Our Mission

We preserve and enhance Dunn Gardens as a public resource, celebrating the original 1915 Olmsted design and showcasing the evolution of garden design in the Pacific Northwest.

2023 Calendar sign

2023 Calendar

Purchase a 2023 Dunn Gardens Calendar

Visiting & Tours

There are three ways to visit the gardens:

  • Take a Docent-led tour
  • Become a Member and wander on Wander days
  • Come to an Open-Garden Event which is open to the public

Donate

Preservation of the Dunn Gardens is dependent on your generosity and we thank you for your support. You can donate to the Dunn Gardens Endowment, General Funding, or for a specific purpose. Your gifts are tax-deductible. Thank you!

Rent the Garden

We invite you to rent a room for your next small event in our private garden setting. It is an ideal location for a quiet corporate retreat or meeting, a self-catered meal, cocktail party, picnic, or a micro-wedding ceremony.

Find out more about renting a room and what a micro-wedding is!

Black Lives Matter

Dunn Gardens in Support of Black Lives Matter

The Dunn Gardens stands in support of Black Lives Matter and are deeply saddened by the brutal violence and senseless killings occurring across the country. We recognize the growing disparities within our communities due to deep-rooted racial injustices and acknowledge our duty to proactively address these inequalities as an agent for positive change.

The creation of the E.B. Dunn Historic Garden Trust in 1993 was to provide a garden open for the public to enjoy. While we strive to provide a tranquil, inclusive and safe green space, we must first acknowledge our roots. Designed by the Olmsted Brothers Landscape firm in 1915 as a private family garden, enjoyment of this space was limited to friends and family. Frederick Law Olmsted (1822-1903) was a pioneer in recognizing the disparities in access to such public and private green space, writing, "The enjoyment of the choicest natural scenes in the country and the means of recreation connected with them is thus a monopoly, in a very peculiar manner, of a very few very rich people. The great mass of society, including those to whom it would be of the greatest benefit, is excluded from it."

Today, we recognize this monopoly still exists. We continually seek to make the Dunn Gardens welcoming and inclusive, and recognize our responsibility to proactively reach out to the Black community and people of color to listen, seek varying perspectives and take action to diversify our Board, staff and visitors.

We look forward to sharing, learning and growing together, and welcome any suggestions to strengthen our ties with diverse populations in our city and region.