Morven Museum & Garden’s 2023 Grand Homes & Gardens Speaker Series: Trailblazers and Trendsetters explores the people and spaces, past and present, who cultivated new opportunities and inspired breakthrough trends for future generations of landscape architects, designers, entrepreneurs, and horticulturalists. Today, these places continue the work of preserving historic and natural landscapes for public benefit and community engagement. On February 22, the series examines Russel Wright’s trendsetting midcentury aesthetic through the lens of his iconic home, Manitoga.

Russel Wright and his wife Mary shaped modern American design through their iconic dinnerware, furniture, and home accessories ultimately impacting how many Americans organized and lived in their homes in the mid 20th century. Manitoga, Wright’s 1960s home in Garrison, NY, stands alone as an iconic and idiosyncratic example of eco-sensitive modernist architecture. The home’s 75-acre woodland garden, a reclaimed quarry restored to its “natural setting,” is a key illustration of the ecological aesthetic in landscape architecture.

Speaker Vivian Linares, Director of Collections, Interpretation, and Preservation at Manitoga, will explore Russel and Mary Wright’s contributions to American design and the home’s representation of their trendsetting aesthetic.

Wednesday February 22, 6:30 pm
Morven Museum & Garden, Princeton, NJ
The program will be offered hybrid, in-person and via zoom
Register