“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.

Sign-up for our newsletter

Follow us

@gracefarmsct #gracefarms

Enjoy 80 Acres of Fall Foliage, Music, Nature Walks, Family Activities and More

The season’s changes brings more than exploring fall foliage at Grace Farms. Within our 80 acres of natural meadows and woodlands, visitors can discover nature’s seasonal patterns, including fall bird migration. Besides the birds migrating south to warmer weather, the constellations also follow their own unique shifts as the northern hemisphere transitions into fall. These seasonal changes also signal the start of our 2025-2026 Season. For more information on events and the season visit our event’s calendar.

Grace Farms is free to the public and open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 am-6 pm; Sunday from 12 pm-6 pm.

“We have created these exceptional experiences across various fields to capture the spirit of the transformative work we have undertaken and the future we continue to build in community with one another. We hope you leave feeling connected to a robust and diverse community, grounded in a shared vision of grace and peace.” – Sharon Prince

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Fall Day-Trip Suggested Itinerary

Music at Grace Farms

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

Nature

Explore the Grace Farms Garden, meadows, and surrounding landscape while learning about nature through seasonal workshops and walks.

Our Director of Horticulture Kimberly Kelly helps visitors of all ages explore all aspects of nature.

Nature Workshops

Saturdays 11 am – 12 pm

Learn about various cultural practices that rely on nature, including flower bouquets, the impact of seeds, and holiday décor. This workshop series is for adults of all experience.

Slow Flower Bouquets, September 13, 2025

Garlic Workshop November 8, 2025

Guided Nature Walks

Select Fall Saturdays 11 am – 12 pm

Through guided walks, connect with the purpose of the ecosystems we inhabit, the vibrant life that’s part of it, and our role in maintaining and adding to it.

Birdwatching September 27 & October 4, 2025

Autumn Stroll September 20 & October 25, 2025

Guided tours offer an opportunity to learn about the natural landscape at Grace Farms while enjoying nature © Vanessa Van Ryzin

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Architecture Around the World

Haida Gwaii, 2025 | James Florio in conversation with Toshihiro Oki

Saturday, October 11, 2025

Join photographer James Florio and Grace Farms Architecture Advisor Toshihiro Oki at the unveiling of Florio’s new permanent photographic work for the Grace Farms Library as they discuss Haida Gwaii, their experience in an ancient forest stewarded by the Haida people, and how centering respect for land and community fosters deeper harmony.

Rest House Workshops

November 8, 2025

The Rest House Project creates sustainable rest and community spaces for tea and coffee farmers, guided by Design for Freedom. Join workshops by Slade Architecture exploring ethical design in Sumatra, Indonesia and beyond.

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Grace Farms Tea & Coffee

Creating change is as simple as changing the coffee and tea you drink.

Exceptional Teas

Cultivated with care from farm to cup, Grace Farms is the only US-based tea brand that sources Fairtrade™ and organic ingredients, supporting farmers & the planet.

Coffee that Inspires

Make every morning one that matters with bold, organic coffee sourced exclusively from women-led co-ops in the finest coffee growing regions in the world.

Giving back 100%

The only thing we love as much as great coffee and tea is giving back. As a nonprofit owned Certified B Corp™ 100% of profits support Design for Freedom, ending forced and child labor worldwide.

In Fall 2025, Grace Farms Tea & Coffee will open its first retail store at the corner of 48th Street and Madison Avenue in New York City, at the base of JPMorganChase’s new global headquarters.

Journey into the World of Tea

 Led by Tea Expert Frank Kwei, this exploration of tea offers guests a taste of notable varietals from cultures around the world, with demonstrations and more.

Grace Farms’ Tea Expert Frank Kwei visits a tea plantation in India. Grace Farms’ teas and coffee are ethically and sustainably made.

September 24, November 19

Afternoon Tea

Fridays 3 – 4:30 pm

Gather with friends in the glass-enclosed Pavilion to enjoy a pot of warm tea with an eye-catching assortment of delightful bites that fuse traditional and seasonal flavors.

September 19, November 14, 2025

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Wellness and Movement

The Way of an Athlete

A Special Event with Kerri Walsh Jennings

Kerri Walsh Jennings leads a sport’s clinic at Grace Farms earlier in the year. Photo by Jacek-Dolata.

Saturday, November 1, 2025, 3 pm

Join us at Grace Farms for The Way of an Athlete, featuring three-time Olympic Gold Medalist and five-time Olympian Kerri Walsh Jennings. This dynamic experience will immerse participants in the world of elite athletics, mindset mastery, and personal growth.

Move with Grace Farms x lululemon

Monthly 10:30 am – 12 pm

Restore and ignite the energy needed to live a more balanced life during monthly movement classes developed in collaboration with local lululemon ambassadors.

September 20, November 15, 2025

Yoga and Movement with Pilin Anice

Monthly 10:30 – 12 pm

Experience movement and music in the light-filled Court with renowned mindfulness and wellness expert, Pilin Anice.

September 6, October 4, 2025

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Culinary Experiences

Join Grace Farms Pastry Chef and Educator Leah Jones for educational and interactive explorations of the complex ways in which food intersects with our lives.

Mocktails

Thursdays 6:30 – 7:30 pm

Follow Chef Leah’s recipes to create three seasonal beverages from ingredients inspired by Grace Farms Tea & Coffee, while discovering connections between food, culture, and community.

September 11, November 6, 2025

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Weekly Children and Family Programs

All Ages

Imagination Playground Returning September 2025, children can build skills, solve problems, and make friends in the Court using an innovative system of large-scale, lightweight blocks designed to encourage fun and learning through curiosity-driven play. For ages 8 and under with adult caregivers.

Bunny Book Group

Fridays Up to 5 yrs

Listen to stories from our curated collection of books and take part in an arts and crafts activity.

Studio Beginnings

Thursdays Ages 1 – 5

Inspired by the River building and the surrounding landscapes, these mornings in the art studio encourage our youngest builders, designers, and artists to think, play, create, and experiment with texture, form, line, color, and space.

Open Arts Studio

Thursdays and Saturdays Ages 4 – 11

Open Arts Studio is a site-responsive creative exploration for younger audiences to engage in open-ended inquiry and reflect on the building, its shapes and designs, and its ideas.

Materials Studio

Tuesdays and Wednesdays Ages 4 – 11

Families are invited to learn about the unique properties of the different materials in With Every Fiber and through art making, imagine new applications for them.

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About Grace Farms

Grace Farms is a cultural and humanitarian center located in New Canaan, CT.

We bring together people across sectors to explore nature, arts, justice, community, and faith at the SANAA-designed River building on 80 acres of publicly accessible, preserved natural landscape.

Grace Farms, with its open architecture, breaks down barriers between people and sectors and invites conversation, curiosity, and proximities. This collaborative approach to comprehensively address humanitarian issues and generate new outcomes is reflected across all of our initiatives and the place of Grace Farms.

Membership

Grace Farms Membership offers deeper connection with the surrounding landscape and community, while supporting our mission to create more grace and peace the world, which includes the work of the Design for Freedom movement to eliminate forced labor in the building materials supply chain as well as the ongoing preservation of the River building and its surrounding 80 acres.

Members enjoy discounts on retail, dining, and programs, and dining, a gift from Grace Farms Tea & Coffee, and early or complimentary access to select programs.

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

Sign-up for our newsletter

Follow us

@gracefarmsct #gracefarms

Grace Farms, known for its boundary-defying culture, invites artists and leaders across sectors to push boundaries that often result in unprecedented outcomes including Grace Farms’ Design for Freedom, a global movement to eliminate forced and child labor from the built environment.

As part of its 10^th Anniversary Season, sponsored by JPMorganChase, that opened on September 13, Grace Farms unveiled a new permanent sculpture, ParaPosition, 2024 by Alicja Kwade. Kwade, who started a residency in Rome two days prior, joined Chief Strategic Officer and Founding Creative Director, Chelsea Thatcher, at Grace Farms for a conversation about her inspiration and the sculpture’s dialogue with our site and mission. The conversation was followed by a special reception. (Feature photo by Melani Lust)

Chief Strategic Officer and Founding Creative Director, Chelsea Thatcher, joined artist Alicja Kwade on stage in the Sanctuary for a conversation about her inspiration for ParaPosition. 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,” said Sharon Prince, Grace Farms CEO and Founder. At Grace Farms, we seek new outcomes on pressing humanitarian issues by breaking down silos and facilitating dialogue across sectors.”

The permanent work of this Berlin-based artist – internationally known for sculpture, expansive public installation, film, and photography – joins an illustrious group of artists and performers from the world’s finest London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) to Meredith Monk, who “has mapped a world that never quite existed in the history of the arts, says The New Yorker. Every artist, musician, and performer invited to Grace Farms has offered new perspectives and left their indelible mark.

Thatcher has been responsible for mapping the artistic and cultural vision at Grace Farms. “Heading into our tenth year, I continue to see this as a unique opportunity to be part of building Grace Farms into a vision for grace and peace in the world. … And I believe culture can be a strong force in the connections, community, and communication that are so critical to that end,” Thatcher said in a recent interview with Bedford & New Canaan Magazine.

Besides LPO and Monk, Thatcher has brought other world-class performances to Grace Farms including NYC Ballet, Gallim Dance – a contemporary dance company that celebrates human connection, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and Carrie Mae Weems, “perhaps our best contemporary photographer … rewriting the rules on image-making, says The New York Times. Thatcher also curates Grace Farms’ long-term exhibits including Peace Forest, an immersive installation inspired by nature, highlighting how the landscape, architecture, and people at Grace Farms are part of the Foundation’s mission, while With Every Fiber  “aims to inspire understanding and care about the materials that make up the built world around us and highlight the possibility for innovation in the space,” Thatcher says.

“I’m trying to see what reality is for me, and what it is for us all.” — Alicja Kwade, ArtReview

While Weems is rewriting the rules on image-making, Kwade is challenging our perception of our place in the universe. “Ms. Kwade, 40, has become known in recent years for her sculptures that seem to test or bend the laws of physics and that explore broader questions about the nature of reality and our position within the universe, according to a 2019 New York Times article.

When visitors encounter ParaPosition at Grace Farms, the sculpture will likely evoke questions about our place on this planet, as well as implore us to expand our perspective, as Prince suggests. 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. The substantial stones, with their immense weight, appear to defy gravity in an almost weightless balancing act. The chair beckons viewers to reflect on our relationship with the world and contemplate the fundamental nature of our existence.

“From the moment I release the work from my studio, I’m not there to tell people what to think. It should do something. It should touch you in some way. If it’s just pure beauty, that’s okay.” — Alicja Kwade, Cultured Magazine

Kwade’s installations have been featured at major U.S. museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met) in New York, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C., and the List Center at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts. 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).

ParaPosition in Grace Farms’ North Field that overlook the expansive meadows and woodlands. Photo by Dean Kaufman

ParaPosition, situated in the north field of Grace Farms — is the highest point of the preserved landscape that overlooks the Sanctuary, acres of natural woodlands and meadows. The glass-enclosed Sanctuary, used for panel discussions, lectures, world-class musical performances, and more, allows for a 360-degree view of Grace Farms nearly 80-acre preserve.

“Alicja’s work packs a wallop.  She pushes materials to a limit, working with engineers to the edge of ‘you can’t do that’ and challenging the system … to understand reality.” — Pedro Alonzo, curator

Below are excerpts from their discussion, edited for clarity:

I developed ParaPosition from a series I started about seven years ago.

And I kind of literally tried to work against gravitation, to do the impossible: to bring up things we know as being down. It was also about thinking of the universe, what surrounds us, what flies above us, and where our feet are grounded. I developed it for my mid-career show in the Netherlands, but I was very glad it found a new home.

Because an art piece itself, of course it’s very much differently seen in different environment but still it’s an art piece on its own and I’m very glad how different again it appears in this landscape here.

Chelsea Thatcher

 ______________________

About Grace Farms

Grace Farms is a cultural and humanitarian center in New Canaan, Connecticut that brings people together across sectors to explore nature, arts, justice, community, and faith at the SANAA-designed River building and Barns on 80 acres of publicly accessible natural landscape. Since opening in 2015, Grace Farms has welcomed 1 million visitors from around the world to experience its unique integration of arts, architecture, nature, and purpose.

As a destination for arts and culture, Grace Farms presents innovative programming in music, visual and performing arts while fostering contemplation and connection through architecture and nature. Its humanitarian work includes leading the Design for Freedom movement to eliminate forced labor in the building materials supply chain and advancing initiatives to foster more grace and peace locally and globally.

The integration of cultural programming and humanitarian action reflects Grace Farms’ collaborative approach to generating new outcomes and meaningful change.

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.

Sign-up for our newsletter

Follow us

@gracefarmsct #gracefarms

Climate Week NYC, which occurs every year in New York City during the second week of the U.N. General Assembly, brings together global leaders from business, tech, politics, academia, nonprofits and civil society, to propose bold action to address climate change. The increased risks to human health and safety from extreme weather is forcing people from their homes in search of work and more habitable environments. This migration makes them more vulnerable to forced labor and trafficking.

Grace Farms’ Design for Freedom recognizes the interrelatedness of climate change and forced labor. The built environment accounts for nearly 40% of global greenhouse gas emissions and consumes a third of global energy, according to Building Materials and the Climate: Constructing a New Future, a report by UNEP, Yale Center for Ecosystems + Architecture, and the Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction (GlobalABC).

Ethical decarbonization, a new industry-wide term that emerged from Design for Freedom’s work, acknowledges the direct and inseparable relationship between the carbon in our building materials linked to climate change and the suffering of forced labor in extracting and manufacturing building materials.

Sharon Prince, CEO and Founder of Grace Farms, will attend Climate Week’s important discussions, especially as it relates to the built environment and the finance sector and their roles in climate change. On July 15, Prince was part of a prestigious panel that addressed the crucial role the financial industry can play in creating a more ethical, sustainable, and even innovative future. Besides Prince, panelists included representatives from Patagonia, Tony’s Chocolonely, Verité, Freedom Fund, IBM, and Nasreen Sheikh, modern slavery survivor and Founder of the Empowerment Collective and Local Women’s Handicrafts. The in-person event was held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.

Below are Prince’s full remarks:

Sharon Prince addresses the prestigious panel along with Nasreen Sheikh, Founder of the Empowerment Collective and Local Women’s Handicrafts; Wendy Savage, Senior Director, Social Impact & Transparency at Patagonia; Declan Croucher, Senior Director, Advisory & Chief Commercial Officer at Verité; Erin Phelps, Senior Adviser to the CEO at the Freedom Fund, and Aidaly Sosa Walker, Tony’s Chocolonely VP of Marketing USA & CA.

The financial industry is critical to creating a more ethical, sustainable, and even innovative future. Let’s stop accepting the ‘slavery discount.’ Let’s create a future where the buildings we build tell a story of dignity, not exploitation. — Sharon Prince

Good afternoon, I’m Sharon Prince, CEO and Founder of Grace Farms, a cultural and humanitarian center in New Canaan, Connecticut. We bring people together in a hopeful space on 80 acres free and open to the public, partly to address some of the most pressing humanitarian issues of our time, including modern slavery and human rights abuses.

Tony’s Chocolonely VP of Marketing USA & CA, Aidaly Sosa Walker, with Sharon Prince, CEO and Founder of Grace Farms. They were both part of a prestigious panel that addressed the crucial role the financial industry can play in creating a more ethical, sustainable, and innovative future. It was held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.

Our work through leading the Design for Freedom movement focuses on one of the most overlooked areas of exploitation in the global economy: the building materials supply chain. While the construction sector is addressing environmental sustainability, it has been given a labor transparency pass on its colossal supply chain.

“Are our buildings ethically sourced, as well as sustainably designed?”

The central question we ask is: “Are our buildings ethically sourced, as well as sustainably designed?” Today, it is nearly impossible to claim a construction project is free of forced or child labor—because the vast global supply chain behind building materials is opaque, fragmented, and largely unchecked for worker exploitation.

Forced labor is embedded at the very beginning of the construction process—in the extraction and production of materials like steel, timber, copper, concrete, and solar panels. Addressing job site labor is only half the equation.

Grace Farms is playing a key convening role across sectors, including the financial sector—partnering with those with lived experience, like my fellow panelist Nasreen Sheikh. Just as the food and fashion industries were called to account, shelter—our third human essential—must now be next.

Sharon Prince, CEO and Founder of Grace Farms, with Nasreen Sheikh, modern slavery survivor and Founder of the Empowerment Collective and Local Women’s Handicrafts, outside the United Nations’ plaza in New York City.

Our relationship with FAST goes back more than eight years and in many ways, FAST was created at Grace Farms. We partnered with the UN University and the Permanent Mission of Liechtenstein to co-host a convening to disrupt financial ties to human trafficking which led to the proposal of 25 specific recommendations that were published in a UNU workshop report. This work followed a convening and report “Fighting Human Trafficking in Conflict: 10 Ideas for Action by the United Nations Security Council,” leading to the passage of UN Security Council Resolution 2331. Both were co-hosted at Grace Farms with a multi-sectoral approach.

As conflict increases globally, hundreds of billions will be spent on reconstruction. We have a choice: either we finance and rebuild with transparency and legality—or brutal exploitation will accelerate.

The uncomfortable truth is that modern slavery is sustained and even exacerbated by our existing financial systems. 

The uncomfortable truth is that modern slavery is sustained and even exacerbated by our existing financial systems.  There is currently no agreement of decision-critical human rights metrics for the investment sector. It is therefore often difficult for investors to introduce and monitor human rights measures and impact.

Even so, most construction projects are financed in some manner creating a tremendous opportunity for the financial sector to de-risk exploitation, normalize fair labor inputs, and accelerate innovation at the same time.  The financial sector, particularly sustainable and digital financing, holds a unique position of influence to determine which projects are financed. The use of big data and other innovative technologies can drive fair labor inputs which we demonstrate in our interoperability chart aligning with the phases of a construction project.

When speaking with industry leaders about sourcing ethically, they often ask, “Will this cost me more or delay my project?” My question is, “Are you okay with accepting the slavery discount?” Because right now, the exploitation of workers is effectively subsidizing our returns on investment.

Globally, forced labor is estimated to generate $63 billion annually by exploiting 28 million people.

The scale is staggering. Globally, forced labor is estimated to generate $63 billion annually by exploiting 28 million people. Construction, worth $13 trillion annually, is the largest consumer of raw materials. The global construction materials market was valued at $1.32 trillion in 2023 and is expected to grow to $1.73 trillion by 2030.  That scale is our greatest challenge—and our greatest opportunity to shift the marketplace.

The Design for Freedom movement is organized around three core principles:

1. Find and Address Embedded Forced Labor – Know where your materials come from and how they are made.
2. Pursue Ethical Decarbonization – Align sustainability with human rights, so that we’re not trading one form of harm for another.
3. Prioritize Circularity – Shorten supply chains, which reduces the risk of exploitation at the extractives.

Our Design for Freedom Report issued in 2020 identified a dozen building materials at high risk for forced labor, including steel, copper, timber, solar panels, concrete, rubber, textiles and electronics. Many of these materials come from remote regions with weak protections and corruption, where workers have little voice in their labor conditions.

Our new Design for Freedom International Guidance & Toolkit, soon to also be released in Vietnamese, offers practical tools aligned with UN Guiding Principles and OECD frameworks.

Our Design for Freedom Working Group includes nearly 100 leaders across the ecosystem of the built environment. We’ve launched pilot projects with burgeoning teams—owners, architects, construction firms—actively working to address embedded labor risk from the demand and supply side, including large scale suppliers — Assa Abloy and Shaw Floors.  Two ongoing projects examples are the University of Virginia’s Karsh School of Democracy to The Brij 1million sq. foot project in New Delhi. This is where the financial sector can step in—applying new data and tech to projects in real time.

We’ve also partnered with AceLab to integrate Design for Freedom principles into their AI-powered Materials Hub—helping architects prioritize delivery, sustainability and human rights requirements in procurement. AI is being trained on real project data from leaders like SHoP, BIG and Bloomberg to create an industry-specific ethical framework.

We advise investors to require fair labor audits of high-risk materials and to include ethical labor standards in the Owner’s Project Requirements (OPR).  Product certifications like FSC and PEFC wood added core (fair) labor requirements to their environmental chain of custody audits—thus providing a double benefit to the increase in pricing to owners.

Construction is responsible for 50% of global resource extraction, 40% of solid waste and 37% of global carbon emissions.

Embracing circularity in construction directly reduces environmental and worker exploitation risks. Construction is responsible for 50% of global resource extraction, 40% of solid waste and 37% of global carbon emissions. By identifying and reusing existing building materials, we cut emissions and protect labor rights. Some building materials—like interior textiles—overlap with sectors where transparency has already advanced.

Grace Farms Tea & Coffee, a Certified B Corp, and the only premium tea brand in the U.S. certified by Fair Trade International donates 100% of profits to support Design for Freedom. We now distribute in 26 Whole Foods and serve corporate partners like Google and JPMorgan. With more profits, we can invest in more research – we seeded a DFF project with Stanford University to scientifically determine labor’s fingerprint in concrete.

Construction has thin margins and is one of the least modernized sectors in which innovation continues to be stymied.  When you drive costs lower without examining materials, you raise human cost and limit innovation. Take one example – solar panels. When prices are artificially depressed through exploitative labor, market incentives for research and development disappear.

Every building tells a story of humanity—either of dignity or exploitation.

By incorporating ethical labor standards into investment decisions, we can ensure that every building, every material, and every project reflects the dignity of workers.

The financial industry is critical to creating a more ethical, sustainable, and even innovative future. Let’s stop accepting the “slavery discount.” Let’s create a future where the buildings we build tell a story of dignity, not exploitation.

Thank you.

To watch the panel discussion: https://lnkd.in/eucvjaT9

(feature photo, United Nations)

_____________________

More about Sharon Prince

Learn more about Prince and why Fast Company named this CEO to its list of the Most Creative People in Business 2022: For Cleaning up Construction.

_____________________

About Grace Farms

Grace Farms is a cultural and humanitarian center located in New Canaan, CT.

We bring together people across sectors to explore nature, arts, justice, community, and faith at the SANAA-designed River building on 80 acres of publicly accessible, preserved natural landscape.

Grace Farms, with its open architecture, breaks down barriers between people and sectors and invites conversation, curiosity, and proximities. This collaborative approach to comprehensively address humanitarian issues and generate new outcomes is reflected across all of our initiatives and the place of 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.

Sign-up for our newsletter

Follow us

@gracefarmsct #gracefarms

Our approach to our landscape is: Restoration, Exploration and Preservation. One thing we really pay attention to is the natural systems that have worked for millions of years – Director of Horticulture, Kimberly Kelly

Green lacewings and ground beetles don’t normally come to mind when thinking about beneficial insects. We’re likely more dazzled by their more colorful and bold counterparts such as the butterfly, firefly, and the adorable ladybug.

The restoration of Grace Farms’ nearly 80 acres of natural landscape provides a thriving habitat for beneficial insects.

Wondrous as these scene-stealing beneficial insects are, there is an amazing cast of other useful insects. The list is long considering the estimated 10 quintillion insects (10 plus 17 zeroes) on the plant, according to Cornell’s College of Agriculture and Life Science. Insects mostly get “bad press” because mosquitoes can spread malaria, and invasive pests can devastate forests, gardens and crops. “But it’s not just the bees we couldn’t live without. In addition to pollinating flowers and farmlands, beneficial insects help control agricultural pests and are critical in maintaining balanced natural ecosystems.”

The 10 quintillion insects represent about 80% of the world’s species, “making them the most diverse group of animals in our world,” adds Cornell. While this may seem like an unlimited supply, insects are declining around the world at an alarming rate, according to the nonprofit Earth.org. “The main causes of insect population decline include pesticide use, habitat destruction, climate change, pollution, and invasive species.”

Some causes include:

• Monocultures and manicured landscapes reduce nectar sources, shelter, and breeding sites, making it difficult for insects to survive.

• Rising temperatures, shifts in rainfall patterns, and increased frequency of extreme weather events is disrupting insect life cycles and the availability of food sources.

• Invasive species, defined by a population of non-native species that cause ecological and economic harm.

Why Protect and Create Habitats for Beneficial Insects?

One of their most important roles is pollination: About 75% of flowering plants rely on pollinators such as birds, butterflies, bettles, and even flies, while nearly 35% of global crop production rely on insect pollination, adds Earth.org. Losing the insects that pollinate our plants “would have catastrophic repercussions on both wild plant reproduction and food systems, impacting natural biodiversity, human nutrition, and agricultural economies.”

Besides reducing or eliminating our reliance on artificial pesticides and fertilizers, practicing ethical and sustainable land stewardship such as the restoration of natural habitats and the use of native plants can help mitigate invasive plant and insect species from taking over. In New England, alone, there are at least several invasive insects that can threaten New England’s ecosystems and landscapes. They include the Emerald Ash Borer, Asian Longhorned Beetle, Spotted Lanternfly, and the Spongy Moth, to name a few, which can cause severe damage to forests and agriculture, according to Connecticut’s Department of Energy & Environmental Protection.

In a recent New York Times article, Evelyn Beaury, assistant curator at the New York Botanical Garden’s Center for Conservation and Restoration Ecology, said we need to be proactive rather than wait for the onslaught of invasive species. “It’s so much easier to do something about an invasion when it’s in an early stage. Your chances of success are much higher.”

 Grace Farms’ Approach to Biodiversity & Sustainability

Since opening in October 2015, Grace Farms has become a model of ethical and sustainable land stewardship. Some of the milestones include converting 70% of mowed lawn, a monoculture species that lacks ecological diversity, into 10 biodiverse habitats including woodlands and meadows. The installation of thousands of native plants and grasses has significantly enhanced our biodiversity. In addition to caring for over 2,000 trees that represent 50 different tree species, in 2024, our Director of Horticulture, Kimberly Kelly, and her team sowed 18 pounds of native grasses and pollinator plants. These seeds have the potential to generate over 3 million various species of native grasses. The on-going effort to foster and preserve biodiverse habitats attracts beneficial insects, providing a variety of plants for food and shelter, which helps keep pest populations down without the need for pesticides and other harmful environmental chemicals.

The meadows at Grace Farms provide shelter and food for all wildlife, as well as inspiration for visiting environmentalists and artists.

To share our practices, Grace Farms’ Director of Horticulture and our Education Team, have developed a series of hands-on learning experiences for people of all ages and backgrounds. Below are highlights of the learning events through the summer season.

Grace Farms Events

Pop-up Talk | Caterpillar Compass

Wednesday, July 30, 11:00 am – 11:30 am (series)

This 15-minute pop-up talk introduces the Caterpillar Compass, an interactive field guide bringing families with young visitors on an outdoor adventure to discover the incredible lives of caterpillars and butterflies.

Caterpillar Compass, which comes with a compass and booklet, guides visitors around the natural landmarks that shelter butterflies and caterpillars. At special stopping points, the guide offers prompts where children can write, draw, or talk to a friend about what they see.

You can also pick up a self-guided booklet at the Noticing Nature pop-up talk in the Commons.

Magnifying Small Wonders

Thursday, August 21, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm

This facilitated family-friendly program will explore the hidden, and surprisingly beautiful, life of insects and nature. Using magnifying tools, equipment, and high resolution micrography, nature enthusiasts of all ages will encounter caterpillars, butterflies, and other amazing insects and natural specimens. Participants will explore the world we cannot see on our own where the ordinary becomes the extraordinary and experience the awe of nature’s small wonders.

Recommended for ages 8 and up.

Kimberly Kelly, Director of Horticulture, as well as our Education Team, helps visitors discover the wonders of nature all around us.

Learning with Nature | Look at Butterfly Life

Saturday, August 23, 11:00 am – 12:00 pm

Butterflies have captured the human imagination with their vibrant colors and daytime activity, symbolizing transformation and beauty. The magnificent patterns found on butterfly wings make these insects a wonder to behold. In this indoor-and-outdoor workshop for all ages, we will learn about how butterflies indicate a healthy ecosystem, look at host plants for caterpillars, and enjoy summer moments watching butterflies in the landscape.

Small Wonders to Discover and Why We Need Them

Ladybugs

The unmistakable ladybug, often identified by their vibrant colors and spotted wings, also known as ladybird beetles or lady beetles, are among the beneficial insects due to their voracious appetite for harmful insects such as aphids: The gentle ladybug can consume up to 50 a day, according to Earth Day 2025. Aphids feed on a plant’s sap, causing damage to its leaves, stems, and flowers. The hard-to-see aphid leaves behind a sticky clear paste called honeydew, which can promote the growth of sooty mold, causing further harm to the plant and attracting other pests like ants that like to feed on its sweet sap.

“Beyond their pest control abilities, ladybugs also serve as essential biodiversity indicators. Their presence in an ecosystem is a sign of a healthy and diverse environment. Ladybugs not only provide benefits to humans but also serve as a vital food source for other insects, insects, birds, and small mammals.”

Ground beetles

Ground beetles are more elusive than ladybugs, preferring to emerge at night to feed on insects and slugs in the garden that can decimate plant foliage. In their search for food, they are also good soil aerators and help with drainage and nutrient cycling. The University of Maryland Extension offers suggestions to support this nocturnal insect.

• Avoid practices that disturb soil fauna such as frequent tillage.

• Bare earth does not provide the best protection against the cold, so cutting back your plants before or during the winter can be harmful to ground beetles.

• Establishing stretches of perennial grasses called “beetle banks” is a common technique used to increase ground beetle numbers on farms in many places around the world.

• Create sheltered spaces for ground beetles to hind underneath such as large stones, logs, or brush piles. In addition to helping ground beetles, creating sheltered habitats and leaving ground cover over the soil can also help other beneficial insects.

Green Lacewings 

The University also highlights why the most-common green lacewings are popular because they are also  “excellent predators of aphids.” “Even hatching larvae will eat anything they encounter including mites and ants foraging on plants – a “major predator of lacewing eggs and larvae.”

The benefits of these beneficial insects can’t be overstated. For many of us, regardless of location, you’ll likely seeing the dreaded spotted lanternfly, an invasive pest from Asia which was first detected in the U.S. in 2014 and has “spread across at least 18 states, causing significant damage to vineyards, orchards and nursery industries,” according to a recent Penn State article. Penn State, which is conducting more research on its natural predictors, said in the article: “By leveraging natural enemies already in the environment, we hope to develop a sustainable, low-impact approach to managing this invasive species that will complement other control methods.”

In our learning series, visitors will discover some of the hidden wonders of insects and how we can all support nature’s beneficial insects. “You don’t need to order beneficials from a garden catalog; most are already present in your garden. Your job is to give them the food, water, and shelter they need to thrive, and they will reward you by patrolling your garden,” says the University of California’s Agriculture and Natural Resources.

All of this, protecting our beneficial inspects and the environment comes down to the choices we make, Kelly reminds us. Our choices change as we grow, and yes, some are not always the best. “Who knew that many plants marketed as little as 15 years ago as great landscape choices would become invasive species?” she said in one of our recent Perspectives, The Choices We Make.

“But there are times when we need to take a good hard look at our own practices.”

______________________

About Grace Farms

Grace Farms is a cultural and humanitarian center located in New Canaan, CT.

We bring together people across sectors to explore nature, arts, justice, community, and faith at the SANAA-designed River building on 80 acres of publicly accessible, preserved natural landscape.

Grace Farms, with its open architecture, breaks down barriers between people and sectors and invites conversation, curiosity, and proximities. This collaborative approach to comprehensively address humanitarian issues and generate new outcomes is reflected across all of our initiatives and the place of 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.

Sign-up for our newsletter

Follow us

@gracefarmsct #gracefarms

“Nature holds the answers, if we learn to listen.”

— Joy Harjo, 23rd U.S. Poet Laureate, a featured guest at our 8th annual benefit

For centuries, dragonflies have mesmerized us with their distinct, unpredictable, and performative dance, so much so, it makes us pause to watch their darting movements or sudden decision to hover over another insect who is unexpectedly on the menu.

Dragonflies are known for their ferocious appetites and hunting skills, aided by the unique independent rotation of each of their four wings, which allows these ancient insects to fly backwards and hover in an instant, according to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. In this episode of PBS Terra, What Makes Dragonflies So Extraordinary, entomologist Jessica Ware takes us on a journey to discover “why dragonflies are the strongest flyers in the insect world—reaching speeds of up to 30 mph and among the few animals that can hover.” This incredible dragonfly-like insect, she says, ruled the skies even before bats and birds.

Besides their performative characteristics, dragonflies are a sign of biodiversity, serving as an indicator of environmental change, both good and bad. They spend one to two years of their lives as aquatic nymphs –more depending on the species – that require good water quality to survive before they morph into the magnificent dragonfly, according to the National Biodiversity Data Centre.

Our Director of Horticulture, Kimberly Kelly, leads a nature tour at Grace Farms.

Grace Farms visitors will have a front-row opportunity to learn more about nature’s masters of the skies with our Director of Horticulture Kimberly Kelly. During Learning with Nature | Walk with Dragonflies, on Saturday, Saturday, July 26, from 11:00 am to 12:00 pm, Kelly will take participants on a guided summer walk to experience the awe and wonder of this ancient creature that has been around for over 300 million years. “Their eyes are the largest and possibly the keenest in the insect world, a pair of giant spheres each built of some 30,000 pixel-like facets that together take up pretty much the entire head,” according to an article in The New York Times, citing scientists’ research on dragonfly’s brain, eyes and wings that allow it to hunt so efficiently.

During the month of July, in particular, dragonflies rule the skies. If it weren’t for their vibrant, jewel-toned bodies and wings – saturated colors of blue, green, red and purple – you might miss their dazzling performances that are only on display for a few months, at best. According to the Smithsonian Magazine, the majority of their lives are spent in the water and at the end of its larval stage, the  dragonfly crawls out of the water. Its exoskeleton cracks open releasing its abdomen and its four wings where its body “dries and hardens over the next several hours.”

But pay extra attention during this time because as an adult their life span is brief, “typically only one to three weeks, though some make it more than two months,” cites the Smithsonian. Their exquisite movements are a wonder to witness.

Benefits of Dragonflies

Dragonflies can consume hundreds of mosquitoes a day, helping to reduce mosquito populations, in addition to the bothersome horse flies. As an “indicator species,” scientists monitor certain insects, animals, and plants that serve as biodiversity gauges of the soil, water, and air. Besides the dragonfly, frogs and other amphibians are also sensitive to environmental changes due to their thin skin that can sense impurities in the water, according to Smithsonian Gardens. If these indicators species are abundant in the environment, it’s a good sign of biodiversity, while if these species are in decline it’s a sign to look for changes in the environment and what’s behind the decline.

Grace Farms has restored nearly 80 acres of land, turning Grace Farms into 10 bio-diverse habitats. The bio-diversity attracts pollinators including butterflies, bees, and more.

Fostering Biodiversity

At Grace Farms, we’ve restored nearly 80 acres of land, turning Grace Farms into 10 bio-diverse habitats including native meadows, woodlands, and ponds. Grace Farms is now a Certified Wildlife Habitat Garden, Certified Monarch Waystation, Member of the Xerces Society Pollinator Protection Plan, and a founding member of the New Canaan chapter of the Pollinator Pathway. Our stewardship efforts have turned Grace Farms into a model of biodiversity, where the public can learn hands-on through our year-long educational facilitated by our Director of Horticulture Kimberly Kelly, butterfly expert, and President of the International Association of Butterfly and Exhibitors & Suppliers (IABES) and our Education team.

Below are highlights from our on-going stewardship:

• 3 million + various species of native grasses populated our meadow after sowing 18 pounds of native grasses and pollinator plants in 2024
• 2,000 + trees representing 50 different species are a part of Grace Farms’ biodiversity
• 70% of our landscape was converted from mowed lawn to natural meadows
• 140 + species of birds brought back to the area, including the American kestrel, North America’s smallest falcon.

Besides fostering bio-diversity at Grace Farms, installing nesting boxes has help bring the American Kestrel back to the area.

Highlights of Nature-Based Summer Programs

Saturday, July 12, Learning with Nature: Make an Herb Garden 11 am – 12 pm

Come to the Garden at Grace Farms for a hands-on class that connects families with nature. Learn basic gardening skills and imagine starting your own container or backyard herb garden. This class will naturally spark interest and embolden beginner gardeners to grow, cut and cook with their own homegrown herbs!

Each participant will take home an herb to start a garden

The 1,450-square-foot Community Garden grows an array of vegetables and herbs. This open classroom provides a hands-on learning experience.

Saturday, July 26, Learning with Nature: Walk with Dragonflies 11:00 am – 12:00 pm

Dragonflies have been around for over 300 million years and are still considered nature’s masters of the sky. With the ability to fly over 30 miles per hour, dragonflies are one of the fastest flying insects in the world. Follow Grace Farms Director of Horticulture Kimberly Kelly on a guided summer walk to experience the awe and wonder of the natural world, dragonflies and all.

Saturday, August 9, Learning with Nature: Extending the Harvest 11 am – 12 pm

Join us in the Garden to learn which crops to sow for fall harvest, as well as methods of extending the growing season with winter hoops, row covers, and fall plantings. Stroll through the vegetable beds to discover ways to overwinter plants and learn about the variety of cover crops that can aid in preparing the garden for next year.

Thursday, August 21, Magnifying Small Wonders 1 – 3 pm

This facilitated family-friendly program will explore the hidden, and surprisingly beautiful, life of insects and nature. Using magnifying tools, equipment, and high resolution micrography, nature enthusiasts of all ages will encounter caterpillars, butterflies, and other amazing insects and natural specimens. Participants will explore the world we cannot see on our own where the ordinary becomes the extraordinary, and experience the awe of nature’s small wonders.

Recommended for ages 8 and up.

Saturday, 23, Learning with Nature: Look at Butterfly

Butterflies have captured the human imagination with their vibrant colors and daytime activity, symbolizing transformation and beauty. The magnificent patterns found on butterfly wings make these insects a wonder to behold. In this indoor-and-outdoor workshop for all ages, we will learn about how butterflies indicate a healthy ecosystem, look at host plants for caterpillars, and enjoy summer moments watching butterflies in the landscape.

Our on-going restoration of Grace Farms’ meadows serves as a haven for our essential pollinators.

Amazing Butterflies Exhibit

Daily – end of August

Navigate the extraordinary metamorphosis of butterflies through an interactive maze and traveling exhibit in the Grace Farms Court, created by The Natural History Museum in London in collaboration with Minotaur Mazes. Adventure through the leaves, learn how to move like a caterpillar, discover an ant that reaps the reward of an unusual friendship, then transform into a butterfly and take flight! This wonderful exhibit offers interactive experiences centered around the butterfly life cycle. Step outside and you might spot live butterflies fluttering through our blooming meadows! Daily

About Grace Farms

Grace Farms is a cultural and humanitarian center located in New Canaan, CT.

We bring together people across sectors to explore nature, arts, justice, community, and faith at the SANAA-designed River building on 80 acres of publicly accessible, preserved natural landscape.

Grace Farms, with its open architecture, breaks down barriers between people and sectors and invites conversation, curiosity, and proximities. This collaborative approach to comprehensively address humanitarian issues and generate new outcomes is reflected across all of our initiatives and the place of 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.

Sign-up for our newsletter

Follow us

@gracefarmsct #gracefarms

“Our first commitment was to conserve these 80 acres and 10 biodiverse habitats that were slated to be broken up into 10 large parcels.” – Sharon Prince

Designing with Purpose

Ecological landscaping is more than a trend—it’s a vital approach to mitigating climate change. By using native plants and practicing ethical land stewardship, we can restore balance to natural systems. Kimberly Kelly, our Director of Horticulture, reminds us that “it’s about the choices we make—down to the nourishment of our soil.” In The Choices We Make, she calls on us to reflect on our own practices and their ecological impact. Throughout the summer season, Grace Farms invites the public to learn more about ecological landscaping, including this Saturday, 11:00 am – 12:00 pm. Check our events calander for on-going nature-based events; here’s  highlights of our nature-based events throughout August.

Kimberly Kelly, our Director of Horticulture, often leads visitors on tours of the meadows and natural landscape to teach about biodiversity at Grace Farms.

Over time, land management has evolved from a “do-no-harm” stance to a more intentional collaboration with nature. Today, there’s a movement to work with nature’s rhythms, along with ethical and sustainable land management to restore biodiversity.

Understanding Biodiversity

“Biodiversity is all the different kinds of life you’ll find in one area—the variety of animals, plants, fungi, and even microorganisms… These organisms work together in ecosystems, like an intricate web, to maintain balance and support life.” – World Wildlife Fund

Taking these concepts into consideration, Kelly explains that advocating for less turf grass and more meadows, for instance, not only benefits the environment—it improves our health and the well-being of the planet. Over the years, the practice of turning lawn, a single species plant, into a meadow using a variety of native plants and grasses, has taken hold. A recent BBC article, explains why “turning lawns into meadows can have big benefits for people, wildlife and the climate” and why “‘meadowscaping’ has become the latest gardening craze.”

Larry Weaner Landscape Associates, the award-winning design quoted in this article, returned 70% of Grace Farms’ mowed areas back to natural meadows. Landscape architecture firm OLIN, also working with the architects at SANAA, helped transform the former horse farm into open spaces composed of woodlands and natural habitats.

Grace Farms: A Living Model

Our commitment to ecological and ethical land practices has led to measurable impacts. For instance, the number of bird species located on Grace Farms increased from 40 to over 120 bird species, including the return of the American Kestrel—North America’s smallest falcon—thanks in part to our installation of nesting boxes. Once considered “threatened,” this species has rebounded due to efforts like these, with statewide nesting box projects playing a crucial role in population recovery, according to Audubon Connecticut.

We invite visitors of all ages on birdwatching tours throughout Grace Farms’ 80 acres of natural habitats and scenic nature trails. The American Kestrel is a small, slender falcon that is about the size of a robin. It is found in open habitats that have plenty of nesting cavities and hunting perches.

Our efforts to remove invasive species, along with the installation of thousands of native plants, have further supported pollinators and enhanced biodiversity at Grace Farms. In 2024 alone, we sowed 18 pounds of native grasses and pollinator plants—potentially yielding over 3 million individual plants that not only add to the biodiversity of Grace Farms, but its natural beauty that offers a peaceful place for reflection.

Global Impact of Biodiversity

According to the World Health Organization:

• Over 75% of global food crops depend on pollinators, contributing up to $577 billion to global agriculture.
• Forests, which store 80% of terrestrial biodiversity, absorb 2.6 billion tonnes of CO₂ annually.
• Invasive species contribute to 60% of species extinctions, causing $423 billion in global damages.
• Healthy ecosystems supply 75% of the world’s freshwater—yet since 1970, 35% of wetlands have been lost.

As biodiversity continues to decline at alarming rates—species extinction is now 10 to 100 times higher than natural rates—we recognize our responsibility to steward and share sustainable practices. “Without plants and animals, the world would not be habitable for humans.” – Reuters, COP16: From forests to oceans, nature in a dire state (2024)

We have installed thousands of native plants and grasses, creating habitats for wildlife and pollinator pathways for the butterflies.

Sustainable Design Beyond the Landscape

Building on our past LEED certifications for Building Design and Construction (BD+C) of the River building and Barns, and Operations and Maintenance (O+M), in 2024 we achieved LEED Gold for the O+M, reflecting our ongoing commitment to thoughtful stewardship and sustainable practices.

Our achievements since opening in 2015 include:

• Restoring 11 acres of our landscape to native meadows to protect the fragile ecosystem of our site.
• Reducing the heat island effect from the River building’s highly reflective roof.
• Reducing water consumption site-wide.
• Refining procurement and purchasing selections to ensure that post-consumer recycled and FSC-certified materials are selected whenever possible.
• Instituting a “full-circle” food waste program on-site to repurpose food scraps into compost that is reused in our gardens and meadows.
• Implementing erosion control measures which play an instrumental role in erosion control measures.
• Green-E Certified Renewable Energy Certificates
• Reduced waste through ongoing recycling and composting.
• Construction and use of geothermal wells.
• On-site milling and kiln-drying of trees that were cleared for construction, used to construct indoor and outdoor furniture.

Nature as a Classroom

Through our Nature’s Classroom series, we host tours, workshops, and seasonal programs led by Kimberly Kelly, who also serves as President of the International Association of Butterfly Exhibitors and Suppliers (IABES). Visitors of all ages learn about native meadows, soil ecology, and the vital role of pollinators.

Beginning this June, Grace Farms will host the Amazing Butterflies Exhibit, a family-friendly, interactive maze created by the Natural History Museum in London in collaboration with Minotaur Mazes.

Adventure through the leaves, learn how to move like caterpillar, discover an ant that reaps the reward of an unusual friendship, then transform into a butterfly and take flight!

Our Impact in Numbers

Below are the impactful highlights of on-going nature initiatives:

• 3 million + various species of native grasses populated our meadow after sowing 18 pounds of native grasses and pollinator plants
• 3,000 + visitors on average participate in nature-based programming
• 32,000 + engaged in pop-up programs created by our Education Team
• 600 + on average engage in our annual Earth Day event

A Certified Monarch Waystation

Grace Farms is recognized as a Monarch Waystation, providing vital habitats for monarch butterflies. We are also a founding partner of the New Canaan chapter of the Pollinator Pathway, a nationwide initiative creating pesticide-free public and private-property corridors for bees, butterflies, and birds.

On August 23, we invite visitors to experience the amazing life of butterflies.

“We are earth. Remember the plants, trees, animal life who all have their tribes, their families, their histories, too. Talk with them, listen to them. They are alive poems.” – Joy Harjo, 23rd U.S. Poet Laureate

Explore Our Additional Perspectives

• Butterflies in Winter
• Why Are Butterflies Important? | Kimberly Kelly
• The Choices We Make | Kimberly Kelly
• Native Meadows | A Conversation with Kimberly Kelly

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About Grace Farms Foundation

The River building at Grace Farms is embedded in nature. Nearly 80 acres of natural and diverse landscapes surround the award-winning River. (photo by Sahar Coston-Hardy)

We bring together people across sectors to explore nature, arts, justice, community, and faith at the SANAA-designed River building and Barns, on 80 acres of publicly accessible natural landscape.

Our humanitarian work to end modern slavery and foster more grace and peace in our local and global community includes leading the Design for Freedom movement to eliminate forced labor in the building materials supply chain.

This collaborative approach to comprehensively address humanitarian issues and generate new outcomes is reflected across all of our initiatives and the place of 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.

Sign-up for our newsletter

Follow us

@gracefarmsct #gracefarms

It starts with a seed. This is the opening sentence of Laura Knowles’ poetic children’s book, It Starts with a Seed, about how one seed creates much of the space we inhabit. With illustrations by Jennie Webber, this award-winning book on display in our Library, takes us on a transformational journey, from a seed to a sapling to a mature tree that nourishes the planet with oxygen, cleans the air, and provides homes for our wildlife and food for some of our pollinators.

During our annual Earth Day Celebration on April 26, we’ll explore the natural world and these essential connections across Grace Farms’ nearly 80 acres of 10 biodiverse habitats of meadows, woodlands, and wetlands. Through the diverse lenses of art, birdwatching, architecture, and more, you’ll discover nature’s interdependencies, and perhaps, reflect on our own.

Knowles and Webber leave us with hope that from one seed comes many. A mature tree then sheds seeds to start the cycle of life again. Grace Farms, known for its reflective and hopeful space,  has started many initiatives from a seed of an idea, yielding outcomes to benefit generations to come.

Below are highlights of our Earth Day Celebration, as was well as nature-based programs from May to September. In our Library, there are curated book selections based on our work in nature, arts, justice, community and faith, as well as our Design for Freedom global movement to remove forced and child labor from the building materials supply chain.

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Earth Day Celebration

Saturday, April 26, 10:00 am – 5:00 pm

Join us for our annual Earth Day Celebration, a day packed with nature-inspired learning and fun for all ages!

Connect to the natural world by exploring the native landscapes surrounding the double LEED Gold Certified River building, and attend pop-up talks, demonstrations, and experiences led by our knowledgeable educators throughout the day. Grace Farms is a Certified Wildlife Habitat Garden (National Wildlife Federation), a Certified Monarch Waystation (Monarch Watch), and a New Canaan Pollinator Pathway Community Parter.

The day’s schedule of programs is inspired by art, architecture, and nature:

10 am – 4 pm Open Arts Studio | Find the Lines
Black Locust Grove
Weave colorful yarn through trees to create a collaborative project with fellow visitors.

10 am – 12 pm Birdwatching with Frank Gallo
Court Mezzanine
Search for the wonderful bird species that call Grace Farms home.

11 am – 1 pm How to Build Bird Boxes with Kimberly Kelly and Michael Poulin
East Barn
Attend demonstrations on how to encourage birds to nest with man-made boxes.

12 – 1 pm and 3 – 4 pm Animal Embassy
West Barn Hall
Meet friendly animal ambassadors while celebrating the importance of all living things.

1 – 2 pm and 4 – 5 pm Animal Architecture
Library
Play with architectural materials that provide animals, insects, and birds building materials for their homes.

2 – 5 pm Coneflower Take-Away
East Barn
Visit an Educator to pick up a take-home plant.

3 – 5 pm Tea Mocktails
Pavilion
Sip a nature-inspired tea beverage with Tea Expert and Educator Frank Kwei.

Available All Day:
Nature Resources in the Library
Walking Trails
Art Exhibitions
Family-Friendly Court Games
Birdwatch Bingo
Letter Sticks

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May

Spring Birdwatching Walks

Saturdays, May 3, May 10, May 17, May 24, 11:00 am – 12:00 pm

Walk through scenic nature trails in search of migratory birds returning north after the winter. This walk, for birdwatchers of all experience levels, is guided by Brian O’Toole, the Visitor Service Manager for the Stamford Museum and Nature Center.

Brian O’Toole serves on the Board of Directors for the Connecticut Ornithological Association. Previously, he served as a board member for the Greenwich Audubon Society, was the compiler for the Greenwich-Stamford Christmas Bird Count as well as the paid hawk counter for the Quaker Ridge Hawkwatch for many years. He worked as a naturalist, camp counselor and store manager at the Greenwich Audubon Center and was a Visitor Services Manager at Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo. Currently he is the Visitor Services Manager at the Stamford Museum & Nature Center in Stamford, CT.

Learning with Nature | Design an Ecological Landscape

Saturday, May 10, 11:00 am – 12:00 pm

Ecological landscaping is a crucial tool in combating climate change, creating healthy built environments, and improving our quality of life.

Learn the basics of ecological landscape design and how you can apply these principles to your community or home landscape. We will explore how to work with your landscape, increase biodiversity all the while creating a more resilient low maintenance landscape. A short classroom portion will be followed by a walk of the ecological landscape of Grace Farms.

Learning with Nature

An evolution of our gardening workshops, this series invites all generations to see nature at work with Kimberly Kelly, Director of Horticulture. Through guided walks, Garden visits, and indoor instruction, connect with the purpose of the ecosystems we inhabit, the vibrant life that’s a part of it, and our role in maintaining and adding to it. This summer, Kimberly brings us meaningful ways to connect with the natural world by teaching participants to plant gardens, manage beehives, notice the life of butterflies and dragonflies, and increase biodiversity in the landscape.

Art in Nature | Bookmaking

Saturday, May 31, 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm

Join Grace Farms Assistant Director of Education and Artist Mary Janacek for a creative workshop where you’ll learn how to craft your own nature journal. Spend an afternoon making a unique hand-bound nature journal to record inspiration from the River building and surrounding 80 acres of meadows, woodlands, and other thriving habitats. This workshop will utilize basic bookbinding tools and techniques to create one-of-a-kind journals. Then, follow a guided tour of the landscape to pause to collect observations in your customized book.

Adults of all levels are welcome. Materials will be provided, but participants are encouraged to bring anything, such as papers or mark-making materials, they would like to incorporate into their project.

The Art in Nature workshop series is led by visiting artists and Grace Farms staff, inspired by the Grace Farms landscape and the Foundation’s five initiatives, with instruction, hands-on opportunities to practice new skills, and a takeaway made by each participant.

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June

Amazing Butterflies Exhibit

June – September, 10:00 am – 5:00 pm (series)

Navigate the extraordinary metamorphosis of butterflies through an interactive maze and traveling exhibit in Grace Farms’ indoor Court, created by The Natural History Museum in London in collaboration with Minotaur Mazes. Adventure through the leaves, learn how to move like caterpillar, discover an ant that reaps the reward of an unusual friendship, then transform into a butterfly and take flight!

Art in Nature | Botanical Illustrations

Saturday, June 28, 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm

Join Grace Farms Educator Grayson Kennedy for a brief tutorial on botanical illustrations and learn about how this art form has historically been used to document and educate about the stunning natural world. Walk through the landscape to seek inspiration for the subject of your final drawing, then find the perfect vantage point where you can draw freely.

The Art in Nature workshop series is led by visiting artists and Grace Farms staff, inspired by the Grace Farms landscape and the Foundation’s five initiatives, with instruction, hands-on opportunities to practice new skills, and a takeaway made by each participant.

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July

Learning with Nature | Start a Beehive

Saturday, June 14, 11:00 am – 12:00 pm

Don’t miss this summer experience!

Grace Farms is a celebrated Monarch Waystation, a place that provides monarch butterflies the resources they need to survive and reproduce. Enjoy additional programming all summer that will enhance your connection to butterflies and other winged wonders, including summer picnics, Caterpillar Compass, Magnifying Small Wonders, Open Arts Studio, Walk with Dragonflies, and Look at Butterfly Life.

Learning with Nature | Make an Herb Garden

Saturday, July 12, 11:00 am – 12:00 pm

Come to the Garden at Grace Farms for a hands-on class that connects families with nature. Learn basic gardening skills and imagine starting your own container or backyard herb garden. This class will naturally spark interest and embolden beginner gardeners to grow, cut and cook with their own homegrown herbs!

Each participant will take home an herb to start a garden.

Learning with Nature

An evolution of our gardening workshops, this series invites all generations to see nature at work with Kimberly Kelly, Director of Horticulture. Through guided walks, Garden visits, and indoor instruction, connect with the purpose of the ecosystems we inhabit, the vibrant life that’s a part of it, and our role in maintaining and adding to it. This summer, Kimberly brings us meaningful ways to connect with the natural world by teaching participants to plant gardens, manage beehives, notice the life of butterflies and dragonflies, and increase biodiversity in the landscape.

Learning with Nature | Walk with Dragonflies

Saturday, July 26, 11:00 am – 12:00 pm

Dragonflies have been around for over 300 million years and are still considered nature’s masters of the sky. Able to fly over 30 miles per hour, dragonflies are one of the fastest flying insects in the world. Follow Grace Farms Horticulture Director Kimberly Kelly on a guided summer walk to experience the awe and wonder of the natural world, dragonflies and all.

Learning with Nature

An evolution of our gardening workshops, this series invites all ages to see nature at work with Kimberly Kelly, Director of Horticulture. Through guided walks, Garden visits, and indoor instruction, connect with the purpose of the ecosystems we inhabit, the vibrant life that’s a part of it, and our role in maintaining and adding to it.

Art in Nature | Pigment Pastels

Saturday, July 26, 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm

Join artist, educator, and designer Natalie Stopka for a hands-on workshop where you’ll create your own pastels using brick, slate, and gypsum. Participants will mix their own pigments and craft unique pastels to take home.

In 2023, Stopka visited Grace Farms to host a textile workshop focused on extending the life of textiles with patches and repair techniques.

The Art in Nature workshop series is led by visiting artists and Grace Farms staff, inspired by the Grace Farms landscape and the Foundation’s five initiatives, with instruction, hands-on opportunities to practice new skills, and a takeaway made by each participant.

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August

Learning with Nature | Extend the Harvest

Saturday, August 9, 11:00 am – 12:00 pm

Join us in the Garden to learn which crops to sow for fall harvest, as well as methods of extending the growing season with winter hoops, row covers, and fall plantings. Stroll through the vegetable beds to discover ways to overwinter plants and learn about the variety of cover crops that can aid in preparing the garden for next year.

Learning with Nature

See nature at work with Kimberly Kelly, Director of Horticulture. Through guided walks, Garden visits, and indoor instruction, connect with the purpose of the ecosystems we inhabit, the vibrant life that’s a part of it, and our role in maintaining and adding to it. This summer, Kimberly Kelly brings us meaningful ways to connect with the natural world by teaching participants to plant gardens, manage beehives, notice the life of butterflies and dragonflies, and increase biodiversity in the landscape.

Learning with Nature | Look at Butterfly Life

Saturday, August 23, 11:00 am – 12:00 pm

Butterflies have captured the human imagination with their vibrant colors and daytime activity, symbolizing transformation and beauty. The magnificent patterns found on butterfly wings make these insects a wonder to behold. In this indoor-and-outdoor workshop for all ages, we will learn about how butterflies indicate a healthy ecosystem, look at host plants for caterpillars, and enjoy summer moments watching butterflies in the landscape.

Learning with Nature

An evolution of our gardening workshops, this series invites all ages to see nature at work with Kimberly Kelly, Director of Horticulture. Through guided walks, Garden visits, and indoor instruction, connect with the purpose of the ecosystems we inhabit, the vibrant life that’s a part of it, and our role in maintaining and adding to it. This summer, Kimberly brings us meaningful ways to connect with the natural world by teaching participants to plant gardens, manage beehives, notice the life of butterflies and dragonflies, and increase biodiversity in the landscape.

Magnifying Small Wonders

Saturday, August 23, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm

This facilitated family-friendly program will explore the hidden, and surprisingly beautiful, life of insects and nature. Using magnifying tools, equipment, and high resolution micrography, nature enthusiasts of all ages will encounter caterpillars, butterflies, and other amazing insects and natural specimens. Participants will explore the world we cannot see on our own where the ordinary becomes the extraordinary and experience the awe of nature’s small wonders.

Recommended for ages 8 and up.

______________________

About Grace Farms Foundation

The River building at Grace Farms is embedded in nature. Nearly 80 acres of natural and diverse landscapes surround the award-winning River. (photo by Sahar Coston-Hardy)

We bring together people across sectors to explore nature, arts, justice, community, and faith at the SANAA-designed River building and Barns, on 80 acres of publicly accessible natural landscape.

Our humanitarian work to end modern slavery and foster more grace and peace in our local and global community includes leading the Design for Freedom movement to eliminate forced labor in the building materials supply chain.

This collaborative approach to comprehensively address humanitarian issues and generate new outcomes is reflected across all of our initiatives and the place of 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.

Sign-up for our newsletter

Follow us

@gracefarmsct #gracefarms

This year’s Design for Freedom Summit held on March 27 continued to build on the momentum of previous years, delivering inspiration, hope, and a commitment to act on designing and building a more humane future for all. Another sold-out Summit, Grace Farms welcomed more than 550 leaders from architecture, engineering, construction, tech, government, manufacturing, nonprofits, real estate, and academic sectors to advance the movement and create true market transformation.

Sharon Prince opens the sold-out Design for Freedom Summit at Grace Farms. Photo by Melani Lust.

In addition, we also welcomed next-generation leaders from 25 universities and our Summit sponsors offered student scholarships for 75 students.

Leaders and experts across these sectors provided insights into the latest research and technology, as well as in-field actions taken that are actualizing the Design for Freedom Principles: to find and address forced labor, pursue ethical decarbonization, and prioritize circularity.

Below is the Welcome Address from Sharon Prince, CEO and Founder of Grace Farms, as well as the Founder of Design for Freedom, the global movement committed to removing forced labor from the building materials supply chain. (featured photo by Melani Lust)

Every building tells a story of humanity – either of dignity or exploitation. – Sharon Prince

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Good morning, welcome to Grace Farms for our 4^th Annual Design for Freedom Summit!

We are here together in this hopeful space to accelerate the Design for Freedom movement – to apply our collective expertise and leadership from across disciplines and to ultimately use our voices and purchasing power. We have an audacious mission to remove forced and child labor from the colossal building materials supply chain, which is a basic human right and a matter of right and wrong.

Every building does tells a story of humanity — either of dignity or exploitation. Today, we will explore both but will lay out a clear pathway for human dignity. We want to inhabit a world that does not accept or normalize exploitation as a means to an end.

We are creating a radical paradigm shift towards a more equitable future with a tremendous amount of rigor, determination, and hope in a time of massive disruption.

The green transition is in peril. Backlashes against gender and racial equity are on the rise. Escalating and reciprocal tariffs and duties are impacting supply chains and have created unprecedented economic uncertainty for companies across all sectors.

What is certain is that increased supply chain disruption significantly increases the risk of exploiting vulnerable populations.

Design for Freedom is not opt-in but rather has legal underpinnings, meaning that modern slavery is illegal in nearly every country at varying degrees of oversight and compliance.

We cannot accept the slavery or exploitation discount. I argue that subsidizing products with forced and child labor stymies innovation, as R&D investment dries up due to the lack of commercial viability. Solar panels offer a clear example.

We cannot accept the slavery or exploitation discount.

Coming together at this Summit could not be more timely.  We must act. 28 million people are held in forced labor conditions globally.  Their suffering is embedded in construction projects worldwide. And the economic scale of the construction sector is at 13% of Global GDP.

G20 countries alone import nearly $500 Billion in products that are at high risk of forced labor. Four of these top six fraught products are ubiquitous in the built environment: electronics, solar panels, textiles, and timber. Forced labor in the building materials supply chain is not a peripheral issue — it is central to how our world has been built.

Sharon Prince moderates a panel on Generational Forest Stewardship in Haida Gwaii. Photo by Melani Lust.

And yet, the disaggregated global building materials supply chain is opaque with margins that are historically thin, fueling exploitation. Up to 50% of all raw materials are used in our buildings and landscapes; for example, 38% of timber and 50% of copper production. These materials are getting a labor transparency pass.

First, food was called to be accountable to a fair-trade supply chain, then clothing; now we are calling shelter into account.

This is a significant undertaking to take on the mammoth construction sector, but it is important to note that this undertaking is also our duty — our duty of care.

We are exploring uncharted territory to consider how to assess whether our vast supply chains are inadvertently subsidizing forced or child labor.

To achieve excellence, you always start at the bottom of the next level you are trying to master.

As legendary athlete, five-time Olympian, and volleyball player Kerri Walsh Jennings noted on International Women’s Day here at Grace Farms a few weeks ago – “to achieve excellence, you always start at the bottom of the next level you are trying to master.“

I ask you to master the next level with us — to be a human rights activist and a better business, NGO, government agency, lawyer, and scholar.

The fundamentals are ‘asking’, a little ‘material obsession’, and  ‘commitment to your ethical standards’.

Ask yourself first how you will use your agency. Then, boldly up the ante by asking your suppliers, owners, business partners, and universities – where are your building materials coming from, and are they made with fair labor? Expand your asks across the table.

It is paradoxical to believe that we can create beautiful, significant, essential buildings around that table for the next generation while child laborers might be the ones providing the materials — at the expense of education and generational opportunity.

The good news is that our three Design for Freedom principles — Find & Address Forced and Child Labor, Pursue Ethical Decarbonization and Prioritize Circularity — will be covered throughout the day, and you can do a deep dive into each of these and find updated tools in our newly published Design for Freedom International Guidance & Toolkit online and now in print as of today! We have a copy for you to pick up at the end of the day as a gift to place in your offices. See our smart Design for Freedom Interoperability Tech Platform Chart developed with a Design for Freedom Working Group subgroup – with all-star engineers from ARUP, Silman, Thornton Tomasetti, and others, which will speed up transparency when adding construction data. A simple assessment – use AI and tech.

The difference between last year and this year is that we have expanded public awareness and international engagement.

• We are introducing Design for Freedom to the public here at Grace Farms six days a week with the first-of-its-kind permanent With Every Fiber Exhibit in the West Barn Hall, curated by our Founding Creative Director Chelsea Thatcher, designed by Nina Cooke John with graphics by Pentagram, and assessed by Buro Happold to be neuro-inclusive as well. The London Philharmonic Orchestra recorded pieces you heard in the exhibit and were played in London at our Pilot Project, Black Chapel, the Serpentine Pavilion in 2022. We applied our Design for Freedom principles with many firms and the Yale Center for Ecosystems + Architecture created the biomaterial wall that is featured. We have not only used circularity in the materials but also the entire With Every Fiber exhibit is circular. We will be introducing new materials and features in the next version, which will open in October on our 10^th anniversary!
• Our Grace Farms Teas & Coffees are accelerating public access at Whole Foods and corporate offices, which you will hear more about this morning from Adam.
• Internationally, we have added substantial capacity and partnerships in short order. We are on a mission where time does matter to millions of people today.

Yumiko Yamada, partner at SANAA and President of AIA Japan, who is here today, invited me to share Design for Freedom with Kazuyo Sejima-san at the International House of Japan for the first time in two languages. I found the duty of care and reverence for nature and materials like timber to already be high.

Today, you will hear from The Right Honorable Baroness Lola Young, Parliamentarian and Chancellor of Nottingham University, who wrote an opening for our newly released Guidance & Toolkit. Yesterday, (March 26), we launched our new Design for Freedom Podcast!

You should also know that every speaker you will hear from today is adding their agency to Design for Freedom in some fashion. Most likely, you will learn that they have been at it with us for years.

Since today’s gathering is a Summit, not a Conference, it’s critical that you know who the leaders are in this room with you.

We have next-generation leaders from 25 universities.  You are the generation that flat-out does expect responsible sourcing! Prof. Patricia Saldana Natke has again brought 20 IIT and University of Illinois Urbana-Champagne students from a studio class that she has taught over the past five years! Back in 2019, she said, “We have to get this information in classes and to more students.” And she figured out how to do that nearly immediately.

The incoming AIA President, Ilya Azaroff, has brought over a dozen students from New York City Tech. Dr. Sarah Billington of Stanford University’s Civil & Environmental Engineering School is applying scientific methods to determine the labor fingerprint in concrete — something that has never been done before. University of Virginia faculty and leadership are also here to share their incredibly aligned Design for Freedom Pilot Project, The Karsh Institute of Democracy.

We are grateful to our seven Summit sponsors who offered student scholarships so 75 of you could attend today. Our three Lead Sponsors have each contributed to the Design for Freedom movement in a range of actionable ways:

• Assa Abloy
  • The president and head of US Commercial Sales references Assa Abloy’s efforts with Design for Freedom as an imperative for all functions across the organization, which has 60,000 employees.
  • They have 19 people across disciplines in attendance today!

• Acelab
  • Acelab is a new technology platform that is integrating the Design for Freedom ethical material evaluation guidelines into the Materials Hub, which empowers Architecture & Design firms to research, select, and document material decisions. Vardhan, you made a commitment to integrate Design for Freedom into your platform about four years ago when you were in start-up mode!

• MillerKnoll
  • MillerKnoll was also an early adopter, helping to set up our first Design for Freedom Pilot Project, the New Canaan Library with Turner Construction. And they also provided all the traced textiles for our With Every Fiber Exhibit.

More pro-bono work is happening nonstop. Recently, a subgroup of top structural engineering firms formed to add Design for Freedom to their means and methods. About 40 Design for Freedom Working Group members are here today with even more from their firms, nine ASCA Distinguished Architects and Ph.D. students are Design for Freedom jurors, five industry association CEOs and Founders are here today with whom we collaborate. There’s a lot happening….!

Each year, we also invite Global Human Rights Defenders who are also committed to the arts being a powerful tool for Grace and Peace.

• At our first Summit three years ago, with the pandemic still nipping at our heels, Prince Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, former High Commissioner on Human Rights and CEO of IPI, International Peace Institute.
• Last night, we partnered with IPI for an Art for Peace event. Nasreen Sheik and Chelsea Thatcher spoke about Building a Culture of Peace and Reconciliation through Art with Zeid. Last year, I told Nasreen that we are indeed committed to expanding the Peace Table. Nasreen is here today to share her work as a global human rights leader and social entrepreneur.
• Hugh Evans, whom I also greatly admire, will give us a tremendous boost at the close of the day, reminding us that when we use our voices together, we are powerful and can ensure lasting change. He is a leading international humanitarian who collaborates with artists like Chris Martin and Beyonce and regularly meets with world leaders. He is Founder of Global Citizen, a movement that inspires actions by the millions to End Extreme Poverty, Defend the Planet and Demand Equity. Just you wait…

Hugh Evans gives closing remarks. Photo by Melani Lust.

In the face of such an overwhelming and complex humanitarian crisis, it would be easy to feel powerless, to delay, to not do the right thing.

Our work is compounding at a rapid rate.

In the face of such an overwhelming and complex humanitarian crisis, it would be easy to feel powerless, to delay, to not do the right thing. But that is precisely why we are here—because we refuse to accept that these conditions are inevitable. Modern slavery will not reverse on its own. It requires intervention. Today.

As we begin this Summit, I invite you to bring all you can to this work and to become a little more obsessed with the human-made materials that sit on this earth. The challenges are great, but so too is our collective resolve. Listen actively, engage thoughtfully, and commit.

Thank you for being here. Thank you for your commitment. And now, let us continue this important work together.  It is now my honor to introduce, with great admiration, Grace Forrest and Amar Lal.

(l-r:) Grace Forrest and Amar Lal during the Summit’s Opening Conversation in the Sanctuary. Photo by Melani Lust.

Grace has dedicated her career to ending modern slavery and human trafficking worldwide. Through Walk Free’s groundbreaking research and advocacy, including the seminal Global Slavery Index, Grace has helped elevate the issue of modern slavery to the global stage and mobilized action across governments, businesses, and civil society. One of the most respected voices in the fight against forced and child labor, Grace gives us hope.

Amar gives us hope—as to what is possible. He is a powerful child rights activist whose lived debt bondage experience in stone quarries informs his extraordinary work. As a lawyer and advocate, he is a tireless champion for exploited children.

Welcome to you both!

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About Grace Farms Foundation

The River building at Grace Farms is embedded in nature. Nearly 80 acres of natural and diverse landscapes surround the award-winning River. (photo by Sahar Coston-Hardy)

We bring together people across sectors to explore nature, arts, justice, community, and faith at the SANAA-designed River building and Barns, on 80 acres of publicly accessible natural landscape.

Our humanitarian work to end modern slavery and foster more grace and peace in our local and global community includes leading the Design for Freedom movement to eliminate forced labor in the building materials supply chain.

This collaborative approach to comprehensively address humanitarian issues and generate new outcomes is reflected across all of our initiatives and the place of 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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