Posts by Katherine Smith

In some ways, I have gotten used to days like today in Decatur, which seems at times a small town. And I had come to know serendipity and collaboration and assistance (Nell and I have often said that every time…

Our class was able to connect today with Paige Kelly '26, who worked on the inner garden for the Building on Dana project. We had already read her wall text/essay. Today we discussed her process, which had included a visit…

September-October 2026 We are learning from the building - again. This semester, for me, is a return from sabbatical, during which time I could pause and reflect on the ways the Building on Dana project has influenced me professionally and…

December 26, 2025 As this year comes to a close, we have some updates about the garden project. First, the plants that we added to the upper courtyard in April 2025 survived the heat of the summer and are now…

April 22 In celebration of Earth Day, we organized a planting of the beds in the upper courtyard with the Center for Sustainability and invited guests. We now have Christmas and New York ferns in the beds along the facade…

April 21 Our plants for phase 1 have arrived! We are planting ferns and flowering, pollinator-friendly plants, and a shrub in celebration of Earth Day. Thank you, MJ Leach and Beech Hollow Wildflower Farm for partnering with us on this…

April 9 We were fortunate to welcome two speakers tonight in our continuing conversations about supporting habitats for pollinators.   Indie Lorick '26, member of our People for Pollinators (our Bee Campus USA folks), who has been dedicated to helping…

April 5Beech Hollow Wildflower Farms in Avondale Estates (farm is in Lexington, GA) is hosting their Spring Fling today. It was already busy this morning when I arrived just after opening. I went to get native plants for my own…

March 26Susan Meyers from Monarch Watch joined us tonight in the "Growing with Dana" series to share her insights about and experience with supporting Monarch butterflies in their journeys north and south through Georgia. I haven't seen any yet in…

March 11All three co-curators of Building on Dana / Patterns in Space were delighted to attend the opening of Defining Skylines: John Portman and the Architectural Evolution of Downtown Atlanta at Georgia Tech. Congratulations, all! It is wonderful to have…

March 6Thank you, City of Decatur, for highlighting our work on landcare, biodiversity, and IPMs.  

February 27 We were thrilled to host and to hear Susan E. Richmond's lecture, our annual Sarah Hamilton Leathers ’53 and Leone Bowers Hamilton ’26 Art Lecture, as part of our exhibition programming. Susan opened with Roxie Fricton's site-specific work,…

February 27 As part of the Building on Dana project, we have been working on an edition of artists' books. We have just released our first 20. These are one of my favorite parts of the project/exhibition because they integrate…

February 26 We had a great turnout for our conversation about mosquito buckets. Peter Helfrich/Beecatur provided a significant overview, and we shared instructions and examples so that we can all make our own! The pyrethroids that companies spray to control…

February 12 Peter Helrich, Chairperson of Bee City - USA (BeeCatur) and President of the MetroAtlanta Beekeepers Association, started our Growing with Dana series with a presentation on native bees, a wonderful introduction to our conversations on habits and habitats…