Dear Garden Supporter:
It was truly an amazing spring and summer at the Garden – and we are on track to welcoming the most visitors to the Garden ever!
The new “Garden Conversations at Weldon’s Museum Hill Café” program was a huge success – four of the five sessions were sold out. And Santa Fe’s unpredictable spring weather held true when it snowed at the first session on April 28th! Staff are already working on next year’s programming, so stay tuned.
In June, everyone who attended “Growing Traditions: Celebrating a Decade on Museum Hill” enjoyed seeing old friends, meeting new ones, and celebrating the remarkable successes of the Garden in just ten years. And we raised over $50,000 to support Garden operations.
The “Plants and Their Pollinators: Conserving Biodiversity” programming was very well received, especially Dr. Kim Pegram’s lecture on “Monarchs and Milkweeds” and Xerces Society Executive Director Scott Black’s lunch and lecture on “Pollinators and Climate Change.” But the highlight of the series was the “Moth Project,” which drew more than 100 guests to the Garden to experience the performance.
The new “Members Only Mornings in the Garden” is very popular and will be continued in 2024. The next one is Saturday, October 14th (8-9 am). Staff are busy developing additional members-only programming for next year.
The $600,000 in capital outlay funding for the restroom project is now available to the Garden. Proposals for detailed schematic design of the project have been solicited and if all goes well construction could begin in spring or early summer of 2024.
And, as I mentioned at the June celebration, thanks to the generous support of three donors, the Garden is moving forward with development of a “Children’s Discovery Garden.” A design team of Surroundings Studio of Santa Fe and Weddle Gilmore Architects of Scottsdale, Arizona has been selected to design the new garden. The design process is scheduled to begin next month (November) with construction slated to start in summer of 2024.
And there is still time to enjoy Piñon Country: Illuminating the Interdependence of Life in the Iconic Woodland of the Arid West, by photojournalist and nature photographer Christina M. Selby. Christina’s photo art exhibition runs through the end of November.
We have been busy! I believe 2023 will prove to be one of the most successful years in the Garden’s short history thanks in large part to your continued support of the Garden and its programs. Your generous financial investment in the Garden is sincerely appreciated and without which we could not fulfill the Garden’s mission.
And finally, I look forward to seeing Garden members on Friday, October 6th at “Wine Down in the Garden” a celebration of YOU, our members, and an amazing year at the Garden. These are exciting times at the Garden, and I look forward to seeing you at some of our fun Fall and Winter events soon.
Best wishes and thank you for your continued support.
David A. Young, Ph.D.
Executive Director
