The Indianapolis Garden Club
Serving Our Community
Over the past 36 years, The Indianapolis Garden Club (IGC) is proud to have provided over $900,000 in grants to more than 30 Indianapolis area nonprofit organizations and institutions. These grants support Community Projects that reflect the mission of our club to restore, improve and protect the quality of the Environment through educational programs and action in the fields of conservation and civic improvements. Beginning in 1996, funding for Community Projects has been provided by proceeds from our annual Garden Walk totaling $825,000.
For grant inquires please contact: igcgrants@gmail.com
Our Community Projects
The Indianapolis Garden Club supports public gardens and green spaces in the Indianapolis area, including: community gardening efforts, public education on correct gardening procedures, civic beautification and conservation efforts, and programs promoting the knowledge and love of gardening. In addition to the grantees highlighted below, other institutions and organizations receiving notable funding from the Indianapolis Garden Club are the Goodwill Greenhouse, Historic Landmarks Foundation, the Indianapolis Art Center, the Indianapolis Cultural Trail, the Indianapolis/Marion County Public Library, the Indianapolis Zoo, and Keep Indianapolis Beautiful.
THE NATURE CONSERVANCY
IGC awarded substantial funds to the Nature Conservancy of Indiana for the creation of a pollinator garden at their LEED Platinum certified headquarters in downtown Indianapolis. Trees, shrubs and native flowers were added to specifically attract a variety of pollinators. New signage was also installed to educate visitors about conservation as they wander the garden.
CONNER PRAIRIE
The IGC has participated in several significant projects at Conner Prairie’s “living history museum.” Most recently, the IGC supported the garden at the “Promised Land as Proven Ground” exhibit. This permanent exhibit showcases the experience of African American Settlers who moved to Indiana as early as 1817. The IGC helped fund a garden in the exhibit area that educates visitors about the foods that the Settlers used in their cuisine such as okra, hot peppers, sweet potatoes, black-eyed peas, watermelon, lavender, rosemary and thyme. The garden was tended and harvested this year and the exhibit will fully open in Spring of 2024. Previous grants were given for restoration of the Conner Prairie Wetlands, native plant landscaping at Conner House, and the iconic “Treehouse” project.
ESKENAZI HEALTH FOUNDATION
The IGC most recently made a grant to fund gardens and pathways at the new Eskenazi Health Center at E. 38th Street and Arlington Avenue. The gardens were designed by the nationally recognized firm Merritt Chase to create a calming, enriching, and therapeutic environment to encourage wholeness and health with the goal of increasing life expectancy in this Health Equity Zone. Previously, the IGC supported the creation of the Sky Farm at Eskenazi Health which continues to provide fresh produce to the Nutrition Services for hospital employees and patients and educates them on healthy choices.
THE PARKS ALLIANCE OF INDIANAPOLIS
In 2020, the Indianapolis Garden Club fulfilled a pledge of $100,000 for landscaping at The Taggart Memorial Amphitheatre at Riverside Park. The Memorial is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and underwent restoration. This significant gift was made to commemorate the Indianapolis Bicentennial and the Ninetieth birthday of the IGC. Additionally, the IGC has supported Indy Urban Acres under the Parks Alliance which grows, harvests, and distributes free produce to those experiencing food insecurity and educates and engages neighborhood residents on farming practices.
HOLLIDAY PARK & NATURE CENTER
The IGC has supported Holliday Park over many years. The largest contribution was to help fund the Nature Center. Most recently, the IGC has provided funding for trees for the newly redesigned playground area opening in Spring of 2025, a pollinator garden and a native garden for the Learning Lab, a Shimmer Garden and other improvements for the restoration of “The Ruins” at Holliday Park.
CROWN HILL HERITAGE FOUNDATION, INC
Crown Hill Cemetery has been the recipient of multiple grants to support the health of this 550-acre Level II Arboretum with over 11,000 inventoried trees near the center of Indianapolis. These include funds for a Tree Management Plan to ensure the vibrancy of Crown Hill in the future, the planting of 25 native Indiana trees, the replacement of 44 diseased ash trees, a watering wagon to water the trees, a map of the trees for self-guided tours, and the beautification of Benjamin Harrison’s gravesite.
NEWFIELDS
The Indianapolis Garden Club has historically supported several projects at the IMA (now Newfields) including most recently, a bioretention area that will be used as a demonstration rain garden at the center of a new overflow parking lot in the Virginia B. Fairbanks Art and Nature Park. Other funds have underwritten a Horticulture Symposium, and “Christmas at the Lilly House.”
BENJAMIN HARRISON PRESIDENTIAL SITE
The Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site is an important historic site in the center of Indianapolis that hosts thousands of visitors every year to the home of the State’s only President. The site does not receive local or state funding. The IGC has supported projects to improve and maintain the historic gardens, trees, and grounds of the Site for many years.
RANDOM ACTS OF FLOWERS
Random Acts of Flowers engages 250 volunteers to recycle donated flowers and create floral arrangements to be distributed to 224 hospitals, senior living and memory care facilities, addiction recovery centers, dialysis treatment centers, hospice facilities, and women’s and children’s health facilities throughout Central Indiana. IGC funds have helped with recycling and composting of the green waste associated with the floral donations.
EASTERSEALS / CROSSROADS
In December of 2023, the IGC approved funding for a Sensory Garden at the Easterseals/Crossroads site to provide visual and auditory or tactile stimulation for children and adults with autism or other neurodiversities, as well as creating a calm space for staff to relax and recharge. The goal of the garden is to provide clients with important productive and holistic opportunities to be outside for exercise, socialization, and nurturing of sensory skills. This important greenspace will be completed in Spring of 2025.
MARIAN UNIVERSITY-RIVERDALE/JENS JENSEN GARDENS
Marian University is home to important historic gardens designed by Jens Jensen. Born in Denmark in 1860 and immigrating to Chicago, Jensen was known as the “Prophet on the Prairie” and created a uniquely American style of landscape architecture much as his contemporary Frank Lloyd Wright did with the design of structures. The IGC has supported numerous projects over the years to restore these gardens.
