We inspire innovation in the arts and sciences by advancing the ideas of W.S. Merwin – his life, work, house and palm forest – as fearless and graceful examples of the power of imagination and renewal.
Our Founders
William Stanley Merwin (1927 – 2019)
Paula Dunaway Merwin (1936-2017)
In 2010, William and Paula Merwin established The Merwin Conservancy to preserve and share the home and garden they made together on Maui. For over forty years, learning from the land as they went, the Merwins transformed a damaged landscape into a lush and rare palm garden. It is now one of the most important assemblages of palms in the world, and a singular place of stillness, wonder, and inspiration.
Putting Life Back Into the World
"In gardening, as my wife and I go about it here, what are called concerns–for ecology and the environment, for example–merge inevitably with work done every day, within sight of the house, with our own hands, and the concerns remain intimate and familiar rather than far away. They do not have to be thought about, they are at home in the mind. I have never lived anywhere that was more true."
— W.S. Merwin
In September 2024, the Merwin Conservancy welcomes Michael Swaine and Archie Wessells of Futurefarmers, a collective of artists, designers, architects,
