Winterthur is very excited to announce a gift of $1 million from Alice Cary Brown and W. L. Lyons Brown, Jr. (Lee) to fund the creation of the Brown Horticulture Learning Center. This gift will be used to adaptively renovate an original estate greenhouse to house the 3,000-square-foot center. Featuring a classroom and meeting space, the center will allow us to expand our educational programming for Members and the public.
The idea for the Horticulture Learning Center grew out of the enthusiasm of our garden supporters, including the Browns. Winterthur’s garden programs, such as the popular Wednesdays at Winterthur and Second Saturdays Garden Walks, have attracted a large audience of avid gardeners interested in exploring the history of the Winterthur Garden as well as learning sound horticultural techniques. With the Horticulture Center, we will be able to expand and diversify these programs.
I am just as excited as the quote made me sound in the newspaper about our ability to reuse a historic piece of architecture for the center.
“The design for the new Horticulture Learning Center is sensitive to the historic nature of the garden, and I am so pleased that our architect, Moeckel Carbonell Associates, and facilities staff were able to design such a creative solution to our classroom needs,” says Chris Strand, Winterthur’s Director of Garden & Estate. “The building that will be renovated was at the heart of Winterthur’s horticultural activities for nearly a century. The character of the old greenhouses and workspaces is something we cherish and will maintain with this project.”
Our Director, Dave Roselle, went on to say, “This gift will transform Winterthur, as the Brown Horticulture Learning Center will be at the core of the estate, joining the museum complex with the Visitor Center. Lee and Alice Cary Brown are leading the way in helping us address the needs of Winterthur, and we applaud their generosity and leadership.”
Below are some images of the greenhouse area in use for our programs, programs taking place out in the garden, and a couple of renderings of the Learning Center that will give you a sense of what it will look like when completed.
On behalf of all of the garden staff here at Winterthur I would like to extend our sincere thanks to the Brown family for this generous gift.
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I think this is wonderful that this is being done as a result of the donation of the Brown Trust . As you well know, my late wife Alberta “Bert” Melloy, who passed away last year after a yearlong fight against cancer, was the Head Flower Arranger for a number of years at Winterthur and author of the successful book “Flower Arranging the Winterthur Way”.
If she were here today, I am sure she would applaud this significant enhancement of the Winterthur enterprise which meant so much to her as a student, guide, arranger, researcher and author.
Congratulations to David Roselle, Chris Strand, and thanks to Alice Cary Brown and W. L. Lyons Brown for this great achievement.
Joe,
Thank you very much for your kind words. Bert did so much to encourage, promote, and innovate through the flower program here at Winterthur. I’m glad we will have a place now to properly hold just the sorts of programs she used to enjoy planning and teaching.
Chris
[...] For more information, please read Chris Strand’s article announcing the gift: http://gardenblog.winterthur.org/2011/02/04/gift-to-garden-announced/ [...]