Annual Report 2018 Our Mission
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ANNUAL REPORT 2018 OUR MISSION The mission of Denver Botanic Gardens is to connect people with plants, especially plants from the Rocky Mountain region and similar regions around the world, providing delight and enlightenment to everyone. The four core values of the Gardens — transformation, relevance, diversity and sustainability — spell out the Gardens’ intentions in the years ahead. These core values, along with the Gardens’ brand platform, strategy, icon and capital campaign, are cohesive and serve as a map to chart our course. With the support of friends, we set out to ensure Denver Botanic Gardens will forever flourish. TABLE OF CONTENTS Message from the CEO ...................3 Year in Review .......................4-10 By the Numbers .......................11 Treasurer’s Report ......................13 Financial Report .....................14-15 Board of Trustees ......................16 Message from the Board Chair.............17 Donor List .........................18-23 Volunteers ...........................25 Photo Collage ......................26-29 MESSAGE FROM THE CEO In some ways, 2018 felt like the beginning of an end. After more than a decade of intense fundraising, planning, designing and building, the final project of the Master Development Plan was ready to get underway. The crowd was gathered. The board chairs who initiated the plan were lined up. The architects and builders looked like proud parents. Representatives from the City and County of Denver spoke of more than 60 years of partnership. Volunteers and staff gathered around with looks of enthusiasm and a little disbelief. And a phalanx of donors stood and graciously accepted waves of appreciation. The crescendo came when Ginny and John Freyer and Bob and Judi Newman took turns breaking the ground for the new science, art and education center that would bear their names. They tossed soil into a pot that would be home to a cutting from a juniper planted at the Gardens’ original site in City Park. As it grows, it will be planted in the gardens surrounding the Freyer – Newman Center. And then the realization hit. Completing a project, even the last and largest one, in a Master Development Plan is not an ending. These projects were all carefully chosen because of how they will serve future generations. As the Center rises, we are dreaming of possibilities. How much biodiversity can the herbaria document? Which scholars will be drawn to the rare books collection? We can envision the auditorium activated every day, the classrooms teeming, the art galleries showcasing international legends and local protégés. The neighborhood will have a wonderful new gathering place. And there will be storage – that elusive, unquenchable need – lots of storage. Wrapped together, this Master Development Plan will surpass $115 million in improvements and endowment support. And as we begin with these new assets, we are beginning to see new projects on the horizon. Three York Street gardens need attention. And why not begin a new Master Development Plan for Chatfield Farms? Add in countless new partners, programs and services, and you quickly realize that at Denver Botanic Gardens, it’s all about beginnings. Brian Vogt Denver Botanic Gardens CEO 2 3 YEAR IN REVIEW EXHIBITIONS, ART AND LEARNING ENGAGEMENT CHATFIELD FARMS Six exhibitions were presented throughout the year A record 57,564 people attended Corn Maze and including Pixelated: Sculpture by Mike Whiting and the haunted maze. Invisible Links: Botanical Art & Illustration. Small-scale installations rounded out visitor experience through Renovations were completed on the exterior of the interactive video games, music generated from plants Wayne Christian Center, which houses staff offices. and glass poppies in honor of the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day. Director of Chatfield Farms Larry Vickerman spoke about soil management strategies for achieving Interpretation efforts at Chatfield Farms yielded 40 water efficiency in small-scale agriculture at the bilingual interpretive and wayfinding signs; at York Water, Food, Energy and Environment Nexus with Street biodiversity and water conservation themes the UNESCO World Water Assessment Programme in were highlighted through 264 bilingual plant labels Artist-in-Residence Asuka Hishiki Perugia, Italy in November. and signs. Iris Garden at Chatfield Farms The School of Botanical Art & Illustration (SBAI) Private rentals set a record for number of events and Lavender Festival highlighted a ½ acre of new served nearly 1,500 registrants through 140 courses, Ten students received a foundational certificate in total revenue. garden with 1,250 plants representing 10 new including programs at El Charco Botanical Garden in botanical illustration. Mexico. This marks an almost 30 percent increase in lavender varieties. registrations over 2017. Spanish language capacities increased with the addition of a bilingual Learning Engagement & Despite the comparatively small size of the Republic Dr. Krishnan traveled to Tashkent, Uzbekistan as part As artist-in-residence, Asuka Hishiki from Japan Interpretation Coordinator. of Georgia, it is rich in plant and ecosystem of a delegation of the Plant Collecting Collaborative documented Colorado native plants, working with diversity. Germplasm from the region is broadly for a workshop hosted by the Uzbekistan Institute collections and curatorial staff. adaptable to a variety of climates throughout the of Botany Central Academy of Sciences. This United States, and particularly so in the mid-Atlantic workshop brought together representatives from and Midwestern states. In collaboration with the botanical institutes from other middle Asian countries CENTER FOR GLOBAL INITIATIVES Plant Collecting Collaborative (a consortium of – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. At the end 15 U.S. botanic gardens), Panayoti Kelaidis, of the workshop, the “Tashkent Accord” was signed In September, Dr. Sarada Krishnan, director of Identified as one of the four major steppe regions of director of outreach and senior curator, travelled to strengthen collaboration between participating horticulture and Center for Global Initiatives, presented the world, the Lesotho highlands are an important there targeting seed collections of selected geophyte institutions in joint scientific ventures, plant a lecture at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations region for Denver Botanic Gardens to visit, collect taxa and their various geographical variants. Fifty- expeditions and exchange of information. (ASEAN) capacity building workshop in Laos on the from and gain an understanding of its flora. Curator four accessions were brought back to Denver and Conservation and Sustainable Use of Plant Genetic of Steppe Collections Mike Bone joined scientists and are undergoing testing. Resources for Food and Agriculture (PGRFRA). The goal horticulturists from the Munich Botanical Gardens in is to bring together the ASEAN Member States (AMS) Lesotho to collect seed and to provide horticultural Lesotho, photo by Mike Bone to understand the gap in capacities related to PGRFRA training to staff members of the Katse Alpine and promote agricultural development, food security Botanical Garden. During this trip, 176 accessions and rural viability through four workshops focused were collected. The seeds are currently undergoing on region-wide sharing of PGFRA and developing germination tests. collaborations for joint breeding. The Gardens continued a partnership with the Instituto The first teacher workshop on World Food Prize Global National de Technologia Agropecuria (INTA) in Food Security was held at the Gardens to equip Argentina. Seeds received in 2017 were germinated teachers with the tools to offer the World Food Prize and are undergoing field trials. Seeds collections Youth Institute program at their schools. were made in 2018 to be received in early 2019. The agreement between INTA and the Gardens was extended through December 2020. 4 5 DEVELOPMENT EVENTS The Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS) The fourth year of Glow at the Gardens™ was a huge awarded the Gardens a $250,000 grant for the success: move to the Freyer – Newman Center; it will assist o Attendance: 17,444 (sold out all five nights) in moving, housing and cataloging the institution’s invaluable library, archival, natural history and o Attendance Revenue: $286,028 art collections. o Overall Gross Revenue: $354,480.45 Urban Food Initiatives continue to attract individual and foundation funders for the Chatfield Farms Spring Plant Sale was record-breaking: Veteran Farm Program and farm stands in o Attendance: 14,337 underserved parts of Denver. o Gross revenue achieved: $379,402.47 Architectural rendering of the Freyer — Newman Center In April 2018, the Gardens began asking gift shop (23% higher than 2017) The Sturm Family Foundation committed to a customers if they would like to donate to the Gardens ™ challenge grant of $2,050,000 to finish the funding by rounding up their purchase to the next dollar. In Blossoms of Light , the Gardens’ largest event, of the Freyer – Newman Center. The challenge was nine months, 22,605 transactions of less than a dollar welcomed 145,406 visitors and $1.6 million in completely met by year end, with a total of each totaled $10,728.27 in new gifts to the Gardens. revenue, which exceeded the revenue goal by $43 million raised for the capstone project of the $500,000. Master Development Plan. Contributing Memberships at $2,500 and above reached record numbers of 78 member households