Greetings from Millennium Park and welcome to our first ever virtual annual report. Being in Millennium Park provides visitors the wonder of discovering a great outdoor cultural Oasis set against the towering urban skyscape of Chicago. Over the past year, we learned just how irreplaceable spaces like the Park are, as we faced a challenge unlike any other with the COVID-19 pandemic. From March through June of 2020, for the first time in its 17 year history, the Park was closed to visitors.

However, while we were not open to the public, the Foundation and its staff continued its regular maintenance responsibilities but also used the time to add some new enhancements, eagerly awaiting the day we could welcome visitors once again. We were able to complete the new North Gardens. Our new bulb plantings from the previous fall were shared with the world for the first time, dazzling social media. And our arborists were able to get to work on the “front yard” of Millennium Park, pruning the trees on Michigan Avenue and along the entrance walkways. It wouldn’t be long before it was all part of welcoming visitors into the Park once again.

In June, as Chicago entered a less restrictive phase of pandemic mitigation, Millennium Park safely reopened to in-person visitors. The great works of art, and the trove of horticultural treasures provided a restorative power to all who would simply come to walk among them. The Great Lawn opened as social distancing circles were created for guests to enjoy. Mask wearing metered entry and limited access to certain artworks allowed the public to enjoy the Park throughout the remainder of the summer, fall, and winter. But despite the spectacular outdoor space the park provided, the ability to provide public engagement was still needed.

The Foundation worked with the City to create virtual programming to help bring the rich cultural experiences of the Park to online visitors. And, building on the partnership with the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, students developed, directed and delivered a virtual arts engagement event featuring the work of Edra Soto and Christine Tarkovsky. Those works will continue to be on display in the Boeing Galleries throughout the spring of 2023. Continuing the rich tradition of summer music festivals, Millennium Park brought the sites and sounds of our outdoor programming to visitors at home. The Millennium Park at Home series welcomed a diverse set of artists to perform for virtual jazz, blues, house, and gospel festivals, Chicago Children's Choir, Grant Park Music Festival, a special music series and summer workouts.

In 2020, Millennium Park won two prestigious awards. The American Society of Landscape Architects' 2020 Landmark Award that recognizes a public landscape project that has both maintained its design excellence and helped to redefine public park and public space projects. And, a silver medal for the World Urban Parks, International Large Urban Parks Award. This silver medal recognizes the Park as one of the best all-around public parks in the world. Millennium Park continues to set new standards for public space design, landscape, arts, and cultural activities.

Weathering the storm of this past year would not have been possible, were Chicago’s great oasis not built on such strong foundations. Not the kind that support our buildings and installations, but all of you who support the soul of our beloved Park. I thank you all for your dedicated support to the Millennium Park Foundation. It really helped to ensure that we made it through this year of obstacles and difficulties. As long as we continue to work together, we will be able to adapt and ensure incredible memories are made here in the Park and that we will enrich the lives of all Chicagoans and all visitors who come from around the nation and the globe. Thank you.

Sincerely,
Donna LaPietra
Chair and President, Millennium Park Foundation