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THIS FALL

SEPTEMBER 9, MONDAY at 5pm, RICH SOIL BY KRISTINE MAYS – Join us for an artist’s talk with fine art sculptor Kristine Mays in the Jay Estate Gardens. Mays breathes life into wire as she creates human forms that dance, grieve, hope and pray. Her figures help us resurrect the all-important narratives of the women and men whose strength, resilience and measurable contributions to our landscape have often been forgotten. As a member site of New York State’s Path Through History for Civil Rights and Westchester County’s African American Heritage Trail, the Jay Estate is a compelling venue for contemplating our shared American heritage while viewing these ethereal silhouettes. She’ll discuss her work and a wine and cheese reception will follow. The event is FREE but registration is required. REGISTER HERE!  Exhibit runs through November. READ MORE HERE

SEPTEMBER 22, SUNDAY at 4pm, URBAN COYOTES  – Urban Coyotes is a five-piece band drawing on soulful styles from New Orleans to Nashville to New York. Blending electric and acoustic instruments with multi-part harmonies, the Coyotes perform a diverse mix of rock and folk classics as well as original music by singer/songwriter Paul Jensen. Come hear your favorite songs from Tom Petty, Grateful Dead, Radiohead, Zac Brown Band, U2, Coldplay and more! Please register here for this free event.  Ice cream and treats available for purchase from Jimmy’s Soft Serve.

 

SEPTEMBER 29, SUNDAY from 12-4pm – Jay Day is our classic fall family festival! In the past we’ve had live a cappella performances by  Citigrass plus amazing face painters, pony rides and a petting zoo from Bronx Equestrian. Stilt walkers & jugglers provide super photo ops for the whole family! Guests snack on nibbles from food truck vendors like Crazy Taco Mex, Leila’s Empanadas, and Jimmy’s Soft Serve ice cream, and they’ve learned about archaeology with Dr. Eugene Boesch. Hold artifacts in your own hands–from 4,000-year-old projectile points to an 18th century slate pencil used by one of Rye’s earliest students! See photos from last year’s event here. Would you like to help with Jay Day 2024 as a volunteer or be a participating vendor or food truck? Email mjslater.jhc@gmail.com

OCTOBER 20, SUNDAY at 3pm – THE SKINNY HOUSE WITH JULIE SEELY -Registration link to come.

 

 

 

NOVEMBER 3, SUNDAY at 3pm – MAKING THE PRESIDENCY:JOHN ADAMS AND THE PRESIDENTS THAT FORGED THE REPUBLIC WITH HISTORIAN LINDSAY M. CHERVINSKY AND JOANNE B. FREEMAN Dr. Lindsay M. Chervinsky is a presidential historian and author of the award-winning book, The Cabinet: George Washington and the Creation of an American Institution, co-editor of Mourning the Presidents: Loss and Legacy in American Culture. She regularly writes for public audiences in the Wall Street Journal, Ms. Magazine, The Daily Beast, The Bulwark, Time Magazine, USA Today, CNN, and the Washington Post. With her to discuss her new book will be award-winning historian, Hamilton scholar and Yale Professor of History and American Studies, Joanne B. Freeman. Prof. Freeman specializes in early American politics and political culture. Her interest in political violence and political polarization—dirty, nasty, politics—has made her work particularly relevant in recent years. She is the author of The Field of Blood: Violence in Congress and the Road to Civil War and also Affairs of Honor: National Politics in the New Republic. Registration link to come.

PAST IN-PERSON PROGRAMS

MAY 4 INTO THE WEEDS: HOW TO GARDEN LIKE A FORAGER. Join us as Tama Matsuoka Wong returns to JHC to share her newest book, Into the Weeds: How to Garden Like a Forager. Tama empowers budding and experienced gardeners alike to embrace a gentler, less rigid and more sustainable approach to tending the land. As a master forager and gardener, she invites you break free from meticulously ordered beds and rethink the way you engage with and value the plants around you. Into the Weeds teaches you to encourage those plants, even if you didn’t plant them yourself, turn invasive vines into simple structures like borders and beds, and transform the bounty of your surroundings into teas, tinctures, and cocktails. The program will include a demonstration of how to make an A frame trellis out of wild wood and natural materials along with a tasting of some of Tama’s favorite foraged recipes.

APRIL 16 at 11:30 AM – IKEBANA DEMONSTRATION WITH JUDITH HATA. Hata has been teaching ikebana, the art of Japanese flower arranging, in the New York area for over 60 years. She holds the rank of Riji, the highest teacher’s degree in the Sogetsu School, having learned her art directly under Sofu Teshigahara, founder of the Sogetsu School, and then under his daughter and successor, Kasumi Teshigahara. The inspiration for Sogetsu is to “enjoy ikebana anytime, anywhere, using any material” and through her journey, she has discovered 花ありて友あり – ”where there are flowers, there are friends”. Mrs. Hata founded the New York Branch of Sogetsu in 1971, serving as director, president and other positions for more than 50 years. Mrs. Hata served on the Board of Directors of the Horticultural Society of New York and the Committee for the New York Flower Shows, and through the years taught from upstate New York to Philadelphia and points in between including at the Parsons School of Design, The Brooklyn Botanical Garden, The New York Botanical Garden, and The Nippon Club among many others. READ MORE HERE

APRIL 14 10:30AM – 2:30PM NATIVE TREE SYMPOSUM WITH KEYNOTE TALK BY DOUG TALLAMY, CO-FOUNDER OF HOMEGROWN NATIONAL PARK. Co-sponsored by the City of Rye Sustainability Committee. Why do native trees matter? How can we create a homegrown national park in our own backyards or local municipalities? What are other organizations doing to increase biodiversity on their campuses? Start the day with networking and tours of the award-winning Jay Estate Gardens followed by lunch and a keynote talk by best-selling author and entomologist Doug Tallamy. Co-sponsored by the City of Rye Sustainability Committee and Larchmont-Mamaroneck Pollinator Pathway. Funding generously provided by Con Edison.

MARCH 3 at 3pm –The Odyssey of Phillis Wheatley: A Poet’s Journeys Through American Slavery and Independence with David Waldstreicher Help us welcome back David Waldstreicher, a historian of early and nineteenth-century America with particular interests in political history, cultural history, slavery and antislavery, and print culture. David has previously spoken at JHC – his talk was titled “Another View of the American Revolution – African Americans Hear the Call to Freedom.” The program is free but pre-registration is required. Click here to register.  The New York Times, in a recent feature on the book and Waldstreicher, described his willingness to put Wheatley “smack in the middle of the raging debate over the relationship between the American Revolution and slavery,” and praised his achievement in not only “tracing her life” but “also recreat[ing] the18th-century intellectual world Wheatley actually lived in.” The Odyssey of Phillis Wheatley has also received rave reviews from Oprah, which called it a “rich and necessary book.” Read more here.

FEBRUARY 29 at 11:30AM – 1:30PM BLACK HISTORY IN NEW YORK, WESTCHESTER AND RYE. For more than 20 years, the Jay Heritage Center has hosted dynamic educational programs about Black History. Through exhibits and conversations with nationally and locally recognized authors, historians and scholars like Annette Gordon-Reed, Alan Taylor, Dr. Larry Spruill,  Joseph McGill, David Thomas, David Mills, Harold Holzer, Kerri Greenidge and more it has been our goal to continually explore our nation’s complicated and resilient narratives together. We invite you to stop in for a lunchtime lesson at the Jay Mansion. Discover the many landmark sites on New York State’s Path Through History and Westchester County’s African American Heritage Trail including our own where the real-life stories of African American women and men, enslaved and freed, like Caesar Valentine, Mary, and Clarinda continue to be vigorously researched and shared. The free program will include a tour of JHC’s exhibit Hidden Soldiers.

FEBRUARY 18 at 3pm Why Did the Japanese Internment Camps Happen with Grant Ujifusa and Kermit Roosevelt. Grant Ujifusa, a noted author and historian who is widely recognized for his instrumental role in the Japanese American redress movement of the 1980’s will speak with Prof. Kermit Roosevelt III considered by many to be “the top scholar in the constitutional aspects of the internment.” They will discuss how the camps happened and how reparations were brought about including the importance of the life story of Nisei World War II hero Kaz Masuda. This program is co-sponsored by the Japan Society of Greater Fairfield County. Pre-registration required. Ujifusa, a 1965 graduate of Harvard College, is the founding editor and longtime co-author of The Almanac of American Politics, originally published in 1972 and still published today. The book has been described as “the bible of American politics.” Ujifusa’s familiarity with the workings of Washington lawmaking made him an ideal strategist in the fight for the passage of HR 442, the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, which was ultimately signed by President Ronald Reagan on Aug. 10, 1988. Read more here

April 7 - October 31

Thursdays, 10am-2pm;  Sundays, 10am-5pm except holidays. Starting Sunday, April 7, until Thursday, October 31, the award-winning Jay Estate Gardens will be open to the public two days a week. Enjoy docent led experiences or follow a self-guided tour following our QR code signs. Drop in for a lesson, talks, and workshops led by JHC’s Director of Horticulture and Garden Education, Lucia Maestro and special guest speakers. Email Lucia Maestro for more information or to volunteer in the gardens. FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC