Events

Sharing Stories of
Place, Climate, Change, Resilience

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On view at the Bell Museum

Part of IMAGINE THE FUTURE

Hours & Admissions  |  Directions & Parking

Inside the Bell Museum, a bright green exhibit panel with images and text

Backyard Phenology is one among many stories featured in Imagine the Future, a new exhibit at the Bell Museum. Gallery visitors are invited to explore how we work together, uphold community, think big, wonder, and boldly ask — what futures can we imagine? Learn more about the power we have to find solutions, slow change, and create a better future. Then engage with various interactives that help you make observations, feel and name your emotions, and become inspired to take action.

Events Archive

2025

Creatures of the Night: 94 Stories

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2025, 8:30-10:30 PM

Bell Museum, 2088 Larpenteur Ave W, St. Paul, MN 55113

Line drawing of a toad, a firefly, and a bat flying against the moon

Step inside the Climate Chaser as part of a Bell Museum Star Party, a drop-in evening of astronomy and memory! How do you and your fellow creatures experience the highway and urban landscape at night? The 94 Stories project (an Our Streets collaboration with public historian Jessie Merriam and Freeway Stories artist Hawona Janzen) is an oral history project collecting first-hand experiences of neighborhoods along the I-94 corridor.

Sustainability Action Day at Welcome Week

FRIDAY, AUGUST 29, 2025

Northrop Mall, University of Minnesota East Bank Campus

Flyer with aqua background and an image of a fist and plants

Come join us for trivia and activities, fun prizes, and engaging conversations about research, innovation, and how students can get involved.

Cohosted by: Office of Sustainability, the Institute on the Environment,
and Sustainability Education

Backyard Phenology at Cedarfest

SUNDAY, AUGUST 17, 2025, 11 AM to 5 PM

The intersection of Cedar and Riverside Avenues, Minneapolis

Two people standing outside near the door of a silver trailer camper
Look for the silver trailer at Cedarfest, near the Battletrain!
 
Tell your West Bank story for the West Bank Community Archive. Your story can involve neighborhood phenology, too! Stories will be collected by West Bank archivist and Backyard Phenology team member Jessie Merriam.


 

Frogtown Climate Carnival

SATURDAY, AUGUST 16, 2025, 1 to 4 PM

The Lily Pad, 625 North Dale St., St. Paul (at Lafond Ave. & Dale St.)

Outdoor neighborhood scene with silver trailer, blue canopy tent, and cloudy sky
Join Frogtown Green, friends, and neighbors at the fifth annual Climate Carnival, a magical afternoon of tricks, games, prizes and surprises—not to mention a delicious lunch!
 
 


 

 

Brightly colored flyer with a cartoon green frog
Exhibitors: Xerces, Bird Alliance, MN Seed, Evie (paint a car!), Water Bar, cyanotypes with Frogtown Green and the Bell, Frogtown Farm, LTER grad students with composting/fungi activity and bird-wasp-caterpillar-habitat activities, face paint, frog magician Photo Booth, music and more.

Backyard Phenology for Educators

THURSDAY, AUGUST 7, 2025, 3:30 to 5:30 PM

Natural objects and prints of natural objects sitting on a flat surface
Photo by Hannah Lauber

Private event at Bell Museum, co-hosted by the Smithsonian Science Education Center

Backyard Phenology, part of The Weight of the World: An evening with climate writer Mary Annaïse Heglar

WEDNESDAY, MAY 9, 2025, 5 to 7 PM (before the 7 PM lecture)

Bell Museum, 2088 Larpenteur Boulevard W, St. Paul, MN

Several people seated and standing outside the Climate Chaser mobile camper, an outdoor sunny scene

Conversations with Backyard Phenology

Step into the Climate Chaser with Backyard Phenology's team of artists, scientists, educators and students. We invite you to see yourself in phenology, an area of knowledge focused on the seasonal timing of biological activity of plants and animals. A new word to many, phenology is a familiar idea. It's knowing about the timing of leaves unfolding, flowers opening, birds migrating, insects emerging for summer and resting in winter, and other seasonal changes. Join us to share your stories!

Table with journals set out for pick up, a sign invites people to help themselves

The Water Edition

Visit with the team to share an observation, story, question, or conversation. Leave with your own copy of The Water Edition, a free phenology calendar for people with all levels of experience and many ways of knowing.

Imagine the Future Opening Day

SATURDAY, APRIL 26, 2025, 10 AM to 2 PM

Bell Museum, 2088 Larpenteur Boulevard W, St. Paul, MN

Dr. Feng standing at the entrance to the Climate Chaser, a mobile camper that funcations as a conversation hub

Conversations with Backyard Phenology

Step into the Climate Chaser with Backyard Phenology's team of artists, scientists, educators and students. We invite you to see yourself in phenology, an area of knowledge focused on the seasonal timing of biological activity of plants and animals. A new word to many, phenology is a familiar idea. It's knowing about the timing of leaves unfolding, flowers opening, birds migrating, insects emerging for summer and resting in winter, and other seasonal changes. Join us to share your stories!

Paper journal set out on weathered wood, a sharpened pencil is set alongside

The Water Edition

Visit with the team to share an observation, story, question, or conversation. Leave with your own copy of The Water Edition, a free phenology calendar for people with all levels of experience and many ways of knowing.

2024

Fall Colors Celebration

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2024, 10 AM to 2 PM

Lakewood Cemetery, 3600 Hennepin Avenue, Minneapolis, MN

Outdoor scene with people around a table doing a stamp activity
Bre McGee Photography

Conversations with Backyard Phenology

What does fall look, sound, and feel like to you, in the places you visit every day? Share what you’ve noticed with artists, scientists, and students by stepping inside the Climate Chaser, a mobile camper and hub for conversation. 

Art and Ecology at The Acreage

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2024, 1 to 5 PM

The Acreage at Osceola, 2585 Wisconsin 35, Osceola, WI

The Acreage logo

Art and Ecology at The Acreage is a free public event inviting you to enjoy the intersection of art and nature. Visit the Horst Gallery, Acreage animals, and see what’s growing in the Greenhouse. Wander the trails to the land art installations. Explore your creative side through pop-up creativity labs. Learn from experts about regional pollinators, learn about backyard phenology, and watershed stewardship.

Imagine Cedarfest

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2024, 11 AM to 5 PM

Cedar Avenue & Riverside Avenue, Minneapolis, MN

Orange background with light text that reads Cedar Fest, September 8, 11 am to 5 PM, Cedar Ave & Riverside Ave
2023

Regis Center for Art 20th Anniversary: Works by Faculty and Staff

SEPTEMBER 12 - DECEMBER 9, 2023 - Exhibit run

Regis Center for Art, 405 21st Ave S, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Gallery hours: Monday-Saturday, 11 am-5 pm

Silver camper in a gallery space, the door is open and interior lights welcome visitors

Find yourself within Backyard Phenology's gallery installation, part of the exhibition Regis Center for Art 20th Anniversary: Works by Faculty and Staff. Visitors are welcome to walk around and step into the Climate Chaser mobile lab. Make yourself at home as you browse an archive of media and objects focused on people's relationships with the environment.

The installation featured sound design by Brian Heller.

Two people seated in the cozy interior of a camper trailer

RELATED EVENTS

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 5 to 8 PM: Opening Reception

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 12 to 3 PM: Artist-hosted Listening & Sharing Session

Spring Together in Falcon Heights

SATURDAY, MAY 20, 2023, 4 to 6 PM

Curtiss Field, Falcon Heights, MN

Green and yellow flyer with event information

The Climate Chaser will be onsite at Spring Together, an annual event hosted by Falcon Height's Community Engagement Commission. Drop by to learn about Backyard Phenology and some of the citizen seasonal observations gathered over the years.

Earth Day at Solar Arts

SATURDAY, APRIL 22, 2023, 12 to 6 PM

Solar Arts Building, 711 15th Ave NE, Minneapolis, MN

Illustration of a mobile camper with people inside

The Climate Chaser will be onsite at Solar Arts for Earth Day. Drop by to learn about Backyard Phenology and some of the citizen seasonal observations gathered over the years.

2022

Reframing Our Relations Community Meal and Conversation

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2022

Franconia Sculpture Park, Shafer, MN

Three people talking and listening, seated around a table set for a meal

 

Climate Chaser and Natural Pigment Activity by Kim Boustead at Franconia

SATURDAY, AUGUST 20, 2022, 12 to 4 PM

Franconia Sculpture Park, Shafer, MN

A silver camper and tent in a park-like setting

Part of 4Ground Land Art Biennial

2021

Wild Parsnip Signage Project 

SUMMER 2021

Backyard Phenology teamed up with Pesky Plant Trackers and staff at Franconia Sculpture Park to discuss wild parsnip, a toxic plant found on Franconia's grounds. We created signage to help visitors be aware, stay safe, and contribute to scientific research by taking photos.

A wooden hexagonal sign in a meadow-like setting helps people see a toxic plant, wild parsnip.
Photo by Jenean Gilmer

 

Four people outdoors near a sign warning people about wild parsnip

 

BioQuest at Franconia Sculpture Park

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2021

Franconia Sculpture Park, Shafer, MN

Silhouettes of animals in a circle, and a hand holding a cell phone

Join the University of Minnesota for a playful program that encourages visitors to pay attention to the plants and animals living amid Franconia’s sculptures. Guests of all ages can use their smartphones to photograph plants, insects, birds, mammals, fungi, and other living beings. Upload your photos to iNaturalist to generate a collaborative map of Franconia’s biodiversity.

Your observations will inform future artists, scientists, and visitors who want to learn more about Franconia’s ecology.

Art & Phenology Workshops: Christian Bell with Pesky Plant Trackers

JULY 10, JULY 31, and AUGUST 29, 2021

Franconia Sculpture Park, Shafer, MN

Seven people outdoors in a meadow-like landscape, pointing toward the horizon
Photo by Noelle Kirscht

Artist Christian Bell teamed up with a participatory science project called Pesky Plant Trackers to present a series of in-person, interactive events at Franconia Sculpture Park.

  • July 10: Storytelling and Citizen Science
  • July 31: Movement and Citizen Science
  • August 29: Performing Phenology

These workshops were made possible by the Institute for Advanced Study. Additional support from the College of Liberal Arts.

2018

2018

  • February 24: Seed Library Opening Day, hosted by Riverview Library
  • February 22: Animal Tracking Workshop with Jonathan Poppele
  • February 8: Season Opening at the Native American Medicine Garden
2017

2017

  • November 30: Season Closing Dinner and Celebration, hosted by the Native American Medicine Garden at the University of Minnesota
  • November 16: Ten Years with the Institute on the Environment
  • November 9: Bird Language: Learning the Language of Nature, hosted by the Native American Medicine Garden at the University of Minnesota
  • October 26: Healthy Soils & Our Relation to Mother Earth, hosted by the Native American Medicine Garden at the University of Minnesota
  • October 20: Minnesota Phenology Network Annual Conference
  • October 12: Cultivating A Sit-Spot Phenology // Bookmaking // Observing Place, hosted by the Native American Medicine Garden at the University of Minnesota
  • October 7: Harvest Fest, hosted by Frogtown Park and Farm
  • September 29: Four Corners Feast, hosted by Gibbs Farm, the Native American Medicine Garden at the University of Minnesota, & Dinner on the Farm
  • September 28: Sharing Climate Stories, hosted by the Native American Medicine Garden at the University of Minnesota
  • September 16: Field Trip: Listening & Sharing Session, hosted by Silverwood Park
  • September 14: Observe As You Go: A Citizen Science Workshop in the Native American Medicine Garden at the University of Minnesota
  • June 10: Listening to Climate Change: Stories from the Field, part of Northern Spark: Climate Chaos | People Rising
Night scene with people outside the Climate Chaser, a silver mobile camper
Northern Spark 2017
Native American Medicine Garden
Native American Medicine Garden
2016

2016

  • June 11: Backyard Phenology: Tracking Nature’s Cycles in a Changing Climate, part of Northern Spark: Climate Chaos | Climate Rising
Northern Spark 2016

Other ways to connect with Backyard Phenology:

Season Watch in blue and red text on a gray background