This walking tour explores Graceland Cemetery as a material archive, examining the stones beneath our feet and the living landscape that surrounds them. Together, we will learn to identify the different types of stone found throughout the cemetery, consider where they came from, and explore how geology, ecology, weathering, and human values become inscribed in the cemetery landscape over time.
From limestone and granite to marble and fieldstone, every monument tells a story not only about the person it commemorates but also about extraction, transportation, craftsmanship, durability, and environmental change. We will consider how roots crack stone, how lichen records atmospheric conditions, why some monuments endure while others disappear, and what cemeteries can teach us about material lifecycles, stewardship, and sustainability.
Rather than a tour of famous graves or an arboretum walk, Stone and Root invites participants to develop new ways of seeing. By learning to read the relationships between stone, soil, water, plants, and memory, visitors will gain tools for interpreting Graceland and other cemeteries as complex cultural landscapes shaped by both human intention and natural processes.
Whether you are an artist, gardener, historian, environmentalist, designer, or simply curious about the landscapes around you, this tour offers a deeper understanding of cemeteries as places where geology, ecology, and remembrance meet.
Check In: 11:00-11:30am
Tour Begins Promptly: 11:30am
Tour Ends: 1:00pm
Optional open Q&A: 1:00-2:00pm
This walking tour explores Graceland Cemetery as a material archive, examining the stones beneath our feet and the living landscape that surrounds them. Together, we will learn to identify the different types of stone found throughout the cemetery, consider where they came from, and explore how geology, ecology, weathering, and human values become inscribed in the cemetery landscape over time.
From limestone and granite to marble and fieldstone, every monument tells a story not only about the person it commemorates but also about extraction, transportation, craftsmanship, durability, and environmental change. We will consider how roots crack stone, how lichen records atmospheric conditions, why some monuments endure while others disappear, and what cemeteries can teach us about material lifecycles, stewardship, and sustainability.
Rather than a tour of famous graves or an arboretum walk, Stone and Root invites participants to develop new ways of seeing. By learning to read the relationships between stone, soil, water, plants, and memory, visitors will gain tools for interpreting Graceland and other cemeteries as complex cultural landscapes shaped by both human intention and natural processes.
Whether you are an artist, gardener, historian, environmentalist, designer, or simply curious about the landscapes around you, this tour offers a deeper understanding of cemeteries as places where geology, ecology, and remembrance meet.
Check In: 11:00-11:30am
Tour Begins Promptly: 11:30am
Tour Ends: 1:00pm
Optional open Q&A: 1:00-2:00pm