

“The possibilities to create a more humane and equitable future together remain as vast as our landscape. – Sharon Prince

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Outcome by the Numbers

• Welcoming 100,000 visitors a year or 1 million over the past 10 years
• During COVID pandemic in 2020, 169,276 pounds of nutritious meals and pantry staples distributed to 67,897 individuals through our Food Relief program
• 130,000 pounds of carbon are sequestered from the atmosphere each year by the 2,000 + trees (over 50 species) on Grace Farms’ property
• Design for Freedom presentations, speaking engagement, and events, reaches over 25,000 since its launch in 2020
• 17,244 visitors encountered Temporal Shift, a temporary sculpture from artist Alyson Shotz
• 45-minute-film, Then and Now, about American civil rights leader Ruby Bridges produced by Grace Farms reaches more than 12,000 students, teachers, community members
• 7,000 visitors to artist Julianne Swartz’s three-part installation Joy, still. in the River building at Grace Farms
• Over 5,400 visitors since launching Earth Day in 2016
• More than 4,000 welcomed in 2023 to launch of Voices of Culture series, to experience the work of acclaimed, diverse musicians
• Over a dozen Design for Freedom Pilot Projects across three continents to demonstrate building without forced and child labor is possible
• 70% 0f Grace Farms’ acreage has been restored to pollinator-friendly native habitats

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About Grace Farms

Membership

Grace Farms members can visit without advance registration and enjoy a 20% discount on paid programs, retail, and dining, invitations to members-only gatherings, complimentary events, and a welcome gift from Grace Farms Tea & Coffee.

Becoming a member helps us advance our mission to pursue a more peaceful world and supports the preservation of the River building and its surrounding 80 acres.

For more information, visit gracefarms.org/membership.

Visit our calendar of events to learn more about upcoming programs.

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