Benefactor Events
The Los Angeles Arboretum Foundation invites you to become an Arboretum Benefactor and join a membership society that offers special benefits and demonstrates the highest level of commitment in sustaining the Arboretum as an important community resource. All Benefactors are invited to a series of exclusive events, special lectures, opening celebrations, and behind-the-scenes programs annually. To join or upgrade your membership, please contact Lori Smith at 626. 821.3237 or lori.smith@arboretum.org
UPCOMING!
November 15, 2026 – Arboretum Benefactors will enjoy a special al fresco performance by Bardfly Theatre Co. of The Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde’s farcical comedy that satirizes Victorian manners. Benefactors will also enjoy refreshments and hear from Arboretum leadership.
Get Wild at the Arboretum
May 17, 2026 – The program highlighted wildlife at the Arboretum. Guests also heard from Arboretum leadership and met several raptors up close. The event culminated in the dusk release of a rehabilitated Great Horned owl back into the wild by the LA County San Dimas Raptor Rescue.
All Aboard: Celebrating the Restoration of the historic Santa Anita Train Depot
February 22, 2026 –Benefactors learned about the Depot’s history and participated in special docent-led tours of the building originally constructed by the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad in 1890. Arboretum leadership shared updates while guests enjoyed afternoon refreshments in the courtyard.
Welcome for Su Oh & Celebration of Overlook Terrace
June 1, 2025 – Benefactors gathered with Arboretum leadership to welcome new LA County Arboretum and Botanic Garden Chief Executive Officer, Su Oh, and participated in the unveiling of the beautifully restored Lee & Chen Family Overlook Terrace.
Wild Energy
October 4, 2024 – Benefactors previewed a multi-channel sound installation set along the Arboretum’s Forest Path and heard from the artists who created it. The sound installation featured scientific recordings inaudible to the human ear but amplified for this immersive experience. The program was presented as part of Energy Fields: Vibrations of the Pacific, co-presented by Fulcrum Arts and Chapman University as part of the Getty’s PST ART: Art & Science Collide.
Archiving Eden: Exchange
September 8, 2024 – Shirley Watts curated this exhibit featuring a Dornith Doherty art piece with X-rays of native CA seeds located in Meadowbrook Garden. Through exchange events, visitors removed and kept one X-ray and replaced it with an actual Lupine seed in a glassine bag. Over several months the colorful art piece transformed from art to a living seed bank. Benefactors participated in the first seed exchange at the event which also featured remarks from leadership, the curator and artist.
Queen Anne Cottage Private Opening Celebration
May 5, 2024 –Benefactors enjoyed a private opening celebration of the Queen Anne Cottage which had undergone historic preservation work for over five years. Constructed in 1885, ‘Lucky’ Baldwin created a beautiful statement of modern architecture and beauty, that even now, is one of the Arboretum’s most treasured structures.
Visitor Plaza Opening Celebration
June 29, 2023 – The Arboretum’s largest capital campaign and construction project debuted at this exclusive event. LA County, Parks and Recreation, and Foundation representatives welcomed donors to the newly opened Visitor Plaza; the new entrance contains the Arrival Plaza, Welcome Plaza, Ticketing Pavilion, and Horticultural Walk of Fame.
An Afternoon Amid the Roses
May 7, 2023 – A refreshing drink in hand, while walking the Arboretum’s Rose Garden in peak bloom, accompanied by the sweet notes of a string quartet, set the perfect ambience for an the Afternoon Amid the Roses Benefactor Event.
Sunset Atop Tallac Knoll
August 28, 2022 – A cool summer’s eve atop Tallac Knoll, experiencing one of the Arboretum’s most evocative landscapes at dusk. Guests were whisked away to enjoy, food, drink, music, and the Arboretum’s most scenic vista of the San Gabriel Mountains. Our horticultural experts led short walks through the tranquil aquatic garden, into the plumeria grove in its full fragrant bloom, and amidst the Engelmann Oaks where important conservation work continues.
Garden of Quiet Reflection Celebration
April 23, 2022 – The Garden of Quiet Reflection, presents quotations of life wisdom from around the world along a shaded path through botanical collections representing the rich floras of East Asia. Benefactors learned how this garden began with an idea and a generous gift, from longtime Arboretum friends Margaret and Dennis Page, that evolved from concept to completion in the hands of Julie Moir Messervy Design Studio in Vermont and Korn Randolph Landscape Architects in Pasadena. The result is a contemplative journey of words and plants, fostering peace, reflection, and quiet enjoyment of the natural world.
Programming paused during 2020-2021
Redwood Reborn
June 23, 2019 – The amazing story of the Dawn Redwood and its rebirth as a musical instrument was celebrated with an afternoon of nature, art and music. Harvard University’s Peter Del Tredici, senior scientist at the Arnold Arboretum, shared how the Dawn Redwood, once thought to be extinct, was discovered and journeyed to North America, to make possible the 12 specimens that thrive at the Arboretum today. Luthier and artist Dennis Hays discussed the guitar he created from a fallen Dawn Redwood, known for its musical qualities, for the Forces of Nature II exhibit in 2017 featuring art made the Arboretum’s fallen trees. Internationally renowned guitarist Laurence Juber performed pop and jazz classics on this gorgeous instrument.
Digital Nature Opening Reception
February 27, 2019 – Guests met and greeted the artists whose work was projected onto the night landscape of the Arboretum. The exclusive opening night reception featured artist talks and live music. Inspired by the natural world and technology, the artists explored themes as diverse as butterfly camouflage, bird songs and heavy metal, and digital wildflowers. The exhibit was supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts and curated by Shirley Alexandra Watts.
