The Carlisle Garden Club
includes gardeners of all ages, abilities and interests,
from novice gardener to landscape professional.

Join the Carlisle Garden Club for a free visit with “Isabella Stewart Gardner: America’s First Patroness of the Arts” on Saturday, September 20, 2008 at 2:00 p.m. at Center Park (next to Ferns). Character reenactor Jessa Piaia will present a dramatic portrayal of Isabella Stewart Gardner set in 1909, six years after the opening of Fenway Court (now the Gardner Museum). Mrs. Gardner designed and built this mansion for her extensive art collection, and willed it to the City of Boston upon her demise.  A recognized leader of Boston’s emerging salon scene, Mrs. Gardner, with characteristic verve and candor, will relate episodes about her luminous circle of family and friends, relive journeys to exotic lands, and share other potentially scandalous encounters.  The portrayal runs approximately an hour in length, with informal Q&A to follow. It is most appropriate for adults and children 12 and up.

Ms. Piaia studied performance at London’s Oval House Theatre and works in the Anthropology Department at Harvard University.  Research for this program was conducted at the archives of The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Historic New England (nee The Society of the Preservation of New England Antiquities, S.P.N.E.A.), The Church of the Advent, and The Society of St. John the Evangelist.  Refreshments will be served. In case of rain, we will move to the First Religious Society. This program is made possible by a grant from the Carlisle Cultural Council. For more information contact Giovanna DiNicola. 
Parking is available on Church Street and in the parking lot at Carlisle Public School.