Minnesota Landscape Arboretum Foundation

Minnesota Landscape Arboretum Foundation

The Minnesota Landscape Arboretum Foundation was established in 1971 as the fundraising and financial-support arm for the University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. Executive Director Andrew Gapinski assumed leadership in May 2023, overseeing the organization's dual mandate: maintaining the Arboretum's 1,200-acre grounds and 28 display gardens, and stewarding the endowment that funds operations. The Foundation supports what is effectively a living museum — one of only a handful of public gardens nationwide to hold American Alliance of Museums accreditation — alongside the Andersen Horticultural Library, one of North America's most comprehensive horticultural reference collections. The Foundation's deployment model is unusual. It operates as a hybrid cultural institution and university affiliate, directing capital toward physical infrastructure, educational programming, and curatorial assets. Physical holdings include the Burton and Virginia Myers Education Center, Betty's Apple House, and the Harrison Sculpture Garden — which houses significant works including Construction (Crucifixion) and Gahn Dancer II, donated by philanthropists Alfred and Ingrid Harrison. The grounds themselves represent the single largest asset: 3675 Arboretum Drive sits roughly 25 miles southwest of Minneapolis, functioning as both a visitor destination and a living laboratory for the University of Minnesota's horticultural research programs. Governance flows through a Board of Trustees — President Glenn Stolar leads the board, with former Cargill legal executive Linda Cutler serving as Trustee Emeritus and former Treasurer. The Foundation's estimated asset base is approximately $116.6 million (Altss estimate), modest by major endowment standards but substantial for a public-garden supporting organization. In May 2023, Gapinski's elevation to Executive Director marked a leadership transition at an institution that draws roughly 500,000 annual visitors and runs one of Minnesota's most active member-volunteer programs. The Foundation's structural differentiator is its museum accreditation within a university ecosystem. Unlike standalone botanical gardens funded primarily by gate receipts or municipal budgets, the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum Foundation exists as a legally distinct entity that controls real property, curates a permanent sculpture collection, and maintains a rare-book library — all while funneling philanthropic dollars to a state university entity. That institutional architecture gives it grantmaking capabilities and endowment-management obligations rarely seen in horticultural nonprofits.