October 12, 2026 | Sarasota, FL. –Marie Selby Botanical Gardens is pleased to announce the establishment of the Institute for Nature and the Arts, a new interdisciplinary initiative exploring the connections between the natural world and the arts. Conceived under the leadership of President and CEO Jennifer Rominiecki, the Institute reflects Selby Gardens’ commitment to fostering creativity, discovery, and a deeper understanding of the relationship between people and nature. The Institute will operate under the direction of Selby Gardens’ Vice President for Visitor Experience, Dr. David Berry.
Building upon the success of Selby Gardens’ The Living Museum® operating model, the Institute for Nature and the Arts will bring together a number of existing programs at Selby Gardens, including its living artist collaborations, artist residency, and exhibitions, which creatively combine art and horticulture at both the Downtown Sarasota and Historic Spanish Point campuses. The Institute will also oversee Selby Gardens’ public lecture series, designed to engage audiences with interesting aspects of science and art across all media. In addition, the Institute will manage commercial publications intended to share the richness of Selby Gardens’ outstanding living, preserved, and library collections with readers everywhere.
Jennifer Rominiecki commented, “We are incredibly excited to launch the Institute for Nature and the Arts and to advance the success of Selby Gardens’ The Living Museum® model. This new Institute creates even more opportunities to bring nature, art, and ideas together, inspire our audiences with creativity, and share the extraordinary beauty of the natural world.”
Another primary objective of the Institute is to foster collaboration across disciplines, resulting in new creative projects and activities. The Institute’s aim is to promote the potential of the arts as a means of expressing scientific concepts and discoveries, as well as to enhance the perception of nature and the natural sciences as sources of artistic inspiration. The arts will be used to activate Selby Gardens’ research collections in creative ways, with the goal of furthering a greater understanding and appreciation of plants as essential to all life on Earth.
Dr. David Berry remarked, “The Institute for Nature and the Arts will create new opportunities for artists, scientists, and educators to collaborate and explore the natural world from different perspectives. By using the arts to bring our research and collections to life, we can make scientific discovery more accessible, inspire curiosity, and deepen appreciation for plants and their essential role in sustaining life on Earth.”
About The Living Museum®
Selby Gardens’ Living Museum® operating model is built on a commitment to the arts and helps to facilitate connections between art and nature at both campuses. The model is based on an ever-changing series of temporary exhibitions that blend art and horticulture in creative ways. By presenting the natural world through an artistic lens, the exhibitions at Selby Gardens provide guests with engaging experiences that encourage repeat visitation. Since President & CEO Jennifer Rominiecki introduced The Living Museum® model a decade ago, Selby Gardens has experienced a 278% increase in membership and a 157% growth in overall earned revenue. The success of this model highlights its ability to transform botanical gardens into dynamic cultural destinations that captivate audiences, foster community, and drive institutional sustainability.
About Marie Selby Botanical Gardens
Marie Selby Botanical Gardens provides 45 acres of bayfront sanctuaries connecting people with air plants of the world, native nature, and our regional history. Established by forward-thinking women of their time, Selby Gardens is composed of the 15-acre Downtown Sarasota campus and the 30-acre Historic Spanish Point campus in the Osprey area of Sarasota County, Florida. The Downtown Sarasota campus on Sarasota Bay is the only botanical garden in the world dedicated to the display and study of epiphytic orchids, bromeliads, gesneriads and ferns, and other tropical plants. There is a significant focus on botany, horticulture, education, historical preservation, and the environment. Selby Gardens’ Downtown Sarasota campus features the world’s first net positive energy botanical garden complex, generating more energy than it consumes. The Historic Spanish Point campus is located less than 10 miles south along Little Sarasota Bay. One of the largest preserves showcasing native Florida plants and active archaeology that is interpreted for and open to the public, it celebrates an archaeological record that encompasses approximately 5,000 years of Florida history. Marie Selby Botanical Gardens is a Smithsonian Affiliate and is also accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. Selby Gardens was selected for Time magazine’s annual list of the “World’s Greatest Places 2024.” For more information visit www.selby.org.
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