Art & Wellness Series
The LSU Hilltop Arboretum Art & Wellness Series invites the community to experience the landscape as both classroom and creative space. Through sensory-based and participatory programs, visitors engage the arboretum by slowing down, observing seasonal change, and interacting directly with the natural environment. By connecting horticulture, landscape design, and human experience, the series expands Hilltop’s role as a living laboratory while offering accessible opportunities for reflection, creativity, and personal wellbeing.
“Spring Flower Pressing: A Two-Part Botanical Workshop”
with Connie McLeod
Saturday, April 18, 2026 | 2:00 – 4:00 p.m.
Saturday, May 9, 2026 | 2:00 – 4:00 p.m.
Celebrate the beauty of spring through the art of botanical pressing in this two-part workshop led by Baton Rouge botanical artist Connie McLeod. Participants will begin by exploring the arboretum landscape to gather seasonal flowers, leaves, and other plant materials suitable for pressing. During the first session, Connie will introduce the techniques of selecting plant material and assembling a traditional flower press so that participants can begin preserving their collected specimens.
At the second session, participants will return to work with their dried plant materials, learning how to arrange and mount pressed flowers to create a finished botanical artwork suitable for framing or gifting. The workshop offers a relaxed and creative opportunity to slow down, observe the details of seasonal plant life, and translate those observations into lasting botanical art.
All materials will be provided, and no prior experience is necessary.
Connie McLeod is a Baton Rouge native and LSU graduate who recently retired from a career as an Art Director. She has transformed her love of design and gardening into a practice of botanical art, pressing flowers, petals, and leaves from her garden and from friends’ gardens throughout the community. Connie is both a Louisiana Master Gardener and a Louisiana Master Naturalist.
Registration: $60 Hilltop Members / $75 General Public
Space is limited; Advance registration is required.
Outdoor Yoga at Hilltop
Thursdays | 6:00 – 7:00 PM
Pavilion by the pond, please arrive a few minutes early to set up.
Free • Donations Welcome • Drop-In • No Registration Required
Bring Your Own Mat
Parking Limited – Carpooling Encouraged
Outdoor Yoga at Hilltop offers a weekly opportunity to practice in the quiet woodland setting of the arboretum. Held on the pavilion overlooking the pond, these evening sessions invite participants to slow down, breathe deeply, and engage with the natural environment through gentle movement and breath.
Practicing yoga outdoors allows participants to experience the arboretum landscape in a different way - noticing the sounds of the forest, the changing light through the trees, and the rhythm of breath and movement within a natural setting.
Classes are free and open to the community, with rotating guest instructors who bring different styles and perspectives to the practice. Whether you are new to yoga or have an established practice, all levels are welcome.
Guest Instructors
Jonas Griffin
March 12 • March 26
(B.A. in English with a concentration in Creative Writing, Master of Arts in Teaching, 200-Hour Yoga Alliance Certified Teacher at Leela Yoga Lifestyle)
Born in Opelousas, Louisiana, and a graduate of Loyola University New Orleans, Jonas found yoga in 2007. Since then, it has become connective tissue supporting life’s ups, downs, and in-betweens. Choosing to follow his dream of teaching yoga in January 2025 has been a practice of stepping boldly toward his heart’s desire while surrendering to the alchemy of the process.
In his teaching, he invites students—and reminds himself—to focus not only on the quality of the posture, but on the quality of mind supporting the posture. He trusts the mysterious power of yoga itself—something beyond his own skill or effort—to move through the practice, offering each student exactly what they need to meet life’s tricky postures off the mat with more presence, steadiness, and compassion.
Bryce Moore
March 19 • April 2
Bryce Moore is a Baton Rouge native and Southern A&M University alumnus who first discovered yoga in 2018 while competing as a student-athlete at the University of Louisiana–Monroe. Over the years, his practice has deepened physically, mentally, and emotionally, inspiring him to pursue teaching.
Bryce completed his yoga teacher training in 2023 under Stefan Boone at Preservation Yoga Studio, focusing on Original Hot Yoga (26 & 2). His classes integrate elements of Vinyasa and Power Yoga, with an emphasis on synchronizing breath with movement to build strength, focus, and balance.
Join us for an evening of movement and quiet reflection in the arboretum landscape.
Art & Wellness Program Details
Spring Flower Pressing: A Two-Part Botanical Workshop
Sat., April 18, 2026 | 2-4pm
Sat., May 9, 2026 | 2-4pm
Outdoor Yoga at Hilltop
Thursdays | 6-7pm
Free • Donations Welcome
Drop-In • No Registration Required