One of many great features of the Nature Sanctuary exhibit now in the park is the way the works resonate with each other and with the surrounding landscape. “Troptican II” and “On Growth” share a lawn where we can see, feel and discover their connections. Quotes, links and maybe my photos should entice you to explore in the months before the exhibit ends (October 4, 2026).

“In June 2025 deCordova opens Nature Sanctuary, an outdoor exhibition that explores relationships between the natural world and ideas of home. Spanning the Sculpture Park’s front lawn and beyond, this exhibition features original, site-inspired commissions and loans by six women artists: Venetia Dale, Kapwani Kiwanga, Joiri Minaya, Zohra Opoku, Kathy Ruttenberg, and Evelyn Rydz.“(quote from Trustees, Nature Sanctuary)

Joiri Minaya, “Tropticon II,” 2025, Perforated vinyl, glass, aluminum, gravel:

“This greenhouse is cloaked in pixelated botanical imagery printed on one-way perforated vinyl, a material often used for advertisements. Because of this, we cannot see inside this typically transparent structure. Joiri Minaya grew up in the Dominican Republic and, as an artist, now examines the history of often-forced export of plants, people, and culture from the Caribbean to other places including New England.” (quote from Trustees, Minaya, Troptican II )

“To connect the past and the present, Minaya took these photographs at nearby greenhouses, including at the Lyman Estate in neighboring Waltham, one of the oldest existing greenhouses in the United States.” (quote from Trustees, Minaya, Troptican II )

Kapwani Kiwanga, “On Growth,” 2023, Aluminum, dichroic glass, steel :

“Set inside this shimmering multi-colored glass chamber is a coiling fern-like sculpture. To create this prismatic artwork, Kapwani Kiwanga researched Wardian cases, a predecessor to modern day terrariums which were used to transport botanical specimens from overseas to display in European cities. “ (quote from Trustees Kiwanga On Growth )

“For a period in the 19th century, English Victorians were obsessed with collecting and displaying ferns and other plants in their own gardens and living rooms. Under the smog of the Industrial Revolution, Londoners gazed longingly at vegetation from colonized lands, preserved in glass Wardian cases, severed from their original ecologies. “ (quote from Trustees, Kiwanga, On Growth )

“Nature Sanctuary is framed by deCordova’s former identity as a family home and the museum’s present-day integration within The Trustees. As Massachusetts’ largest and the nation’s first conservation and preservation nonprofit, The Trustees protects more than 120 special places, as well as countless plants and animals. The exhibition deepens awareness of deCordova’s“more than human” landscape and its unique ecological and geological features.” (quote from Trustees, Nature Sanctuary)

Key Resources:

Nature Sanctuary Exhibit in deCordova Sculpture Park: https://thetrustees.org/exhibit/nature-sanctuary/ Overview of the exhibit with links to each of the six artworks

Trustees, Minaya, Troptican II : https://thetrustees.org/content/joiri-minaya-tropticon-ii/.

Trustees, Kiwanga, On Growth : https://thetrustees.org/content/kapwani-kiwanga-on-growth/

Views from two other artworks ( Alyson Shotz, Temporal Shift (L) and Kathy Ruttenberg, A Snail’s Pace (R)