For over 50 years the Garrison Art Center, an hour north of Manhattan by Metro North, has offered community-based art programs in drawing, painting, pottery and printmaking. In addition, its three galleries present several exhibitions each year; a visiting artist program that hosted Judy Pfaff in 2014; a holiday craft fair; and the long-running painting-on-location plus art auction each spring.

This weekend, the Riverside Galleries will be taken over by Chemistry: Explorations in Abstract Photography, survey of camera-less photography curated by Matteawan Gallery Director Karlyn Benson. The exhibition of works by Ellen Carey, Jill Enfield, Anne Arden McDonald, Amanda Means, Wendy Small, and S. Gayle Stevens opens Sunday, May 21^st, 5-8 pm. A gallery tour with the curator and several of the artists will take place at 6 pm. Info DART subscriber Anne Arden McDonald provided an installation view of her photographs (below), three of which are included in the exhibition.

From Friday through Sunday, the New York Botanical Garden will spotlight the central role that scientific discovery plays in understanding and conserving the natural world, which has been at the heart of the Botanical Garden's mission for 125 years. This includes the annual Science Open House, which welcomes the public to behind-the-scenes tours of its world-renowned plant research facilities. The lineup for Saturday and Sunday includes:

Hands-on Plant Collecting Demonstrations, 11 a.m.–4 p.m. at Conservatory Plaza, where you can see critical components of a scientist’s tool kit used on expeditions to preserve plants as museum collections for later study. 

Science Tours in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, 11 a.m. & 2 p.m. Tour the permanent exhibition A World of Plants with Garden scientists, hearabout their research, and learn how plants have evolved to survive in vastly different ecosystems on Earth. 

Guided Tours of the William and Lynda Steere Herbarium, 12 & 3 p.m. Go inside the second-largest herbarium in the world and meet some of the scientists responsible for its 7.8 million preserved plant specimens. 

Guided Tours of the Pfizer Plant Research Laboratory, 12:30 & 3:30 p.m. Walk through the Garden’s state-of-the-art research facility and meet some of the scientists who study DNA to understand plants and fungi at their most essential levels. Info Left: Botanist shows visitors rare plant specimens in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory; photo, courtesy NYBG.

The New York Botanical Garden, 2900 Southern Boulevard, Bronx, New York. Tickets are available online. Directions

On Monday, May 23, The Cooper Union's End of Year Show transforms the classrooms and studios of The Cooper Union into galleries showcasing work from The School of Art, The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture and The Albert Nerkin School of Engineering will be presented in an open house from 5 to 9 pm. Located in The Foundation Building, 7 East 7th Street, and 41 Cooper Square. Free and open to the public. Info