The Intangible or the Practical

At a recent Dunn Gardens fundraising event, patrons were enchanted by a retrospective of artistic endeavors from Cornish College of the Arts.

At a recent Dunn Gardens fundraising event, patrons were enchanted by a retrospective of artistic endeavors from Cornish College of the Arts. Tanya DeMarsh-Dodson, chair of the Dunn Gardens Board, observed at the time that both Dunn and Cornish were over 100 years of age. As a consequence, these two organizations share the happy distinction of expressing creative skill and imagination over time, in the Pacific Northwest.

Tanya also spoke to the reason why people support art that articulates and defines cultural evolution. I quote from her remarks.

We, as individuals, come to be self-aware conscious citizens of this planet and we raise our children to achieve the same.  It seems to me, a very important part of this process is an awareness of one’s own cultural rootedness in a place on this spaceship earth.

She noted that in the case of the Dunn Gardens, with its two eras of garden design on display, a wander through the property is a chance to step back in time and absorb the art and sensibilities of the eras. This experience of what came before becomes part of us, enriches our lives, and gives us a solid sense of place.

Now if you are of a more practical bent and do not relate readily to the art argument in support of sustaining the Dunn, we have another. We have an uncountable number of trees at the Gardens.  One tree can absorb as much as 48 pounds of carbon dioxide per year, and can sequester one ton of carbon dioxide by the time it reaches 40 years old. So the Dunn Gardens’ trees are doing considerable clean up duty in the middle of a large city, particularly as there are many conifers that live up to 300 years.  

Fortunately, the Dunn Gardens has loyal supporters who believe in either the intangible or the practical argument. Or incline toward both. Among them are Pam and Chuck Lyford who have proposed a matching grant as part of the May 3, Give Big initiative sponsored by the
Seattle Foundation. The Lyfords will match donations dollar for dollar up to $500.

We do indeed thank you one and all for your generosity in helping the Dunn Gardens remain one of Seattle’s treasures.

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For those unfamiliar with Give Big, 2016 will be the sixth year the Seattle Foundation is sponsoring this initiative. It is a one-day, online charitable giving event designed to raise money for the region’s nonprofits. Like all nonprofits that are part of the Seattle Foundation The Dunn Gardens benefits since the money donated is ‘stretched ‘ by the Foundation so we get more than is donated.