This walk is full – now taking waitlist

Kathryn Kolb leads this innovative walk in partnership with the Hambidge Center, the 600-acre North Georgia artist retreat center named after Jay Hambidge, who investigated the mathematic and geometric principles of aesthetic design in the early 1900s. His partner, Mary Crovatt Hambidge, became a weaver, employing his designs in her work, and established the center in 1934.

We’ll walk about a mile along trails on the Hambidge Center grounds, discussing new research about the intelligence of trees and plants and other creatures. We’ll look at growth patterns that tell us how the forest and its myriad species interact with each other and respond to various challenges, “reading” the forest’s story, illustrated by what we find along our way. 

We’ll cover info about the recently discovered root-fungi communication system, the “wood wide web,” and how some plants learned to change their behavior in scientific experiments designed for animals, and how plants employ the principles of quantum mechanics in photosynthesis. 

We’ll also observe how native forest species have been shaping each other – and us – for millions of years, and we’ll touch on the golden mean and some of the geometries that inspired Jay Hambidge that we find in natural forms around us every day. The fall season is the perfect time to focus on leaf forms and growth patterns.

Cost $15, Limit 15

To register (RSVP) click HERE – details and directions sent to registered participants. A donation of $15 or more helps support or programs.

“I think it’s fascinating to realize how all living things are more deeply intelligent than we commonly think, and that the actions, choices, and decisions made by thousands and millions of individual lives — mostly very different from ours — have literally shaped all of the life-sustaining systems of our planet.”     — Kathryn Kolb