Special Projects
Join the Friends of Mount Auburn or support a Special Project, to ensure that what’s meaningful to you today, continues tomorrow.
The Friends of Mount Auburn is currently raising funds to support a number of the Cemetery’s special projects and initiatives. Learn more below:
Artist-in-Residence
Asa Gray Garden
Ecological Education and Biodiversity Studies
Horticultural Collections
Indian Ridge Habitat Restoration
Washington Tower Preservation
Mount Auburn has a long history of inspiring art and creativity, ever since the nineteenth century.
Since 2014, our two-year Artist-in-Residence program has supported the creation of new work by a contemporary artist inspired by their in-depth experience at Mount Auburn. This continues a long tradition of visitors experiencing our landscape as an outdoor museum as well as a place of burial.
We are thrilled to welcome conceptual artist Jesse Aron Green as our Artist-in-Residence for 2020-2021, and look forward to sharing his work with you.
Also in 2020, we welcome back playwright Patrick Gabridge (our 2018-2019 Artist-in-Residence), whose staged reading Moonlight Abolitionists will be performed at the base of our iconic Washington Tower under the light of the full moon later in 2020.
Please help us present Moonlight Abolitionists and support the costs of hiring six local equity actors who will perform the piece! Your gift to our Artist-in-Residence program this year will be doubled by The Bob Jolly Charitable Trust.
Meet our 2020-2021 Artist-in-Residence >>
Support our Artist-in-Residence program >>
Have you visited the new Asa Gray Garden?
We celebrated the official completion of the redesigned garden in June 2018, after a year of extensive renovations. The space has been open for the public’s use and enjoyment ever since. This ambitious project would not have been possible without the generous support of our donors.
You can still make a big difference in this beautiful garden! While the renovation is complete, we are raising funds to support the crucial landscaping and maintenance work that is still ahead of us. It is this often-overlooked work that will ensure that the new plants are properly established, helping Asa Gray Garden to flourish in the coming years.
Learn more about Asa Gray Garden >>
Support Asa Gray Garden >>
Contact us to learn about naming opportunities >>
ECOLOGICAL EDUCATION AND BIODIVERSITY STUDIES
Birds, reptiles, amphibians, mammals, pollinators, and more – have you spotted any of these at Mount Auburn?
Mount Auburn’s 175 acres of green space make it an important wildlife refuge in the densely built-up Boston area. Today, the Cemetery has become a living laboratory for scientists studying how best to support and improve the habitat for a variety of species in this urban ecosystem, as well as reintroducing several native amphibian and reptile populations.
We also offer educational opportunities for community members of all ages to learn more about biodiversity and get involved in our habitat work through our Citizen Science Naturalist Program.
Please support our ecology education programs and help make our urban refuge a thriving habitat for this incredible diversity of wildlife. Your gift will fund the consulting scientists and educators who study our habitat and lead our Citizen Science Naturalist program.
Learn more about our Wildlife Action Plan >>
Support our Ecological Education and Biodiversity Studies >>
Wherever you walk in our landscape, our horticultural collections make it special.
Since its founding in 1831 by the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, Mount Auburn has been maintained with the highest regard for horticultural excellence. Today, our landscape is an accredited arboretum and botanical garden, featuring a nationally-significant collection of more than 5,000 trees and 10,000 shrubs and groundcover plants. Our collection is also as much a study of landscape designs as it is a diverse array of plants.
Help our staff care for this world-class collection and keep it beautiful for everyone who visits. Your support also makes possible all of the behind-the-scenes research, cataloging, and design work that allows us to expand the collection across the Cemetery.
Learn more about our horticultural collections >>
Support our horticultural collections >>
INDIAN RIDGE HABITAT RESTORATION
Already beloved by birdwatchers and history enthusiasts alike, Indian Ridge is being raised to new levels in our latest habitat project.
After years of planning, Mount Auburn has undertaken a two-year project to restore the landscape along Indian Ridge, one of our oldest and most iconic areas. With more than 15,000 new plants, the project will improve wildlife habitat and biological diversity, replace invasive plants with native ones, and enhance the beauty of the site for visitors. Indian Ridge will also connect with other areas in our landscape that we have already restored to bring us closer to our long-term goal of creating an extensive wildlife corridor across the Cemetery.
Please help us make our vision for Indian Ridge a reality! Your gift will support the costs of these new plantings, plus special care in the critical early years to ensure that the landscape is established.
Learn more about Indian Ridge >>
Support the Indian Ridge Habitat Restoration >>
If there is one spot people are most likely to remember about Mount Auburn, it’s our iconic Washington Tower.
One of the most beloved features in our landscape ever since it was built in 1854, the Tower will be in need of preservation in the near future. If we want to guarantee that we can keep it open to the public for many more years to come, it will require structural repairs, restoration of elaborate wood window tracery, improvements to the lighting system, and handicapped accessibility.
With that in mind, an official preservation assessment is our first step in the process. We have hired the firm McGinley Kalsow & Associates to serve as project architect and produce a detailed analysis on how best to preserve the Tower. Their assessment, options for repair and improvements, and estimated budgets will support planning for a full restoration, which will follow in a few years.
You can be part of this important first step towards preserving the Tower too! We received a $15,000 grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Facilities Fund to support the assessment, and it requires a dollar-for-dollar match in order to receive the funding. Your support of this beloved landmark will help us raise the rest of the funding we need to get started.
Learn more about Washington Tower >>
Support the preservation of Washington Tower >>
For further information, please contact:
Jenny Gilbert, Director of Institutional Advancement
617-607-1970
jgilbert@mountauburn.org
Due to the COVID-19 situation, there will be delays in processing donations and sending print receipts and membership cards while our staff is working remotely. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Our staff is continuing to reply to inquiries during this time, so please contact us at pschlaht@mountauburn.org with questions. Thank you for your support and understanding during this unprecedented time, and for being part of the Friends of Mount Auburn.
Support one of Mount Auburn’s current special projects using the form below.
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