Nature as Jazz

Saturday, July 13 from 9-11am

Led by Mike Kolodny

Master jazz saxophonist Mike Kolodny will lead participants on a walk to tune in to the sonic landscape, exploring natural vibrations, silence, and sounds through his animist worldview. Meet Mike on the Homestead Porch for a musical invocation to deep listening and letting go, as he plays his sax in spontaneous call and response with the emergent rhythms and sounds of birds, rustling of leaves, rush of water. From there, and with hearts and minds primed for spontaneity and listening from an intuitive place, Mike will lead participants along the Rivulet Trail and parts of the Sugarbush Trail, taking pauses to listen and reflect. Feel the connection to the environment, embrace an open mindset to feeling and sensation, improvise with nature, and experience the Bryant Homestead anew.

Mike Kolodny, Musician

I play jazz saxophone. I love to play, and I’ve grown musically and personally through practice, both on my own, and with friends and associates in private jams. I like stillness (and wildness) in nature. I’m interested in sharing the music that comes through me with interested listeners. I wish to connect and share. If a musician and audience share an intention to create spontaneous art together, a special atmosphere can emerge that engenders a mutual communion through appreciating the beauty and magic of life, and feeling the flow of creation together. https://music.williams.edu/profile/mdk1/ 

Growing from Farm to School: A walk through history honoring the land and its roots in the LGBTQ+ Community

Saturday, July 20 from 9-11am

Led by JS Bryant School

The JS Bryant School’s 300-acre farming campus is located next to the Bryant Homestead. The school is named after William Cullen Bryant’s daughter, Julia Sands Bryant. She was the first steward of Bryant’s legacy, and important in her own right as an early queer figure in the region. For this deTour, JS Bryant School team members will lead a program that takes a walk through the land and its history, offering a place-based learning experience for teens, their families, and the local community. 

The tour will take place on the Homestead grounds and also on the School grounds, and will take stops throughout to discuss the histories of place and the people who have animated it. The full walk will be roughly 2 miles, and will stop for a break with refreshments about halfway through at the Farm House.

J.S. Bryant School

The J.S. Bryant School is a therapeutic day high school that will energize LGBTQ+ students’ curiosity and learning passion through creative exploration, farming entrepreneurship, and climate innovation, emphasizing learning excellence. As a private, not-for-profit therapeutic high school nestled in the foothills of the Berkshires, educators, clinicians, farming professionals and artists will nurture and grow students’ personal power and wellness in a gender-affirming environment. Students will graduate ready for college or take on a job in the arts, farming, or climate innovation. We will open Fall 2025. https://www.jsbryantschool.org/

Stepping Back in Time: Science in the 19th Century and Nature Now

Saturday, August 10 from 9-11am

Led by John Burns ”Burnsie”

Join us for a walk along the Sugar Bush Trail in the woods of the Bryant Homestead. We’ll start with a look at science and environmentalism in the late 1800s and take advantage of the moment and advances in science to interpret the wonders of nature in today’s world. The Homestead offers us a somewhat rich sugar bush to explore, with evidence of historical activities and the always fascinating nature around us. The walk is easy – pretty flat – and for two hours. We’ll go from the Homestead out to Trow Rd. and back through a nice sugar bush. There’s a nice view off in the distance at the other end. 

John “Burnsie” Burns, Botanist & Naturalist

John Burns “Burnsie” is the owner of Burns Environmental, specializing in rare plant and animal surveys and interpretive programs. He lives right next to the homestead and though only a Cummington resident for six years, he’s been exploring western Mass for over 40 years. His travels as a guide around the world enable him to see the unique features and patterns in the New England landscape, which he conveys in a receptive way to all audiences. http://www.burnse.net/

Deep Presence: Cultivating a Sense of Place

Saturday, August 17 from 9-11am

Led by Kim Carlino

Kim Carlino, a renowned painter who takes inspiration from wild landscapes for the forms and themes of her murals and paintings, will lead a hike through the frame of her practice. Carlino’s practice of observation echoes the naturalist drives of the Hudson River School, with whom William Cullen Bryant was aesthetically aligned. Participants will practice creative looking to discover new ways of understanding the site, Carlino’s work, and Bryant’s philosophies.

Kim Carlino, Artist

Kim Carlino is a multi-displinary artist working in painting, drawing, installation, murals, public art and site specific activations. Carlino’s work is based in geometric abstraction and rooted in the historical language of 20th century abstraction exploring issues of color, form, flatness and pattern while juxtaposing abstracted forms from nature and the environment around us to create works that find harmony in the tension of contrasting elements. Her work is adaptable and improvisational as it explores optical playfulness and spatial dimensionality through color, fluid organic forms and geometric patterning. She enjoys the dynamic dialogue of shifting scales and mark making that occurs as she moves between my studio practice and the public art realm. In her work she is interested in how abstraction can be a vehicle for metaphors relating to life such as movement, time, and natural processes. https://www.kimcarlinoart.com/

Bryant’s Legacy, Cummington’s History

Saturday, August 24 from 9-11am

Led by Carla Ness

Take a historical walk led by Carla Ness, Cummington Historical Commission Chair & Lead Archivist to explore William Cullen Bryant’s impact on the social histories of Cummington. Meet at the Dawes Cemetery on Potash Hill Road before setting out with the group to see the monument across the street for Bryants' birthplace, and continue toward the Frazier house of the Old School for the Arts and talk about the Cummington Press, which published mostly poetry. The group will also visit Hiram Brown's grave in the Dawes cemetery and discuss the abolitionist movement in Cummington. From there, the group will walk to the Town Pound and the site of the first church.

Carla Ness, Historical Commission Chair & Lead Archivist

Carla Ness is the chair of the Cummington Historical Commission which runs the Kingman Tavern Museum. Carla has been on the commission for about 20 years and has been the chair for about ten years. She graduated with a degree in history and teaching. If you have not seen the five buildings stuffed with artifacts at the Kingman Tavern Museum, you should come see it. We have something for everyone, including a complete 19c general store, a barn full of old farm tools, a carriage shed, a cider mill. The house has a great collection of clothing, a military room, a child’s room full of antique toys and more. People love the miniature rooms by Alice Steele. We are open Saturday’s, July 13-August 24 th 2- 5pm.