Celebrating Red Mountain Garden Club and Birmingham Museum of Art’s 70 Years of Partnership

Art Harmonizes with Nature at the Memorial Garden

February 12, 2025

By: Blair Robbins

For 70 years, the Red Mountain Garden Club (RMGC) has overseen the design, installation, and maintenance of the Memorial Garden at the Birmingham Museum of Art. This garden, dedicated to those who have enriched Birmingham through their work and gifts, has become a landmark, recognized in 2010 by the American Planning Association as one of the top 10 great public spaces in America.

In 1955, RMGC hired local landscape architect William Kessler to design the garden. Since then, RMGC has been the sole sponsor of all maintenance and significant projects in the garden, from the planting of ten memorial trees to the recent installation of landscape lighting. In the 1990’s, the construction of a new museum wing necessitated major changes to the garden, which now includes tiled reflecting pools by artist Valerie Jaudon and sculpture by Auguste Rodin and Fernando Botero. 
Throughout the decades, RMGC has supported the garden with fundraisers and club members’ donations. Since 1982, the club has hosted an annual Greenery Sale in December, offering cut greenery, mailbox decorations, wreaths, and arrangements. The proceeds from this sale help finance the Memorial Garden upkeep.

The 70-year partnership highlights the power of community collaboration. The museum's support and the dedication of the RMGC has created and enhanced a space that serves as a peaceful retreat, a venue for meetings, weddings, and receptions, and an educational green space for children on school field trips. This collaboration continues to provide a versatile green space for all to enjoy, reflecting shared commitment to enhancing Birmingham's cultural and natural landscape.