ANOTHER AMAZING YEAR, BECAUSE OF YOU

Ballet West performance in the Amphitheatre last August. Photo by Beau Pearson.

Reflecting on the year that was 2021, we’ve come to one conclusion about our loyal members, generous donors, and dedicated volunteers—you like us. You really, really like us! And you never wavered in your support of Red Butte Garden.

After a challenging and uncertain 2020, you came back in force as we resumed usual programming and services in 2021. From concerts to summer camps, Botany Boxes to BOOtanical, you helped us build bridges, literally and figuratively, to reinforce and expand our impact in communities throughout Utah and beyond.

Thanks to private donations, we were able to serve over 2,800 children through our community outreach and on-site youth programs designed to build an appreciation and understanding of plants and our larger ecosystem. We modified our award-winning Botany Bin program to create individualized Botany Boxes for 9,614 school children in 98 schools statewide, to enable them to conduct their own experiments and research at home, bridging online instruction with realworld experiences.

Your support helped bridge our social distances by allowing us to come together once again last summer to enjoy artists from all over the world at our Outdoor Concert Series. Against many odds, we were able to pull off a full season of performances where nearly 62,000 folks could get footloose with Kenny Loggins and real with Lukas Nelson; be mesmerized by YoYo Ma and hypnotized by Khruangbin; and stay human with Michael Franti while wearing cheap sunglasses with ZZ Top. Also with your support, we built another bridge to the arts by showcasing the talents of Ballet West dancers and Sundance Institute filmmakers on our amphitheatre stage.

Top: The Sea Witch Grotto and The Queen of Hearts Garden during BOOtanical Bottom: A portion of the new Six Bridges Trail Our gardens were fortified through the tireless efforts of our dedicated staff and volunteers who were buoyed by a resounding show of support of our year-end campaign to fund general operating needs. No garden grows unattended, and staffing is Red Butte’s greatest operating expense.

Our conservation efforts bridged time with our continued research into the Four Corners Potato and collaborations with Indigenous populations to protect and better document the plant. We bridged the gap to homebound, elderly, and underserved constituents through the expansion of online classes and adult workshops. And for almost an entire month, we reimagined the Garden into a fairytale haunt to transport guests of all ages to a magical kingdom of BOOtanical proportions—delighting the senses and sensibilities of nearly 11,000 garden ghouls.

Last but not least, we opened our newest public attraction, the Six Bridges Trail where we literally built six bridges over Red Butte’s namesake creek. This new feature connects guests of all ages and abilities with a previously inaccessible portion of the Garden. A vision of our late founder and benefactor Zeke Dumke Jr., the Six Bridges Trail has quickly become a visitor favorite since its quiet unveiling this past fall.

We have achieved many great things this past year, all thanks to your unwavering support. And for that, we are immeasurably grateful and humbled. We feel loved—really, really loved. We hope the feeling is mutual.

Angela Wilcox manages the Garden’s Concert Donor Club and major gifts programs. A graduate of the University of Utah (BA, Communications), she held development positions at KUED Public Television and the President’s Office prior to joining the Garden in 2016.