Located among pristine woodlands in the Ryerson historic home in Riverwoods, Il., Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods promotes the importance of nature for nurturing personal and community wellbeing, cultivating creativity, and inspiring learning.
At Ease Book Club: The Serviceberry, by Robin Wall Kimmerer
As Indigenous scientist and author Robin Wall Kimmerer harvests serviceberries alongside the birds, she considers the ethic of reciprocity that lies at the heart of the gift economy. How, she asks, can we learn from Indigenous wisdom and the plant world to reimagine what we value most? As Veterans and military community members, we will explore how these questions and ideas impact the author, ourselves, and our community.
This virtual book club will meet weekly on Zoom on Tuesdays from 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm on September 16th and 23rd. Books are provided. Please provide your phone number and address so the book may be shipped to you.
Brushwood Center will also have an in-person Nature Book Club meeting open to all on September 26th for The Serviceberry as well.
At Ease Book Club: The Serviceberry, by Robin Wall Kimmerer
As Indigenous scientist and author Robin Wall Kimmerer harvests serviceberries alongside the birds, she considers the ethic of reciprocity that lies at the heart of the gift economy. How, she asks, can we learn from Indigenous wisdom and the plant world to reimagine what we value most? As Veterans and military community members, we will explore how these questions and ideas impact the author, ourselves, and our community.
This virtual book club will meet weekly on Zoom on Tuesdays from 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm on September 16th and 23rd. Books are provided. Please provide your phone number and address so the book may be shipped to you.
Brushwood Center will also have an in-person Nature Book Club meeting open to all on September 26th for The Serviceberry as well.
Celebrate Summer with Brushwood Center’s At Ease initiative and enjoy art, music, activities, games, and nature with other members of the Military Community! In collaboration with Kids Rank, Veteran Art Tribe and other Veteran organizations. Brushwood’s second annual Military Kids Fest offers an open house with art, exploration, and fun.
Join us for:
Music fun and a singalong for all ages with Ukulady Lisa
A squishy slime-making activity with Veteran Art Tribe
Meet and greet reptiles and amphibians with the Lake County Forest Preserves
Information and resource tables from: Brushwood Center, Growing Healthy Families, Blue Star Families
A nature hike with Brushwood Center
Outdoor games, art activities, and more!
Please note, that this event is for Veterans, current service members, and their families only.
Contact Jessica Klinge at jklinge@brushwoodcenter.org if you have questions or concerns.
Opening Reception – Rooted in the Shadow of Coal: Botanical Treasures of the Waukegan Dunes
This summer, Brushwood Center presents a new exhibition, Rooted in the Shadow of Coal: Botanical Treasures of the Waukegan Dunes. It is presented in partnership with the Driehaus Museum to explore perspectives on art and nature in association with their summer exhibition featuring acclaimed botanical artist Rory McEwen, Rory McEwen: A New Perspective on Nature.
Rooted in the Shadow of Coal embraces the tradition of botanical art while expanding to include a wider range of artists and media, all focused on the resilient plants of the Waukegan Dunes. Each artwork in the show includes a reference to at least one, and sometimes several, of these botanical wonders. What has proximity to pollution done to the site? What does it mean to have this surviving and thriving natural environment next to coal ash ponds? In this exhibition, botanical art becomes a lens to consider health, equity, and nature.
Join us at Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods for an opening reception and discussion. Seating for the panel discussion will be limited, registration guarantees admission, but not necessarily a seat. If you require a seat for accessibility, please let us know at the event, and you will be prioritized.
Rooted in the Shadow of Coal: Botanical Treasures of the Waukegan Dunes
This summer, Brushwood Center presents a new exhibition, Rooted in the Shadow of Coal: Botanical Treasures of the Waukegan Dunes. It is presented in partnership with the Driehaus Museum to explore perspectives on art and nature in association with their summer exhibition featuring acclaimed botanical artist Rory McEwen, Rory McEwen: A New Perspective on Nature.
Rooted in the Shadow of Coal embraces the tradition of botanical art while expanding to include a wider range of artists and media, all focused on the resilient plants of the Waukegan Dunes. Each artwork in the show includes a reference to at least one, and sometimes several, of these botanical wonders. What has proximity to pollution done to the site? What does it mean to have this surviving and thriving natural environment next to coal ash ponds? In this exhibition, botanical art becomes a lens to consider health, equity, and nature.
The Brushwood Nature Book Club is a place to talk about and explore nature literature in a friendly environment. Each meeting includes discussion, creative writing, and art activities to engage with the themes of the chosen book, led by Brushwood’s Poet-in-Residence Kathryn Haydon, and writer-artist Megan Donahue.
Our summer series of meetings is focused on the work of the 2025 Smith Nature Symposium Honoree, Robin Wall Kimmerer. In July and August, we’ll read Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants, and in September, The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World.
Receive 15% off of the purchase price of the books at Lake Forest Book Store when you mention Brushwood Nature Book Club or Kathryn Haydon! Copies of the books can be purchased online at the links below:
The Brushwood Nature Book Club is a place to talk about and explore nature literature in a friendly environment. Each meeting includes discussion, creative writing, and art activities to engage with the themes of the chosen book, led by Brushwood’s Poet-in-Residence Kathryn Haydon, and writer-artist Megan Donahue.
Our summer series of meetings is focused on the work of the 2025 Smith Nature Symposium Honoree, Robin Wall Kimmerer. In July and August, we’ll read Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants, and in September, The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World.
Receive 15% off of the purchase price of the books at Lake Forest Book Store when you mention Brushwood Nature Book Club or Kathryn Haydon! Copies of the books can be purchased online at the links below:
The Brushwood Nature Book Club is a place to talk about and explore nature literature in a friendly environment. Each meeting includes discussion, creative writing, and art activities to engage with the themes of the chosen book, led by Brushwood’s Poet-in-Residence Kathryn Haydon, and writer-artist Megan Donahue.
Our summer series of meetings is focused on the work of the 2025 Smith Nature Symposium Honoree, Robin Wall Kimmerer. In July and August, we’ll read Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants, and in September, The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World.
Receive 15% off of the purchase price of the books at Lake Forest Book Store when you mention Brushwood Nature Book Club or Kathryn Haydon! Copies of the books can be purchased online at the links below:
Chicago Voyagers: The Future Voyagers Exhibit Opening Reception
Join Brushwood Center and Chicago Voyagers in a celebration of the opening of The Future Voyagers Exhibition! Be the first to view the brand new exhibition and have a chance to hear directly from artists that created the works.
1:00 pm Exhibition opens for viewing 2:00 pm Panel discussion with: Bernie Rupe (Chicago Voyagers), Edo (exhibiting artist), Kevin West (exhibiting artist), moderated by Dani Abboud (Brushwood Center)
America has always had a fascination with exploration and the outdoors. We’ve memorialized it in paintings, history books & statues where proud explorers pose heroically—their foot propped on the prow of a canoe or rocky precipice, surveying the American west. But there’s one thing all of these artworks have in common:
They’re of white men.
In partnership with Chicago Voyagers, a nonprofit whose mission is to empower local, underrepresented youth through outdoor adventure therapy programs, seven Chicago-based artists will present a two-part exhibition that visualizes the future of American exploration: one where adventure knows no gender or color.
The show includes new work that features the portrait of a youth who currently participates in the Chicago Voyagers program. A youth is using outdoor exploration as a means to become a leader and impact the world in a positive way.
The exhibition at Brushwood opening May 18, 2025 is the first part of this two-part endeavor. There we will get a first look at studies for the larger portraits that will be unveiled at the final exhibition in Chicago at the Epiphany Center for the Arts, opening on August 8, 2025. A portion of the proceeds from artwork sales will be donated to Chicago Voyagers.
America has always had a fascination with exploration and the outdoors. We’ve memorialized it in paintings, history books & statues where proud explorers pose heroically—their foot propped on the prow of a canoe or rocky precipice, surveying the American west. But there’s one thing all of these artworks have in common:
They’re of white men.
In partnership with Chicago Voyagers, a nonprofit whose mission is to empower local, underrepresented youth through outdoor adventure therapy programs, seven Chicago-based artists will present a two-part exhibition that visualizes the future of American exploration: one where adventure knows no gender or color.
The show includes new work that features the portrait of a youth who currently participates in the Chicago Voyagers program. A youth is using outdoor exploration as a means to become a leader and impact the world in a positive way.
The exhibition at Brushwood opening May 18, 2025 is the first part of this two-part endeavor. There we will get a first look at studies for the larger portraits that will be unveiled at the final exhibition in Chicago at the Epiphany Center for the Arts, opening on August 8, 2025. A portion of the proceeds from artwork sales will be donated to Chicago Voyagers.
