Anne Cleves Symmes served as horticulturist for the Beatrix Farrand Garden Association from 1998 to 2017 where she led the team that restored the Farrand-designed garden in Hyde Park, New York. She developed and continues to run a series of educational programs that champion Farrand’s legacy.  In 2016, she helped to launch the documentary Beatrix Farrand’s American Landscapes working for over 3 years with her husband, Director Stephen Ives as one of the film’s producers. After completing the landscape design program at the New York Botanical Garden in 1996, she pursued her interest in public gardens by working with Lynden Miller at Bryant Park and the Conservatory Garden in New York City, both as a gardener and an educator.  Anne received a BA from Kenyon College and an MFA from Smith College. She grew up in Madison, Georgia where she spent time working at Cedar Lane Farm, her family’s nursery and display gardens that specialized in historic and native plants.

Karen Waltuch came to the BFGA after four years as the gardener of the Morris-Jumel Mansion in New York City where she maintained the 1.8 acre public park, leading her volunteer team and offering a large assortment of educational programs. She conducted her professional studies as a John Nally Intern at Wave Hill in the Bronx and as a Rikers Island GreenHouse Program intern with the Horticultural Society of NY. Through interning and years of volunteering Karen found her passion for gardening in public spaces, and she finds it a privilege to teach and spread her enthusiasm for all living things.