Dedication, Celebration and Change

We appreciate and applaud those who’ve been with Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park since the beginning!

Staff Dawn Kibben, Executive Vice President & CFO Shelly Kilroy, Librarian & Archivist

Volunteers Sarabeth Carr Mary Forslund Barbara Beineman Phyllis Webb Linda Fletcher Kathy Brehm Joan Cywinski Andrea Perry Marcia Lucas Joyce DeVries Mary Lynne Peterson Valerie Peacock Susan Coussens Liz Ripley Carol Bryant Jack Gibson Christine Muldoon Gail Haebich Melvina VanderLinde

Dedication, Celebration and Change: Spring Is in the Air!

Spring brings renewal, seen at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park in countless ways. Spring is also when we first opened our doors. We invite you to enjoy all that is new, evolving and inspiring, as we celebrate 27 years of making the world a more welcoming place.

The much-anticipated rededication of the Volunteer Tribute Garden takes place with a ribbon-cutting on April 20. This garden was originally made possible by Fred and Lena Meijer, and Edith (Edie) and Larry Fleming. Edie, a regular Tuesday horticulture volunteer, wanted to help create a garden honoring volunteers. This completely redesigned space celebrates their commitment and devotion and is a gateway to our great outdoors. Everyone who visits will pass through it and see how important volunteers are to Meijer Gardens.

The garden will feature over 100 varieties of trees, shrubs, ornamental perennials, and native plantings. Within you’ll find numerous new plants and varieties, with connections to several local nurseries. The rhododendron garden is revived and refreshed. A reworked plaza and fresh plantings surround Mad Mom, by Tom Otterness. The reinstalled sculpture The Tribute, by Oliviero Rainaldi, honors our volunteers and commemorates Fred and Lena Meijer, whose likenesses are on its exterior and now its interior. A new outdoor classroom, situated above a wetland, allows for inspiring education opportunities.

Oliviero Rainaldi plans to travel from Italy and participate in an evening conversation Tuesday, April 19. Weather permitting, the ribbon-cutting will be held in the garden—with as many current and retired volunteers attending as possible! President & CEO David Hooker and Rainaldi will speak in a short ceremony. We look forward to celebrating volunteers from all the years as we officially reopen the Volunteer Tribute Garden on April 20, our 27th anniversary.

New plantings will appear throughout our grounds. Thousands of bulbs will bloom in the Volunteer Tribute Garden and Lena Meijer Children’s Garden— such as City of Haarlem hyacinth and orange monarch crocus. Additional native plants will join the Volunteer Tribute Garden pond and surrounding wild areas. Opening July 1, the new Tassell-Wisner-Bottrall English Perennial Garden is actively being planted in anticipation of summer, with perennials following woody layers and trees that went in last autumn. There will be plenty for visitors to enjoy in full!

It’s fun to think back and visualize how significant the Meijer Gardens journey has been. When we first opened in 1995, the Lena Meijer Tropical Conservatory was our most iconic building. Other building elements contained two separate gift shops, now comprising the DeVos–Keeler Gift Shop. A café was located in what is now the Arthur & Elizabeth Snell Sculpture Gallery. A smaller Peter M. Wege Library was located off a much narrower Scenic Corridor. “Everything seemed like a tiny fraction of now,” notes Librarian & Archivist Shelly Kilroy. Since the beginning, we were on pace to grow, from the conservatories to outdoor spaces, boardwalk and indoor gardens. In November 1995, we jumped into then Christmas Around the World, with the inaugural Butterflies Are Blooming not far behind.

Today, the majestic Tropical Conservatory stands in conversation with the fantastic new Welcome Center, beautifully complementing each other and saying to our guests, “Welcome to a truly special place.” The James & Shirley Balk Café is now a dedicated space expressing our mission through Dale Chihuly’s iconic Lena’s Garden sculpture and the unique Living Wall garden. The Peter M. Wege Library, now located in the Courtyard Level of the Welcome Center, is much larger and offers an adjacent reading and lounge area overlooking Mimi’s Garden. Finally, the Scenic Corridor is now the BISSELL Corridor at nearly double the size—for the benefit of all and to better showcase Michele Oka Doner’s monumental Beneath the Leafy Crown.

We hit the ground running and we’ll never stop. We’ve been moving, dreaming, growing—with gardens, sculpture, music. In the beginning, Fred Meijer collected and had in storage Marshall Fredericks bronzes. Then Betsy Borre came along, with an idea to create a botanical garden. Fred embraced the opportunity to incorporate his wife Lena’s love of gardens with his love of sculpture. A world-class venue was born.

Gratitude is a form of love. It is with deep gratitude we express our appreciation over the years to the thousands of people who joined Fred and Lena Meijer and Betsy Borre in the ongoing journey that is Meijer Gardens.

© Michele Oka Doner. Kevin Beswick

Terrazzo aggregate, mother of pearl and bronze; 13,000 square feet. Gift of Fred and Lena Meijer.

Commissioned specifically for Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park and displayed prominently in the main hallway, this permanent, functional work of art is a combination of the artist’s imagination and studies of nature. Be sure to notice the bronze elements in the floor. If you look closely, you may be able to identify leaves, roots, buds, twigs, bark and flowers.

FREDERIK MEIJER Gardens & Sculpture Park promotes the enjoyment, understanding, and appreciation of gardens, sculpture, the natural environment, and the arts.

Girl on a Flying Machine, 2008. Mannequin, Dutch wax printed cotton textile, steel, rubber, aluminum. © Yinka Shonibare CBE RA. Courtesy the artist and Stephen Friedman Gallery, London.

Yinka Shonibare CBE: Planets in My Head April 01–October 23, 2022

Cityplace, State 49525-1234 1234 Address Dr. SE Mr. Name Placeholder and Mrs. Name Placeholder Business or Organization Placeholder Line Grand Rapids, MI 49525 1000 East Beltline Avenue NE

agency of the National Endowment for the Arts. Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs, a partner Meijer Gardens receives funding from the Michigan

admission of $2 per person for up to four people. for All. Show your EBT/WIC card for a reduced Meijer Gardens is a proud member of Museums Sunday Saturday

9 am–11 am 8 am–9 am Peter M. Wege Library open at regular hours. Keeler Gift Shop, James & Shirley Balk Café and Gardens is open early to members. The DeVos- The first full weekend of each month, Meijer Sunday Monday–Saturday Tuesday

11 am–5 pm 9 am–5 pm 9 am–9 pm

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