empathy, and hope. Woven Words: Poetry at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum currently includes more than a dozen installations. An additional dozen poems (or portions of poems) will be installed during this year.


The growth of the Art Institute in both student enrollment and variety of classes has necessitated the creation of additional classroom space. This year we have more than 650 students taking more than 100 classes! Plans have been approved and


planting of night-blooming Cereus (placed along the outside edge of the garden so they can be appreciated during Cool Summer Nights). A total of 423 new individual cacti were added and the overall impact is absolutely stunning. This garden is the best it has ever been!


Now the Museum is turning attention to an extensive renovation of the Agave garden. Current plans include new rockwork in which we will plant agave that will replicate


live birds, interactive sculpture, poetry, and prose, along with a bit of potty humor! This latter term can be applied both literally and figuratively, as this approach allowed us to take advantage of the somewhat unattractive elements of vulture natural history (bald birds, urohydrosis, vomiting when in a panic etc.) to tell a story in an entirely engrossing manner.


While on site, we reconfigured the adjacent burrowing owl aviary so that the birds have


funding has been secured to construct a beautiful building featuring four classrooms as well as additional office and storage space. This space will be added to the northeast corner of the Taylor Plaza in 2017, with a grand opening anticipated in January of 2018. More than a building, this project will be a complementary extension of existing structures and patio spaces and will allow us to accommodate growth in programs, number of students, and art-related experiences far into the future.


BOTANICAL EXHIBITS As work progressed on a new aviary (see Vulture Culture), we renovated the Haag Cactus Garden which incorporated a new approach to the entrance with unique, rustic metal planters. We also rebuilt and re-contoured planters, introduced new substrates that are much better for the plants, and added design features such as a serpentine planting of Devil’s Walking Stick that follows the natural flow of the land. We added 13 new species of cacti, new Trichocereus hybrids that have the largest flowers we have ever seen, and expanded


a natural limestone formation and a new landscape architectural feature for blue agave that celebrates their agricultural importance and the beauty of their form. New lighting will provide built-in freeze protection and will double as lighting for Cool Summer Nights. Passive rainwater collection for the plantings and a more sophisticated irrigation system will enhance this area. In addition, we will add roughly 20 new species and a total of more than 200 new plants. All of these improvements will deepen our focus on agaves, better display and protect our critically important agave collection, introduce new water conservation measures, and create an amazing aesthetic experience. We are confident this garden will be another Museum


“showstopper” that will attract attention from around the country.


ZOOLOGICAL EXHIBITS Return of the Birds was developed to bring back several species of birds. The first phase of this project was a new aviary known as Vulture Culture which features black and turkey vultures. Vulture Culture introduces visitors to nature’s “clean up crew” by using


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more space to live and their keepers have more space in which to work. We also replaced the heavy wire with ASDM’s own Invisinet fencing, removed all of the thick metal poles and replaced them with artificial (steel) agave stalks. These changes make the exhibit much more attractive, open, and naturalistic.


In addition to these aviaries, we just expanded our focus on the Gulf of California with the completion of Stingray Touch. This stunning, state-of-the-art outdoor experience features cownose rays and, while it is entirely interactive and loads of fun, the approach goes well beyond entertainment. It focuses on stingray natural history, sustainable seafood, and connects visitors to marine conservation. It also takes a different approach with the touch experience. Unlike many current stingray experiences where visitors touch the rays, with our experience the rays touch you. There are many reasons we’ve taken this new approach: • It is a much calmer way of interacting with these animals making it a better experience for the rays;


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