Bright Autumn Nights - GLEAM at Olbrich Botanical Gardens

07/08/2025 54 min
Bright Autumn Nights - GLEAM at Olbrich Botanical Gardens

Listen "Bright Autumn Nights - GLEAM at Olbrich Botanical Gardens"

Episode Synopsis

Hot August nights turn to bright August nights at the Olbrich Botanical Gardens in Madison, WI. 

The Garden's annual GLEAM light show is celebrating its 10th anniversary and opens August 30th, transforming the very bright-by-day gardens into equally bright in a different way by night.

The award-winning display runs through October 25th, and this year’s exhibit will center on the concept of reflection.

Illuminated art installations by light artists from around the country will brighten the Gardens’ landscape, reflecting a language of love for the natural world. Concepts such as the intrigue of plants at night, photosynthesis, bioluminescence, and dynamic equilibrium have all been highlighted in past year’s displays.

Join CP host Ben Futa in conversation this week with Benjamin Smith, Show Curator and Missy Jeanne, Public Programs Manager at Olbrich to talk all things bright and beautiful at Olbrich for this GLEAM season. Listen in!

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More episodes of the podcast Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden