The City of Wichita has announced that the director of Botanica, The Wichita Gardens, will be resigning to return to her hometown of Austin, Texas.
Dawn Hewitt has served a little over a year as director, taking over in the fall of 2022 after the retirement of Marty Miller. She said she is returning to Austin to be closer to family, and she has accepted a position as director of development for the Blanton Museum of Art at the University of Texas Austin. Hewitt’s last day at Botanica will be Wednesday, December 27th.
During her time at Botanica, Hewitt is credited with contracting for major exhibits in 2025 and 2026, and she launched a process for a new management operating system that will combing ticketing, membership, donor relations, event rentals and gift shop sales into a single system, improving services for members and visitors.
Wichita officials will begin a search for a new director in early 2024.
