Holden Forests and Gardens

See schedule othe Cleveland Botanical Garden is located on 10 acres in the university circle neighborhood of Cleveland. The Garden comprises two indoor glasshouses and outdoor Gardens including the hershey children's Garden, which was designed to engage children in the natural world around them. The Cleveland Botanical Garden is integrated with the Holden arboretum as Holden Forests & Gardens ("hf&g"). The Holden arboretum is located 25 miles from the Garden, in kirtland, oh. Together, the institutions are accredited by the american alliance of museums and represent one of the largest public Gardens in the country. The mission of the two organizations is to connect people with the wonder, beauty, and value of trees and plants, to inspire action for healthy communities. The Cleveland Botanical Garden fulfills this mission through core programming that focuses on horticulture and curation, education, exhibitions and events, and community outreach. In fiscal year 2023 ending september 30, 2023 (fy23), hf&g began a period of leadership transition. Ceo jill koski departed in october 2023, returning home to lead the morton arboretum in the same role. Joel alpern and kathy heflin served as interim co-presidents and ceos from november through august 2023, until newly appointed president and ceo ed moydell joined the organization on september 1, 2023. During this period, hf&g narrowed its comprehensive site plan, identifying the key projects that will ensure that both campuses are welcoming, year-round destinations for all guests that model and catalyze environmental stewardship. Hf&g also continued its core mission-focused programs. Horticulture & collections: the horticulture & collections staff cultivates, maintains, and cares for 4,300 plants in the living collection at the Cleveland Botanical Garden, along with five classes of live animals including over 100 birds, reptiles, amphibians, and mammals, and thousands more insects, that make their homes in the madagascar and costa rica glasshouses. The team maintains the 10 acres of developed and cultivated Gardens, ensuring that guests enjoy a sense of wonder and beauty every time they visit. While the horticulture staff advanced a phased redesign and renovation of signature Gardens at the Botanical Garden in fy23, they also work closely with the exhibits & experiences staff to collaborate on special exhibits and annual productions such as orchids forever and the winter show. In 2023, the collections maintenance team took over the care and management of trees and trails at both campuses, including maintenance of key trees within cbg's biomes. The collections curation staff received a significant award from the institute of museum & library services in 2023, to digitize its decades of data, making plant records and information more accessible to staff, industry professionals, and the public. The horticulture and collections team also works closely with the education staff to support both formal and informal learning experiences. Education: the Cleveland Botanical Garden provides a series of educational opportunities for all ages, from youth and classroom-based programs to adult and continuing education. Classroom- and campus-based programs at the Garden include cle4sci, which serves third grade classrooms in the Cleveland metropolitan school district and circle scholars, in partnership with university circle, inc. The education staff also grew its delivery of the power of plants (pop), an assembly-style program for up to 250 students that includes a presentation and up to four hours of 4 hours of small-group, hands-on activities. In addition to formal and informal elementary-school curricula, the education team also manages the Garden's signature nature-based learning site, the hershey children's Garden, and the indoor, all-season harrington perennial playspace that opened in fy22. Hf&g's education program also offers adult classes and public programs and provides resources for teachers. Between both campuses, 108 campers ages pre-kindergarten through grade 7 attended 10 summer camps in fy23. In total, nearly 8,000 people participated in education programs through the Garden and together, both campuses served approximately 23,000 participants. Exhibitions and events: in fy23, the Garden served over 176,000 total visitors, engaging them in the wonder and beauty of plants and sharing their great value to our communities. The Garden continued annual, visitor-favorite productions including the winter show and orchids forever. In summer 2023, the Garden hosted bloom! Botanicals and birdhouses, featuring the work of local artists the glass asylum and asia armour. The Garden hosted 11 special events, in addition to special exhibitions and informal learning opportunities, that welcomed nearly 10,300 guests in fy23. These special exhibits and events drive general admission, helping to sustain the organization's operating budget, while also drawing in visitors and piquing interest in the importance of nature and the outdoor world. Community outreach: in fy23, hf&g continued to position itself as a community leader in urban greening and forestry, advancing its people for trees campaign to plant 15,000 trees in northeast Ohio by 2025. The community's enthusiastic response continued, and by the end of year three, over 12,000 trees were planted or distributed. The people for trees campaign is hf&g's primary contribution to the Cleveland tree coalition, the group charged with implementing the 2015 Cleveland tree plan to restore the decreasing tree canopy in cuyahoga county. The tree corps program, a paid arboriculture workforce training experience, supported four cohort members and contributed to seeds collected and trees planted and maintained by the conservation and community forestry staff. Beginning in fy23, hf&g used a federal earmark award for urban forestry to provide trees in cuyahoga, lake, and geauga counties. The green corps program also continued to grow in the third year of its new iteration, focused on mentoring, internship experience, and introduction to horticultural career opportunities. Hf&g staff served on the clean Ohio natural resources assistance council; Holden parks trust board; doan brook watershed partnership board of directors; and university circle inc. board of directors and, as a member of the executive committee of the Cleveland tree coalition, participated in that group's strategic planning process.