The Morton Arboretum

Thank you to the 350 guests who attended the 2026 Evergreen Gala: Joy, supporting the Arboretum's vision of a greener, healthier, more beautiful world where people and trees thrive together. This year’s gala was a joyous event that focused on just that–JOY and the ways in which we celebrate nature and our connections to it locally and across the globe. The September 19 event raised a record-breaking $819,000 in essential funds for the Arboretum and brought together supporters, civic leaders, partners, and staff. We are grateful to all who attended the event to support the Arboretum at the gala and year-round! A full album of 2026 Evergreen Gala photos will be available for event attendees in the coming days.

That's a wrap on the 2026 Youth Volunteer Program! 🌳 Another fun-filled season of exploring careers in STEM, learning, and even teaching others about nature. Youth Volunteers... 🖍️ Led play-based activities for families in the Children's Garden 🌱 Cared for trees and plants 🔎 Facilitated Summer Science Camp 🌲 Monitored trees for tree health The Youth Volunteer Program is a place for everyone—building confidence, fostering a love of nature, and inspiring future generations of Tree Champions. 💚 Support provided by International Paper and DuPage Foundation.

We’re delighted to welcome Shannon Weinberger to The Morton Arboretum’s Board of Trustees! A DuPage County resident and dedicated board leader of several local nonprofits and municipal agencies, Shannon brings a passion for serving the community and the environment. Her current board affiliations include The Garden Clubs of Illinois, La Grange Country Club Foundation, the Village of Hinsdale Historic Preservation Commission, the Avery Coonley School, and Northfield Mount Hermon, among others. With a background in elementary education as a second-grade science teacher, along with her deep appreciation for the natural world, inspired at a young age by her parents who are biologists, Shannon deeply resonates with the Arboretum’s mission to study, plant, and protect trees. Her expertise in board governance, vision, and commitment to the community will be invaluable in advancing the Arboretum’s mission. Please join us in welcoming Shannon to our Board of Trustees!

The Morton Arboretum is honored to announce that we have been named a co-winner in World Business Chicago’s Horizon Lines: Visions for Chicago 2050 competition for our innovative urban design concept, “Green City Rising: People and Trees Thriving Together,” alongside landscape architecture firm MKSK’s submission, “Wonderways!” Among six finalists out of nearly 200 total Horizon Lines submissions, “Green City Rising” envisions a citywide system of interconnected tree-focused landscapes planned and designed directly by the local communities. These spaces would reflect the city’s cultural richness and support walking, gathering, and daily life. It reimagines Chicago as an arboretum—a connected network of tree-centric green spaces where every neighborhood benefits from a healthy tree canopy by 2050. Both MKSK’s “Wonderways!” and “Green City Rising” strongly align with advancing Chicago’s historic identity as “Urbs in Horto,” a City in a Garden, as interest in trees and green spaces as essential civic infrastructure continues to grow. We are proud to expand the work that Arboretum staff is already doing through programs like the Chicago Region Trees Initiative and ArbNet. Additionally, we are thankful to our partners Blacks In Green (BIG) and Urban Growers Collective. Special thanks to Vocon, who supported the Green City Rising proposal by creating renderings of BIG’s proposed Community Resilience Garden. Find out how you can get involved with “Green City Rising”: https://arb.eco/4yDOYEg. Second image courtesy of World Business Chicago.

Get inspired by nature this school year! 🌳 🚌 Teacher Tuesdays are back this summer through September 29, offering free admission for current educators to explore the Arboretum and learn about its many educational resources! 🎒 Classroom teachers, homeschool teachers, and pre-service student teachers from preschool through college qualify for the program. 🍎 Free Teacher Tuesday passes are available on a first-come, first-served basis and must be requested in advance. Interest forms open Wednesdays at 8 a.m. and close Fridays at 4 p.m., unless capacity is reached. Capacity may vary each week. 🔗 Plan ahead and submit your interest form the week before your desired Teacher Tuesday: https://arb.eco/3Sc1hbA. Teacher Tuesdays are generously supported by Dover Corporation.

🌳 Help grow a greener community! The Chicago Region Trees Initiative Community Tree Toolkit Grant provides essential tree-planting equipment to individuals, community groups, and nonprofits in qualifying disadvantaged communities. Each toolkit includes everything from shovels, pruners, and loppers to gloves, buckets, soil probes, and more—giving communities the tools they need to plant, care for, and expand the region’s tree canopy. 🌱 The grant is available statewide, so you may be eligible even if you’re outside the Chicagoland area. Learn more and apply today: https://arb.eco/3U9V6Fu.

August is National Make-A-Will Month—a great time to consider including The Morton Arboretum in your estate planning. Your generosity can help ensure our mission to plant and protect trees continues for generations to come. 🌳 Learn how you can make the Arboretum’s work part of your legacy: https://arb.eco/4qqtJ61.

A new exhibition is sprouting up at the Arboretum, opening May 22, 2027! 🌱 Tree Dimensions, an innovative outdoor exhibit, invites visitors to step inside a tree sculpture, climb on roots, and discover the hidden systems that sustain forests from different perspectives. 🌳 Ranging from 11 to 20 feet tall, the exhibition will feature five large-scale sculptures that create colorful, immersive spaces for exploration, Magic School Bus style! 🚌 The sculptures are inspired by the distinct elements of a tree—its flowers and fruit, leaves, branches, trunk, and roots. 🍁 Combining vibrant colors, architectural forms, and hands-on, playground-like elements, the works create immersive environments that encourage curiosity, exploration, play, and contemplation. 🎨 These pieces were created exclusively for the Arboretum by Chilean visual artist Rommy González and produced by art agency Millecent, Thomas Deveaux, and Priscila Dantas. Designed in collaboration with Chilean architect José Francisco Calbacho. 🔗 Learn more about Tree Dimensions: https://arb.eco/4xOfkTC. ¡Una exposición nueva llegará al Arboretum y abrirá sus puertas el 22 de mayo de 2027! 🌱 Tree Dimensions, una innovadora exposición al aire libre, invita a los visitantes a entrar en una escultura con forma de árbol, trepar por sus raíces y descubrir, desde distintas perspectivas, los sistemas ocultos que sustentan los bosques. 🌳 Con alturas de entre 11 y 20 pies, la exposición contará con cinco esculturas de gran tamaño que crearán espacios coloridos e inmersivos para explorar, ¡al estilo de Magic School Bus! 🚌 Las esculturas se inspiran en los elementos distintivos de un árbol: sus flores y frutos, hojas, ramas, tronco y raíces. 🍁 Combinando colores vibrantes, formas arquitectónicas y elementos interactivos propios de un parque infantil, las obras crean entornos inmersivos que fomentan la curiosidad, la exploración, el juego y la contemplación. 🎨 La artista visual chilena Rommy González creó estas piezas exclusivamente para el Arboretum, y la agencia de arte Millecent, Thomas Deveaux, y Priscila Dantas se encargó de su producción. Diseñadas en colaboración con el arquitecto chileno José Francisco Calbacho. 🔗 Obtenga más información sobre Tree Dimensions: https://arb.eco/4io0yym.

Thank you to everyone who attended the Arboretum’s panel discussion last Friday at the Chicago Cultural Center about our “Green City Rising” finalist concept in World Business Chicago’s Horizon Lines competition. Panelists included Jill Koski, Morton Arboretum President and CEO, Andrea Brennan, ArbNet Manager, Karen Magid, Director of Scientific and Government Relations, and Zach Wirtz, Director of the Arboretum’s Chicago Region Trees Initiative (CRTI). It was a great discussion about Green City Rising as a tested, scalable, data-driven, and impactful vision, positioning Chicago as a leader in climate resiliency and environmental equity. The Arboretum’s Green City Rising vision is just one way in which we advocate for a greener, healthier, more beautiful world where people and trees thrive together, inspired by the work that Arboretum teams, including ArbNet and CRTI, are already doing across the region and beyond. See the Horizon Lines public exhibition at the Chicago Cultural Center before it closes on September 20, 2026. Visit the World Business Chicago website for more information: https://arb.eco/3R4PviB.

Back to school, back to nature! 🎒🌳 Shake up your fall curriculum with a field trip to the Arboretum! Trust us, we know fall. 🍁 🔎 Come explore our 1,700-acre classroom! 📆 Register for fall field trips by Friday, October 30. 🔗 Learn more: https://arb.eco/4cKbhj0.