Bartow-Pell Conservancy Hosts Spring Luncheon; Amy Freitang to be Guest Speaker

The Bartow-Pell Conservancy will host an alfresco Spring Luncheon at the Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum on Thursday, June 7, at noon.

Guest speaker Amy Freitag, executive director of the New York Restoration Project, founded by Bette Midler, will discuss "Extraordinary Women: Power, Influence, and the Conservation of the American Landscape."

Freitag has had an extensive career in the conservation and preservation field and was previously the Deputy Commissioner of Capital Projects for the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, where she also served as the executive director of the Historic House Trust of New York City, of which Bartow-Pell is a member. With both an M.L.A. in Landscape Architecture and an M.S. in Historic Preservation from the Graduate School of Fine Art at the University of Pennsylvania, she lectures nationally on the history of women in conservation and is currently writing a book on the founding of the Garden Club of America.

The annual Spring Luncheon will be held on the Pebble Court, which overlooks the museum’s early 20th-century Delano & Aldrich-designed formal garden. Lunch will follow the talk and there will be ample time for strolling the garden afterwards. Tickets for the Spring Luncheon are: Lacecap Hydrangea, $75; Climbing Rose, $125; and Stargazer Lily, $175. The two higher-level tickets include listing in the program. Attire is garden chic. RSVP, 718-885-1461 or email info@bpmm.org by May 31.

“NYRP’s extraordinary success with their MillionTreesNYC program,” commented Cynthia Brown, Bartow-Pell Conservancy board member and chair of the event, “is just one way that Amy Freitag has succeeded in bringing green space to underserved communities in New York City. Her ability to fundraise and bring together non-profit and civic entities to work for the common good is both an inspiration and a model for organizations like Bartow-Pell.”