Russell Page (1906-1985) was one of the most talented and celebrated landscape architects of the twentieth century, and his memoir, The Education of a Gardener, has become a classic. While Page is remembered for old-fashioned, formal designs, a closer look at his career reveals a more complicated, forward-looking artist who explored preservation, native plant groupings, and the beauty of wildness. With Page as a guide, Professor Caleb Smith asks: What is the role of the designer in shaping a living, natural landscapes? How can gardens become both wild spaces and works of art? The Garden Conservancy will sponsor this online talk on February 8 from 2 pm – 3 pm, live on Zoom. $5 for Garden Conservancy members, $15 general admission. A recording of this webinar will be sent to all registrants a few days after the event. We encourage you to register, even if you cannot attend the live webinar. Register at https://www.gardenconservancy.org/education/education-events/virtual-talk-art-and-nature-new-lessons-from-russell-page
Caleb Smith is a professor of English and American Studies at Yale University. A scholar of cultural history, focusing on literature, religion, and the built environment, Smith’s books include The Prison and the American Imagination (2009) and Thoreau’s Axe: Distraction and Discipline in American Culture (2023). He has written about culture and the arts for Harper’s, n+1, and Los Angeles Review of Books, and his feature essay on the landscape designer Russell Page appeared in Aeon Magazine in fall 2023.
For those wishing to learn more about Russell Page, we encourage you to explore his online archive hosted by the Garden Museum in London.
