Ecology Day: Our Shared Landscape

Celebrate our natural surroundings with a day of fun, family-friendly, and environmentally conscious activities! Learn how to compost, explore the element of water through scientific observation and art making, design with recycled materials, enjoy music in the galleries, and more.

12–5pm Ecological Science at NASA(Multipurpose)

To understand the biosphere, you need to take a step back and study it from the outside—and that means from space. This selection of short videos covers how scientists use satellites to gather data on the behavior of glaciers, changes in sea level, and the health of ecosystems.

12:30–4:30pm Upcycled! 

Discover clever ways to reuse everyday recyclables, such as cardboard, fabric, popsicle sticks, and straws, to make useful items for your home, office, or even a gift!

12:30–4:30pm Don’t Throw it All Away!

Ready to move beyond single-use plastic and other “disposable” materials? Refusing a drinking straw feels like it’s not enough? Stop by the Alternatives Table to learn about durable, sustainable, and compostable items and materials that can help you take the next step.

1–4 pm Recycling Demystified 

A representative from the Westchester County Department of Environmental Facilities’ Recycling Office will be on hand to explain how we can “Recycle Right,” while providing information on the practicalities, economics, and politics of solid waste management. Free with Museum admission.

1pm & 3pm Composting 101 

Join Elisa Zazzera in this introductory, hands-on workshop that will give you the know-how to start composting at home. Zazzera is a Westchester County Master Composter and Recycler, member of the US Composting Council, and Friends of the Old Croton Aqueduct board member who has been actively involved in local and county-wide solid waste initiatives for close to 15 years. Zazzera has helped dozens of families start and improve their backyard compost systems as well as help to institute the Food Scrap Recycling Program in Hastings-on-Hudson.

1pm & 3pm Nannyhagen Creek 

Celebrate our natural surroundings in song with this lively five-piece band, featuring guitar, bass, banjo, cello, and harmonica, plus vocals, with folk favorites like Locally Grown and The Garden Song.

1:30–3:30pm “Water is Elemental” Workshop 

Look closely at the dynamic movement of water with artist, educator, and water advocate Laurie Seeman of Strawtown Studio. Seeman will lead us in hands-on art and science experiments that will provide greater insight and appreciation for water, “…the true governor of all life,” according to ancient Chinese philosopher and writer Lao Tzu. We will explore what water needs to support life, and how we can take part in keeping it healthy.

2:30pm Family Fun in the Galleries: Woven Wonders

Tour exhibitions by Hudson Valley-inspired artists James McElhinney and Janelle Lynch, search for hidden shapes and patterns in their nature-based works, and create a take-home, upcycled piece of woven art.