Giving Opportunities at the ISU Horticulture Center
The Horticulture Center is supported, in part, by the ISU Agriculture Department, but the majority of its funds come from outside support through the Center’s fundraising efforts. To help support the Center and continue to make our programs possible, we thank you for considering a donation.
All support goes to the ISU Horticulture Center - so we can continue to make things grow!
"WHY I DONATE"
BIRDS GIVE BACK
Illinois State University’s annual day of giving where alumni, students, staff, friends, and family unite their philanthropic giving to support student programs at Illinois State University.
February 27th, 2025
LIVING LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT EARTHWORK
November 18th - December 20th
DIRECTOR'S CIRCLE
Recognition is given to donors who contribute $1,000 or more annually. Many thanks to the following amazing supporters!
Kent Seymour
Hal Balbach
Peggy Hundley
Frank & Alice Sanders
Maria Roberts
Kevin Wiand
Laura & Dave Coe
Laura & Michael Freyman
The Drs. Margaret and Harold Balbach Endowment Fund
The Drs. Margaret and Harold Balbach Endowment Fund was created in December 2015 for the purpose of supporting horticulture education programs and the Illinois State University Horticulture Center.
Known to her friends and colleagues as Peggy, Dr. Margaret Balbach contributed greatly to the field of horticulture, both in academia and in our community. Dr. Balbach joined the Department of Agriculture at Illinois State University in 1973, where she founded the still-thriving Horticulture-Agribusiness program and taught courses in plant identification, landscape design, propagation, and floral design. Before retiring from the university in 1994, she attained the rank of Full Professor of Plant and Soil Science.
As a prolific writer, Dr. Balbach authored a weekly horticulture column in the Bloomington Pantagraph from 1976 to 2006, then continued online for several years at PegBalbach.com. She was a charter member of the Garden Writers of America. Finally, Dr. Balbach achieved certifications as a Professional Horticulturist through the American Society for Horticultural Science and, most recently as a Champaign County Master Naturalist. Dr. Balbach established a lasting legacy for horticulture at ISU and in Central Illinois, and we are proud to claim her as one of our own.
The Elizabeth Fairchild Norris Children's Discovery Garden Fund
The Elizabeth Fairchild Norris Children's Discovery Garden Fund was established by Barbara Levine to honor her mother's memory as a Master Gardener. This fund supports activities, programs, maintenance, and operations of the Children's Discovery Garden at the ISU Horticulture Center. This fund also provides support for other gardens at the Center.
The Grant Walsh Student Artist In Residence Program
The Grant Walsh Student Artist In Residence Program was established in memory of Fine Arts undergraduate student, Grant Walsh, who impacted the Horticulture Center with his creativity and love of nature. The endowment provides an honorarium for one student each year to create outdoor artwork to be displayed in our gardens.
Though he was an art major, Grant’s passion for nature also led him to enroll in horticulture classes during his time at ISU. While doing so, Grant not only created marketing materials for the Horticulture Center but also a series of sculptures which were displayed in our gardens, including over-the-top, monumental scarecrows for our Autumnal Festival; a series of plaster human figures dubbed “The Sunbathers”; and “The Worm” which was made from organic materials like moss, pine needles, and pinecones woven around a frame of chicken-wire tubing that arose from the ground between two trees. Grant’s artwork was wild, whimsical, and eminently suited for the spaces they occupied in our gardens. Through his work, he taught us that sculptures in the garden are akin to candles on a birthday cake—the finishing touches that give an object or place its sense of character.
We are forever grateful for Grant’s singular appreciation for creative beauty. The Horticulture Center shares his story and passion with future generations via the Grant Walsh Student Artist in Residence Program.
