By Kim Lawton
In the Divinity School’s Croll Family Entrance Hall, photographs showcasing plant life on the YDS campus now hang on the walls. Artistic installations of branches, rocks, seeds, and soil are arranged in windowsills and throughout the space, accompanied by the sounds of local birds, frogs, and crickets. The new exhibit, “This Earth Where We Live,” celebrates the land YDS calls home and invites visitors into a deeper, more spiritual exploration.
A multimedia, multisensory experience
The images and elements of the exhibit are from the YDS property. There are seven large photos Freimuth took around campus, all framed with wood from red oak trees that were felled on the property. Cross sections of tree trunks hang by the photos. Five window installations include branches, stones, soil, and flowers, which will be switched out as new plants bloom. “Every week, there will be a new surprise,” Freimuth says. “Just like the natural world, it will be dynamic.”
On the entrance hall’s lounge tables sit bowls containing tree seeds that people are encouraged to touch and jars with fragrant twigs that people are urged to smell. “I tried to make it interactive and engage the senses,” Freimuth says.
On one of the windowsills, Freimuth has placed a large visitors’ logbook, colored pencils, pens, tape, and glue. Exhibit visitors are invited to write, draw, or paste memories and responses: “We ask the questions, ‘What does this place mean to you? What has happened within you at this place? How has this place held you through the joys of your time here and through the troubles?’” The goal, Freimuth says, is to “create a manuscript that connects us with the land, because we’re all here together.”
Even as he celebrates the YDS land, Freimuth’s artist’s statement acknowledges its “complicated human history,” something he explored last year as he redesigned the Labyrinth Garden in the courtyard behind the library. Freimuth outlined his research in an article in the Fall 2024 issue of Reflections (link is external). The piece describes the displacement of the Quinnipiac tribe by British colonists; the ownership of the future YDS property by gun manufacturer Oliver Winchester, whose rifles were used against Native Americans in the West; and questions about the sources of wealth accumulated by Yale donor John W. Sterling, whose name the divinity quadrangle bears.
“This land has a history, and it is a history that includes a harrowing degree of harm,” Freimuth wrote. “On this one tiny piece of land, we witness a panorama of American violence—from settler-colonialism to unregulated arms dealing; white Christian nationalism to Native genocide; corrosive ideologies of anti-Blackness to investment structures supporting oppression at home and abroad.”
The search for meaning
Freimuth’s love of the outdoors began during his childhood in northwest Connecticut. From a young age, he says, he was interested in big questions: “Why are we here? Why does love feel so right? Why does loss hurt so much? I’m just curious about all these existential questions and this connection between the rest of the natural world and ourselves.”
During his early twenties, he considered attending divinity school but decided he did not have enough life experience. “I knew that for me, my experience would be enriched if I had a little bit more grittiness,” he says.
Freimuth became an English translator in Brazil and worked as a massage therapist in California before moving to New York City to focus on horticulture. He studied at the New York Botanical Garden and in 2016 started a garden design business, CF Gardens (link is external). He acquired some high-profile clients, including fashion designer Michael Kors and actor Drew Barrymore. He made several appearances on Barrymore’s television talk show.
Freimuth says he loved his clients and his work but increasingly wanted to explore the spiritual foundation of his garden design. As he approached 40, he realized he was finally ready for divinity school. He sold his client list and arrived at YDS in Fall 2022.
Freimuth says his time at YDS has been meaningful—partly because he did not receive answers to all his existential questions. “Before I came to divinity school, the whole concept of mystery felt like something I needed to resolve,” he says. “Now, I think one of the greatest gifts of divinity school has been recognizing that mystery is a gift to embrace. YDS has really helped open my mind and open my heart to stop being so preoccupied with finding answers and to relish the questions.”
After he earns his degree in May, Freimuth says he plans to relaunch his business with a new focus on designing gardens that provide sanctuary, healing, and wellness. “I plan to work more with public institutions like hospitals, churches, schools, as well as residential clients—creating gardens that connect people with the world around them in truly meaningful ways,” he says.
“This Earth Where We Live” will be on display through graduation.
Kim Lawton is an award-winning reporter, producer, and writer who has worked in broadcast, print and online media. For nearly 20 years, Lawton was Managing Editor and Correspondent for the highly acclaimed national public television program “Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly.”