Myriad Gardens and Scissortail Park name new president and CEO

The Myriad Gardens Foundation and Scissortail Park Foundation have named Michelle Furrer as the new president and CEO of both organizations, effective March 1, 2025. 

Furrer joins Oklahoma City after nearly two decades at Como Park Zoo and Conservatory in St. Paul, Minnesota, where she rose from the zoo’s first marketing manager to director. She led projects such as Gorilla Forest, Como Harbor and The Ordway Gardens while overseeing education programs and operations at the more than 100-year-old institution. 

Her connection to OKC started with a visit in spring 2023, when she attended a zoo conference at the city’s new convention center. On a break, she walked through Myriad Botanical Gardens and Scissortail Park. 

“I just had this feeling about the city when I was there,” Furrer said. “I couldn’t have imagined the number of cultural attractions, the food scene—all of that—when I thought of Oklahoma City.” 

That first spark grew into a career shift. By August 2024, a recruiter reached out, and Furrer decided to pursue the opportunity here after her interest in the city during her 2023 trip. After several visits for interviews, Furrer said each trip confirmed her sense that OKC was building momentum, stating, “There was something great happening in this community, and I really felt like I wanted to be a part of it. And now, about a year later—here I am.” 

Furrer said OKC held the same sense of community that the Twin Cities did around 20 years ago—something that has been quieter in the area in recent years. 

“The state of Oklahoma just really felt like it’s in the middle of a renaissance,” Furrer said. “There’s a real sense that things are happening—new construction, strong support from both the business community and the city. It felt like there is a common goal.” 

In her new role, Furrer oversees two of OKC’s signature public spaces: Myriad Gardens, which recently completed renovations on the Inasmuch Crystal Bridge Conservatory; and Scissortail Park, which is approaching its sixth anniversary. She sees both as essential to the city’s growth. 

“In every great city, you have these public places that people need in order to be part of that vibe and thread of the community,” Furrer said. “Oklahoma City had some strong forethought to invest in Scissortail Park and make it a people’s park. Then to have that married with Myriad Gardens—an opportunity for people to engage with the natural world, with horticulture and plants, and just to have that space in place—that’s powerful. For the elements of a great city, you have those bones there.” 

The challenge, she said, is keeping those spaces fresh. Together, the parks already draw more than 3.5 million visitors annually—2.4 million at Myriad Gardens and 1.2 million at Scissortail Park.  

To keep people coming back, Furrer said she wants to expand programming and sharpen the focus of each space. Early in her time at the organizations, she noticed Myriad Gardens and Scissortail Park were competing with one another rather than building on their strengths. 

Her approach is to let each venue shine. Pumpkinville, one of the Gardens’ best-loved traditions, will expand this fall to four weekends with new evening hours. Tulip Fest, which draws crowds each spring, will stretch across two weekends instead of one. Scissortail Park will take the lead on holiday programming, while Myriad Gardens continues to host its ice rink and seasonal activities. 

The goal is more than bigger events. By deepening traditions like Pumpkinville and Tulip Fest, Furrer hopes they become part of people’s annual rhythms—reasons not just to visit downtown, but to see OKC as a place to put down roots. 

Furrer also emphasized that the organizations must be able to meet the ever-changing needs within cities, such as population and demographics. “What the community needed six years ago, when Scissortail was being built, may not be what it needs today,” Furrer said. “Staying relevant in that fashion is critical.” 

For Furrer, the role is about more than programming. She believes public spaces help shape community identity and make cities stronger places to live and work. She explained a great urban space as a designated area that truly has something for everyone, which Furrer said is hard to define and even harder to achieve. 

“The strength of Myriad Gardens and Scissortail Park together is that, between the two, they offer something for nearly everyone,” Furrer said. “I think that’s the true definition of a great urban space—that it serves a wide variety of needs.” 

Furrer emphasized that she was very excited to be in OKC, especially during a time of so much energy and development within the city. 

“I still have this great sense of the spark that I felt in that original visit—that there's just an energy and excitement around Oklahoma City in the community, as well as in the business and city side,” Furrer said. “I just see so much opportunity for growth.”