Aug. 30, 4 p.m.: Sweet Honey in the Rock, free concert at Duke Gardens

In celebration of Sarah P. Duke Gardens' 75th anniversary, and as a gift to the Duke and Durham communities and all supporters that have embraced Duke Gardens and helped it thrive, the Gardens and co-producers Duke Performances present the Grammy-winning a cappella ensemble Sweet Honey in the Rock.

Beloved for its anthems of social justice, personal empowerment, love, hope, peace and ecological responsibility, Sweet Honey in the Rock's music is derived from blues, spirituals, gospel and African chants.

The concert will be on the South Lawn at 4 p.m. Aug. 30, and it will feature American Sign Language interpretation. The Bailey Elites (Indy Weekly article here) will open the show at 3:30 p.m. The public is invited. No tickets are necessary. If the weather is iffy, please see our Twitter page for updates.

You can read more about the group here and listen to several NPR features on them here. Click here to read an interview Duke Gardens did with Sweet Honey's sign language interpreter. And scroll down for another video to enjoy.

DIRECTIONS, PARKING & OTHER INFORMATION

Duke Gardens opens at 8 a.m. Parking shuttles and concert amenities will begin at 2 p.m. The concert will begin at 4 p.m.

Parking:
Parking is free on 8/30.

Please park in one of the following lots:
The H Lot (Main) (H) on the corner of Anderson Street and Yearby Avenue.
The Graduate Center lot (GC) on the corner of Flowers Drive and Erwin Rd.
The Campus Drive lot on the corner of Anderson Street and Campus Drive.
There will be parking shuttle buses transporting people from these lots to the Gardens entrance starting at 2 p.m. The shuttle buses will take people from the Gardens entrance back to the parking lots (excluding the Campus Drive lot adjacent to the Gardens lots) for as long as they're needed.

Bike Parking:
There will be bike parking by the first Flowers Drive entrance to Duke Gardens (closest to Yearby Avenue). There is also limited bicycle parking in the Duke Gardens lot. Please do not bring bicycles down to the South Lawn.

You may bring:
Food
Beer/Wine
Drinks (Please bring lots of water, as it will be hot)
Chairs
Blankets
Rain umbrellas

Please do not bring:
Beach umbrellas or tents
Dogs (only seeing eye dogs are permitted at this event)

Access Points to the South Lawn:
Main Duke Gardens entrance by the Doris Duke Center off of Anderson Rd.
Entrance off of Yearby Avenue (near Flowers Drive)
Entrance off of Flowers Drive (closer to Yearby Avenue)
Second entrance off of Flowers Drive (closer to Chapel Road)

Duke Campus Buses:
The C-2W bus will drop you off by the Yearby Avenue entrance to the Gardens and runs until 9 p.m. on Sunday, 8/30.

Durham City Buses:
DATA buses Route 6 (for Duke University/VA Hospital) will take you to the traffic circle on Flowers Drive. Get off at stop B for Flowers Drive and enter Duke Gardens to your right. The last bus leaves from this stop at 7:10 p.m. on Sunday, 8/30.

Amenities:
Water and food will be sold starting at 2 p.m. Please still bring your own water, as the afternoon will be hot.
There will be portable bathrooms available starting at noon. Bathrooms are also available in the Doris Duke Center starting at noon and bathrooms in the Terrace Gardens starting at 8 a.m.

Rain:
The concert will take place rain or shine. In the case of hazardous weather, we will let the audience know by 3 p.m. whether the concert will proceed.

Wheelchair Accessibility:
Please park in the lots on Yearby Avenue or Flowers Drive (described in the Parking section above) and use the shuttle buses to get to the first Flowers Drive entrance (the shuttle buses are wheelchair accessible). We will have a wheelchair accessible section of the South Lawn reserved that you may use if you’d like. Wheelchair storage will be available.

Deaf and Hearing Impaired:
The Sweet Honey in the Rock concert will be sign language interpreted. There will be a reserved section close to the stage for deaf and hearing-impaired people.

Click here for directions to the Gardens

ADF at Duke Gardens: "Life. Love. Pursuit."

Here are some rehearsal shots and video of the free performance American Dance Festival will present at 7:30 p.m. Sunday at Duke Gardens. Audience members should meet at the entrance to the Rose Circle, gathering at the outer end near the Gardens' parking lots and main gate.

The dance is created by choreographer Rodger Belman and will feature 89-year-old dance artist Susan Gittler (pictured here with Belman) and more than 20 dancers from ADF and the Triangle community. It'll also have live music by Randy Love and ADF musicians. The audience and dancers will travel to various sites throughout the Gardens, watching a solo here, a trio there, and finishing up roughly an hour later at the South Lawn.

No reservations necessary. Just show up before 7:30 and come along. More info on ADF special programs is here (including the performance/discussion "Susan Gittler: A Lifetime of Dance" Wednesday at 4 p.m.). And please check this blog later for more rehearsal photos and video.















And here's Mika Banks rehearsing

Mallarme Chamber Players at Duke Gardens

Lots of calls today asking how to get tickets to tonight's sold-out concert by Mallarme Chamber Players and the Brussels Chamber Orchestra. There'll be a waiting list line starting at 6 p.m. at the Doris Duke Center.

We're already getting a taste of the program, as Mallarme cellist Bonnie Thron and violinist Jacqueline Wolbursky rehearse. The acoustics in that room are amazing.

Farmers' market at Duke Gardens

Here's a taste of the fresh treats available at the farmers' market on Tuesdays in Duke Gardens' upper parking lot. You can sign up for a seasonal CSA (community supported agriculture) membership and pay in advance to get a box of produce each week from any of several local farms. Or just swing by between 4 and 6 p.m. on Tuesdays and shop a la carte.

Rosie's Plate also participates, with foods free of gluten, peanuts and shellfish. You can check out Rosie's & order meals in advance here.

July Facebook photo contests

Duke Gardens’ first Facebook photo contest was such a big hit that the Gardens will now make it a monthly feature. The July themes: water lilies and summer scenes.

Hundreds of Gardens enthusiasts joined the Gardens’ new fan page, posting more than 225 photos in six categories to vie for prizes. Others visited the online exhibits of photos to vote or comment on them. Daily page views climbed to 440, its peak so far.

Capturing water lilies should pose no problem for Gardens visitors. The Gardens is once again host to the International Waterlily and Water Gardening Society's annual New Waterlily Competition (more info here). You can see the contestants all summer in the fish pond at the foot of the Terrace Gardens, and vote on them at the Gardens or online. And there are yet more lilies in the pond behind the Doris Duke Center.

For prime Facebook contest photo opportunities, consider taking on of the free Water Lily Walks that aquatic plants specialist Tamara Kilbane will lead in July through September. The Gardens will also host a Water Lily Photography Workshop with photographer Jennifer Weinberg on July 18 and 19. For more information on the workshop and walks, see the events link in Facebook (www.facebook.com/dukegardens) or Duke Gardens' education brochure here.

HOW TO ENTER OR VOTE: To enter the photo contest or view the exhibit, join Facebook (it’s free and easy), then go to www.facebook.com/dukegardens, sign up to be a fan and click on “events.” You’ll see two exhibit listings, one for water lilies and one for summer scenes. Click RSVP on the exhibit topic you want and then enter the event page. You can post photos (one per member per category) or simply click “like” on others’ photos to vote for them. Press the “share” button on the event page to tell all your Facebook friends to join and vote.

The contest ends July 31 at 1 p.m. The top vote-getter in each category will win a 2010 wall calendar. Second prize is a DVD about the Gardens’ history. Third prize is a Duke Gardens plant (for pickup only). Top prize winners may pick a lower prize if they prefer. Or all may opt instead for a certificate for 30 percent off a one-day total purchase through 12/31/09 at the Gardens' gift store.

Kilbane and a panel of judges will grant additional awards for their top photo picks.

Please check back for more contests each month. And you can still see the June exhibits by going to the last page under the events tab and clicking "past events."

Music in the Gardens: Alina Simone

Some highlights from last night's show, which began -- not unexpectedly -- with a set sung entirely in Russian.
Performing with Simone are guitarist Shawn Setaro and drummer John Lynch.
For more Music in the Gardens photos, go to Duke Gardens' Facebook fan page.
Read a review here.

July classes and events at Duke Gardens

We've got some more events in store that weren't included in our earlier summer events post.

If you love seeing the dramatic array of lilies in the International Waterlily & Water Gardening Society's annual competition at Duke Gardens, but you can't seem to capture them well in photos, Durham photographer Jennifer Weinberg can help. Weinberg will teach a water lily photography workshop July 18 and 19, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. You can get extra practice during the Gardens' new, free Water Lily Walks. July dates are the 2nd, 16th and 30th, from 9 to 11 a.m.

The monthly Walk on the Wild Side in the Blomquist Garden of Native Plants will feature tour guide Jeff Pippen, of Nicholas School of the Environment. He'll talk about native wildlife. That's Thursday, July 2, from 11 a.m. to noon. Meet at the Blomquist gate house.

On July 23, you can take a field trip to Holly Hill Daylily & Crinum Farm and learn more about how to incorporate Crinum lilies into your late summer garden. Travelers will leave the Gardens at 9 a.m. and return at 1:30 p.m.

The Triangle Orchid Society will discuss orchids of the Venezuelan Grand Sabana July 13 at 7 p.m. Admission is free and anyone may attend.



Teachers can learn how to bring nature into their curriculum in the free training workshop "The Nature of Art & The Art of Nature: Connecting Science & Art for the Elementary Classroom." That's July 21, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. It repeats July 24. More info here.

For our full July-December brochure, go here. To register for classes, call 668-1707 or send an e-mail.