Garden Conversations: Creating a Children’s Discovery Garden

Please join us for breakfast at Weldon’s Museum Hill Café on Wednesday, April 8th, for an engaging discussion on the Garden’s exciting next phase of growth. Begin the morning with Christie Collins, our Director of Education, who will frame the vision for how the future Children’s Discovery Garden will foster hands-on learning, curiosity, and meaningful connections to nature. Designers from Surroundings Studio will then share the creative process behind the Garden’s interactive and interpretive features, grounded in science and play. After breakfast, step onto the actual site—currently undeveloped and on the cusp of transformation—for a guided walk through the future Children’s Discovery Garden ahead of this summer’s groundbreaking. Reservations required; garden admission included. Christie Collins is a naturalist with over 15 years of experience in environmental education, interpretation, and conservation. She serves as Vice Chair of the Global Entomology Coalition and represents New Mexico within the National Association for Interpretation. Her career has included leadership roles in science education, habitat restoration, and public programming across the country. Christie holds degrees in Biology and Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management and is passionate about advancing invertebrate conservation. Kenneth Francis, FASLA, is the founding principal of Surroundings, a New Mexico–based multidisciplinary design studio. He holds degrees in architecture from The Cooper Union and landscape architecture from Harvard’s Graduate School of Design, where he researched the historic acequia landscapes of Northern New Mexico. His work explores the cultural and ecological dimensions of water, shaping innovative designs recognized regionally and nationally. Abby Feldman holds a Master of Landscape Architecture from Harvard’s Graduate School of Design, where she received the Jacob Weidenman Prize for design excellence. After more than a decade with award-winning firms and…