The HLF Museum continues the tradition of offering interesting and educational programs on Sunday afternoons at 4:00. Generally held in the museum’s air-conditioned second-floor gallery, it is a very pleasant way to wind down the weekend with friends and islanders.
The offerings for the summer of 2026 follow and can be found in greater detail, with program presenter introductions, by clicking on the images below or on the Museum’s website HERE. All are free of charge, although some require registration.
June 14 @ 4:00 – 5:00
June 28 @ 4:00 – 5:00
July 5 @ 4:00 – 5:00
July 19 @ 4:00 – 5:00
July 26 @ 4:00 – 5:00
August 2 @ 4:00 – 5:00
August 9 @ 4:00 – 5:00
August 16 @ 4:00 – 5:00
SATURDAY, August 22 @ 4:00 – 5:00
August 23, 2026 @ 4:00 – 5:00
August 30 @ 4:00 – 5:00
Intro to Colored Pencil Botanical Drawing
Sunday, June 14 @ 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm
In this class, art educator Mary Barresi will teach “learning to see” exercises and demonstrate the unique characteristics of Prismacolor color pencils. All drawing and reference materials will be provided. IN-PERSON ONLY.
Return to the Sky: The Reintroduction of the Bald Eagle
Sunday, June 28 @ 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm
In person at the Museum and virtual via zoom
Join us at the Museum for an illustrated talk by Tina Morris, one of the first women to engage in a rapt reintroduction program.
Intro to Cyanotypes
Sunday, July 5 @ 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Museum’s 2nd floor
Join us at the Museum to learn about one of the earliest forms of photography in this hands-on, nature-centered workshop by photographer Emily Barresi. Emily Barresi will guide students through the unique camera-less process of Cyanotypes and students will bring home 2-3 original artworks on paper. Program is free but registration is requested.
Please RSVP to Jessica: jnejame@fergusonmuseum.org
How Native American People Lived on Fishers Island
Sunday, July 19 @ 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm
At the Museum, 2nd floor and virtual, via zoom
Join us at the Museum for an illustrated talk with archaeologist John Pfeiffer, who will give an overview of Fishers Island archaeology that focuses on the excavation of sites, artifacts discovered, and John’s interpretation of how Native American people lived on the Island.
PHOTO CREDIT: Mural of West Harbor was painted by former Museum president, Charlie Ferguson
Biography as Pilgrimage: On the Trail of Peter Matthiessen
Sunday, July 26 @ 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm
In person at the Museum and virtual via zoom
Join us at the Museum for an illustrated talk by author, Lance Richardson, who will discuss his eight-year undertaking — including a two-hundred mile trek in the Himalayas of Nepal — to write a biography of the twentieth-century literary titan Peter Matthiessen. Reception and book signing to follow.
PHOTO CREDIT: Matthiessen in the Himalayas photo by George Schaller
Shorebirds of the Northeast: Success Stories and Species on the Precipice
Sunday, August 2 @ 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm
At the Museum, 2nd floor and virtual, via zoom
Join us for an illustrated talk by Wildlife Biologist, Maureen Durkin, who will provide an introduction to shorebirds and their ecology – and explore what makes them unique and vulnerable in a changing world. This presentation will highlight some of the species that can be seen on our local beaches, including both resident breeding species and Arctic-nesting migrants, with a special focus on American oystercatchers and red knots. Reception to follow.
PHOTO CREDIT: American oystercatcher USFWS
Seals and Society: Lessons on Conservation, Resilience, Research and Discovery
Sunday, August 9 @ 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm
At the Museum, 2nd floor and virtual, via zoom
Join us for an illustrated talk by community scientist and conservationist Andrea Bogomolni, who will be sharing insights into how we study seals, what we are learning about their place in the greater ecosystem and what seals are telling us about ocean and human health – and our human connection.
Reception to follow.
PHOTO CREDIT: Harbor Seals, Hungry Point, courtesy of Clay Burkhalter
From Glaciers to Gardens: How Earthworms Shaped Northeastern Forest Soils
Sunday, August 16 @ 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm
In person at the Museum and virtual via zoom
Join us at the Museum for an illustrated talk by Annise Dobson, Associate Research Scientist at Yale University, who will share how the history of earthworms in North America has been shaped by ancient glaciation, centuries of human-mediated introductions and spread, and multiple waves of biological invasion.
PHOTO CREDIT: Grant Dobson
Tour of Olmsted Brothers’ Landscape Design Being Restored at East End
RoAnn invites you to tour the grounds!
SATURDAY, August 22 @ 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm, Reception to follow
Costin house, Rose Nest, at the East End
Please register to secure a spot by contacting the Ferguson Museum by phone (631-788-7239) or by e-mail (info@fergusonmuseum.org).
Join RoAnn Costin and William (Ned) Friedman, Director of Harvard’s Arnold Arboretum, for a tour of her property, Rose Nest, which she is restoring to the original Olmsted Brothers landscape design.
In the late 1920s, the legendary Olmsted Brothers Firm of Brookline, MA. created an elaborate landscape design for the George E. Hardy property overlooking Island Pond (later owned by the Mallory and O’Keefe families).
PHOTO CAPTION: Lot design for Hardy property, originally named Winkath.
Evolving Landscapes: Olmsted, Design, and the Arnold Arboretum
Sunday, August 23, 2026 @ 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm
At the Museum, 2nd floor and virtual, via zoom
Join us at the Museum for a richly illustrated talk by William (Ned) Friedman, Director of the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, who will take us on an exploration of Frederick Law Olmsted’s design legacy embodied at one of his most renowned and best-preserved landscapes: the Arnold Arboretum.
Space is limited, registration is required.
The Blue Humanities: Reimagining America’s Maritime History
Sunday,August 30 @ 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm
At the Museum, 2nd floor and virtual, via zoom
Join us at the Museum for an illustrated talk by Associate Professor of History at the University at Albany, State University of New York, Christopher L. Pastore, who will give a fast-paced tour through America’s maritime history and explore how and why sea stories have changed over time.
PHOTO CREDIT: Winslow Homer, Boys in a Dory, 1873, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
