Boston Flora

Tag: Frederick Law Olmsted

  • Saturdays, 11:30 am – 1:30 pm Eastern Time, March 5 – March 26 – Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden Saturday Lecture Series, Online

    Don’t let the cold get you down. Join The Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden on Saturday mornings March 5 – 26 for weekly educational lectures on a range of topics from bees to bonsai.

    This year, Learn on Saturdays will be offered both in-person and virtually. All presentations will be live-streamed so that attendees have the choice to come to the Botanical Garden or tune in from the comfort of their home. Registrants will receive a confirmation email including information about how to join via Zoom.  A recording of each session will be shared with all registrants the following Monday.

    On March 5, Kacie Ballard will present Trees Forever at 10:30, followed by a talk on Purposeful Gardening: Volunteers Impacting Our Community. March 12 welcomes renowned botanical educator Elvin McDonald (below) speaking on Hours of Pleasure from Minutes of Gardening, and Thomas Dean of University of Iowa on Tallgrass Conversations: In Search of the Prairie Spirit. On March 19 , Cynde and Richard Schreiber will speak on Creating a Home Greenhouse, and Amy Toth of Iowa State University will talk on Bee Health and Conservation: From Iowa to Patagonia and Back. Finally, on March 26, enjoy Kathleen Jones’ talk on Horticulture Meets History: The Legacy of Frederick Law Olmsted, and Aaron Harpold with a preview of the Spring Garden Festival. Register HERE. Each session is $10.

  • Thursday, January 27, 6:30 pm – Frederick Law Olmsted: Designing America, Online

    Historian and filmmaker Laurence Cotton joins The Morven Museum & Garden virtually to present a “mini-travelogue” of select Olmsted landscapes across North America in this special evening event. Discover the extraordinary legacy of a true Renaissance man and how Olmsted’s philosophy, his writings and his designs are still relevant today.

    Mr. Cotton originated and served as Consulting Producer to the NEH-funded, nationally broadcast PBS special “Frederick Law Olmsted: Designing America.”

    He will present an information rich and entertaining talk about Frederick Law Olmsted’s life, career and legacy including those sites designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, Senior, the two sons and the Olmsted Brothers landscape architecture firm. They left a huge imprint upon the landscapes of North America. Public parks, private estates and gardens, residential neighborhoods, entire community designs, and institutional campuses. Not only did Frederick Law Olmsted and his progeny found the field of American landscape architecture, they also were early proponents of urban planning. The Olmsted design philosophy addressed public health—physical and mental health, and issues of equity and access that are even more relevant to contemporary park managers and users. Frederick Law Olmsted foresaw the crucial role of the experience of nature in the urban setting and the very role that parks can play for the enactment of democracy in a multi-ethnic, multiracial society.

    Tickets are $10 for Morven members, $15 for nonmembers. Register HERE. Zoom link provided day of program. Recording link available to attendees following program.

    Image credit: Olmsted’s 1874 plan for the U.S. Capitol grounds in Washington, D.C. Architect of the Capitol

  • Thursday, October 14, 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm – Frederick Law Olmsted Lecture: Jamaica Kincaid

    Jamaica Kincaid is a widely acclaimed and fiercely original writer known for her novels, short stories, and essays, including writings on her life as a gardener. She was also staff writer for the New Yorker from 1973 to 1996 and has been a contributor for the Village Voice.

    She is beloved by generations of readers who discovered her fiction, including Annie John and “Girl,” in high school and is admired by critics for her daring and unorthodox body of work. Answering claims that her fiction and essays are characterized by anger, Kincaid says, “The important thing isn’t whether I’m angry. The more important thing is, is it true? Do these things really happen? I think I’m saying something true. I’m not angry … The way I think of it is that I’m telling the truth.”

    In the New York Review of Books, Darryl Pinckney wrote, “Kincaid’s rhythms and the circularity of her thought patterns in language bring Gertrude Stein to mind. She is an eccentric and altogether impressive descendant.”

    Kincaid is the recipient of a Guggenheim grant and has been nominated for the National Book Award. She was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2004 and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2009.

    Kincaid was born in Antigua, British West Indies, in 1949, and arrived in the United States in 1965 to work as an au pair. In 1973, she changed her name from Elaine Cynthia Potter Richardson to Jamaica Kincaid, mostly to prevent her parents from finding out that she was writing. She’s now the mother of two grown children and is a professor in the African and African American Studies department at Harvard University.

    This year’s Harvard Graduate School of Design Frederick Law Olmsted Lecture will take place October 14, online.

    Click here to register for Frederick Law Olmsted Lecture: Jamaica Kincaid. The event will also be live streamed to the Harvard GSD YouTube page. Only viewers who are attending the lecture via Zoom will be able to submit questions for the Q+A. If you would like to submit questions for the speaker in advance of the event, please click here. Live captioning will be provided during this event. 

  • The Campaign to Save Moraine Farm: Revitalizing and Unifying an Olmsted Masterpiece

    Nestled on 175 acres along Wenham Lake in Beverly is Moraine Farm, a Frederick Law Olmsted masterpiece landscape designed in 1880. Moraine Farm is, “the finest existing example of Olmsted’s approach to planning a country estate,” according to pre-eminent Olmsted scholar Charles E. Beveridge.

    In the past 150 years, the estate has been fractured into parcels owned by different families, a private school, Project Adventure, and The Trustees. Remarkably, Olmsted’s design has remained largely unchanged over that time, making it a rare gem among the estates created by the father of American landscape architecture. According to Beveridge:

    “Moraine Farm was a forerunner for that greatest of Olmsted’s ventures in the designing of private estates and retains more of his spirit than any other residential design still in existence today.”

    The Trustees owns four small disparate parcels on the property, and today we have the opportunity to acquire the key central plot of land that includes scenic Wenham Lake access, the main estate house, tea garden, terrace, and areas most intensely designed by Olmsted.

    Acquiring this 66-acre parcel is the culmination of a decades-long effort by The Trustees to reunite and restore this historic property and open it to public access for the first time.

    Providing people with Moraine’s sweeping views, winding trails, and lush Olmsted landscape lies at the heart of our mission to create publicly accessible open space in iconic places.

    For the project details and purpose statement, and to learn how to contribute to this project (it’s Olmsted 200, remember!), visit www.thetrustees.org

  • Available September 1 – Frederick Law Olmsted: Landscapes for the Public Good Exhibit, Online

    On September 1, Frederick Law Olmsted: Landscapes for the Public Good will be available. This downloadable exhibit features 23 panels of vivid photos and drawings, exploring the many facets of Olmsted’s life and legacy. Curated by Dr. Caroline Mesrobian Hickman of the University of Maryland and in conjunction with the Oak Spring Garden Foundation, the exhibit explores the many facets of Olmsted’s life and legacy. The download will be offered free of charge after registration.

    The exhibit comes with suggestions for display, ranging from traditional paper and posterboard to eco-friendly corrugated cardboard and outdoor stanchions, as well as estimated costs. This allows organizations to customize based on their space and budget.

    Organizations may add their own panels so long as they conform to design and content guidelines.

    For more information, contact: info@olmsted-200.org.

  • Thursday, April 1, 3:30 pm – Hidden Gems: Revival of the Muddy River within the Emerald Necklace, Online

    The story of the Emerald Necklace, (aka Muddy River riparian corridor) reveals how landscapes along urban waterways provide essential ecosystem connectivity. The Emerald Necklace Conservancy fulfills the aspirations of Hartford native, Frederick Law Olmsted, by hosting a spectrum of activities along the irregular path of the Muddy River. Revitalization of Boston’s Emerald Necklace is rooted in ambitious conservation goals of the late 19th and early 20th century. The impressive, historic scale of conservation can inspire communities to respond to the climate crisis with a new, 21st century parks movement.

    This free April 1 online event beginning at 3:30 pm will review the history of the Muddy River within the Emerald Necklace with guest Karen Mauney-Brodek of the Emerald Necklace Conservancy, and will summarize the efforts of the Olmsted 200 movement with guest Barbara A. Yaeger of the National Association of Olmsted Parks. Hosted by Park Watershed. Register at https://www.emeraldnecklace.org/event/hidden-gems/

  • Through March 13, Dusk to 9:00 pm – Lights in the Necklace

    The Emerald Necklace’s 1,100 acres are home to more than 30 bridges. Connecting neighbors and bridging communities is what the Necklace was designed to do nearly 150 years ago by famed landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted. This winter, the Emerald Necklace and our shared green spaces continue to be some of the primary places of community connection.

    Lights in the Necklace celebrates the power of our urban parks to bring us together, inspire us and light the way in challenging times. Enjoy the emerald glow on several iconic Emerald Necklace bridges in the evenings from dusk to 9pm, daily through March 13. Share your #NecklaceLights moment on social media.

  • Tuesday, October 27, 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm – Frederick Law Olmsted Lecture: Everett L. Fly

    The Harvard Graduate School of Design is pleased to present a series of talks and webinars broadcast to our audiences via Zoom. This October 27 Frederick Law Olmsted lecture will be ONLINE ONLY. For security reasons, virtual attendees must register. Scroll down to find complete instructions for how to register.

    Everett L. Fly, MLA ’77, native of San Antonio, Texas, resides in the city with his wife Rosalinda. An honors graduate of the University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture, he is the first African American graduate of Harvard University’s Department of Landscape Architecture. He is a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects.

    Fly’s forty year practice as a licensed landscape architect and architect includes national multidisciplinary consultations for the National Park Service and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

    He served on the State of Texas National Register Board of Review and City of San Antonio Historic and Design Review Commission. He chaired the board of Humanities Texas from 1993 to 1994.

    Fly served appointments by President Bill Clinton to the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities from 1994 to 2001. President Barack Obama awarded him one of ten 2014 National Humanities Medals for his body of work preserving the integrity of African-American places and landmarks.

    Recent awards include the 2018 San Antonio Power of Preservation Foundation “Champion of Preservation Award” and the 2020 Conservation Society of San Antonio “Texas Preservation Hero Award”.

    He co-founded the San Antonio African American Community Archive and Museum.

    Follow Everett L. Fly on Twitter.

    Register to attend the lecture here. Once you have registered, you will be provided with a link to join the lecture via Zoom. This link will also be emailed to you.

    The event will also be live streamed to the GSD’s YouTube page. Only viewers who are attending the lecture via Zoom will be able to submit questions for the Q+A. Live captioning will be provided during this event. After the event has ended, a transcript will be available upon request.

  • Tuesday, August 18, 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm – Frederick Law Olmsted: Music in the Park, Online

    Tuesday, August 18, 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm – Frederick Law Olmsted: Music in the Park, Online

    Michael Leidig, a classical pianist and Emerald Necklace Conservancy Docent, discusses the life and major professional accomplishments of the “Father of Landscape Architecture” with a particular focus on his prized Boston gem: The Emerald Necklace. In addition, Michael will perform classical music that Olmsted would likely have heard during his time in Boston in the late 1800’s including 3 rarely known and performed Boston-based composers G.D. Wilson, Edward MacDowell, and Amy Beach.

    This free discussion is offered as part of the Conservancy’s Summer on the Emerald Necklace event series.

    This discussion will be hosted on Zoom. For access, register at https://www.emeraldnecklace.org/event/frederick-law-olmsted-music-in-the-park/

  • Thursday, February 6, 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm – The Imprint of the Landscape

    Please join The Harvard Graduate School of Design on February 6 at 6:30 pm in the Piper Auditorium at Gund Hall in Cambridge for the Frederick Law Olmsted Lecture delivered by landscape architect Günther Vogt. Vogt’s lecture will also mark the opening of the exhibition Günther Vogt: First the Forests, which is on view in the Druker Design Gallery from January 21 – March 8, 2020. A reception in the gallery will take place immediately following the lecture.

    What is the relevant scale for operating with the landscape of the city?

    Since the Industrial Revolution at the latest, humans have become the determining factor for global ecosystems. This fact becomes apparent when we look at sediment displacement influenced by human activity, for example. There is thirty times more of it today than what natural processes cause. Due to our massive intervention in the Earth system, not just new landscapes are formed, however, but the conditions for cohabitation in our cities are also fundamentally changed.

    Against this backdrop, solutions proposed by the current ‘green movement’ seem to have little viability. Green facades, vertical gardens or planted bridges deal primarily with esthetic aspects and are neither sustainable nor do they work as part of a network of lived public space. Vegetation is applied onto a construction framework, demoted to the ‘new ornament’ of landscape architecture.

    Set against these neatly composed images, Günther Vogt applies a systematic design approach with his projects. Their success is measured not just by their design qualities, but primarily by their consequences for the environment. In the spirit of Friedrick Law Olmsted, who met the changing environmental conditions of his time with a holistic view of space, thinking in systems like this requires incorporating highly diverse scale levels and leads us from the miniature to the panorama of the city landscape.

    Günther Vogt’s training at Gartenbauschule Oeschberg provided the practical basis for his intensive landscape work. His knowledge of vegetation and his skills in cultivation continue to be the very cornerstones of his work. His studies with Peter Erni, Jürg Altherr, and Dieter Kienast at Interkantonales Technikum Rapperswil, combined the disciplines of culture, design, and natural sciences. VOGT Landschaftsarchitekten emerged from the office partnership with Dieter Kienast in 2000. With projects such as the Tate Modern in London, Allianz Arena in Munich, or the Masoala Rainforest Hall at the Zurich Zoo, the firm has achieved international recognition. Its work is characterized by the dialogue established between the various disciplines and its close cooperation with artists. Since 2005, Günther Vogt has been pursuing a combination of teaching, practice, and research with his chair at the Institute of Landscape Architecture at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich. In 2012 he was a visiting professor at Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD). As a passionate collector and keen traveler, he is looking for ways to read, interpret, and describe landscapes, and finding answers to questions about future forms of urban coexistence.

    Anyone requiring accessibility accommodations should contact the events office at (617) 496-2414 or events@gsd.harvard.edu.