Boston Flora

Tag: Frederick Law Olmsted

  • Thursday, October 6, 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm – Pioneering New Territory

    The Harvard University Graduate School of Design presents its Frederick Law Olmsted Lecture on Thursday, October 6, from 6:30 – 8:30 in the Gund Piper Auditorium.  The featured speaker is Peter Latz, who will give a talk entitled Pioneering New Territory.  Peter Latz studied landscape architecture at the Technical University of Munich. He is best known for his emphasis on reclamation and conversion of former industrialized landscapes. Retired today, he was an adjunct professor at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and was also a visiting professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Design.

    Latz once noted in a foreword for the book Visionary Gardens by Ernst Cramer that the overall of landscape architecture could be applied in abstract rules. “The beauty of nature lies within the essence and effect of plants and materials.”  The lecture is free and open to the public.

  • Karen Mauney-Brodek Joins the Emerald Necklace Conservancy

    The Emerald Necklace Conservancy, a nonprofit organization based in Boston dedicated to the renewal, maintenance and advocacy for the Emerald Necklace parks designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, appointed Karen Mauney-Brodek as President.

    Mauney-Brodek joins the Emerald Necklace Conservancy from the City of San Francisco’s Parks Department, where she served as the Community Opportunity Fund Program Manager and led communication, outreach, planning, design and construction of several public park renovation projects, including both external and internal stakeholder management.

    She was also the project leader for the Glen Canyon Park Improvement Plan and developed, implemented and managed a plan for over $20 million in capital investment. Prior to joining San Francisco Parks, Mauney-Brodek was Chief of the Design Build Program in the Design & Construction Division of the New York Department of Parks and Recreation — the largest municipal parks department in the United States — managing $15-20 million annually for building and maintenance in the city’s 100 parks and playgrounds.

    “Karen has a wonderful track record of park experience in New York and San Francisco and a tremendous passion for the role that parks play in the life of any city. She has the ability to work well with our public partners and other stakeholders who care deeply about and use the parks,” said Emerald Necklace Conservancy Board Chair Ben Taylor.

    In response to her recent appointment, Mauney Brodek said, “I am honored to be part of the next chapter of the story of the Emerald Necklace and the Emerald Necklace Conservancy. We are in a unique position to steward this marvelous park system and work with all of our partners to provide an amazing park experience.”

  • Through November 15 – Natural and Man-made Landscapes: Olmsted’s Emerald Necklace

    Painted over the last twenty years, watercolors by Thomas Loring are on view through November 15 at the Shattuck Visitor Center, 125 The Fenway. They are drawn from Frederick Law Olmsted’s parks and reflect the natural and man-made elements of the landscape that Olmsted created over 150 years ago with his colleagues: John C. Olmsted, H.H. Richardson, and Richardson’s successors, Shepley, Rutan, and Coolidge. This collaboration was instrumental in realizing his far-reaching vision for the parks.

    Olmsted’s parks are a remarkable orchestration of organic forms in harmony with built structures. The design of the landscape is highlighted by contrasts of earth and water, light and dark, movement and repose. One’s eye is drawn to the sinuous forms, reflections in water and arrays of color at the interface of the natural and man-made. These watercolors were inspired by these splendid parks, and the artist is delighted to have the opportunity to show them at the Shattuck Visitor Center.

    Thomas Loring was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio. He graduated from Harvard University where he developed a lifelong interest in art and drawing. After beginning a course of study at the Boston Architectural Center, he went on to Carnegie Mellon University where he received a Master of Architecture degree. He started his career with Woollen Associates Architects in Cincinnati and Indianapolis before joining ARC/Architectural Resources Cambridge, becoming a Principal at ARC, specializing in educational and scientific buildings. Painting in watercolor and drawing by hand has been complementary to his work in architecture for more than thirty years. He paints on site and in a studio in Boston and while traveling. For complete schedule of exhibit hours visit http://www.emeraldnecklace.org/about-us/shattuck-visitor-center/current-exhibit/

  • Saturday, July 23, 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm – A Walk on the Wild Side Pond Tour

    The three ponds that Fredrick Law Olmsted designed into the Arnold Arboretum teem with aquatic and terrestrial life in late summer. Join Bob Mayer at the Forest Hills Gate on Saturday, July 23 at 1 pm for a walk and a discussion of the invertebrates and other fauna in and around the ponds. Bring binoculars if you have them for closer look at nature.

    In case of inclement weather, contact 617.384.5209. Free, but registration requested at 617-384-5251, or email adulted@arnarb.harvard.edu.

  • Wednesday, April 27, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm – Frederick Law Olmsted’s Legacy of Public Parks

    “Speak Out” is a series of public lectures and presentations designed to inform, inspire, connect and engage audiences in the protection and preservation of the environment. The 2016 series features notable individuals with a broad range of experiences and perspectives and whose work has contributed to a better understanding of our changing environment. “Speak Out” is made possible through generous seed funding from the Caroline Loughlin Fund. The final lecture of 2016 will be given by Lauren Meier on Wednesday, April 27 at 6 pm at the Boston Athenaeum, 10 1/2 Beacon Street in Boston, on Frederick Law Olmsted’s Legacy of Public Parks. A historic preservationist, Meier is the co-editor of the recently-published Supplemental Series Vol 2 of the Olmsted Papers, Frederick Law Olmsted: Plans and Views of Public Parks. Co-hosted by the Boston Athenaeum. Register online at www.emeraldnecklace.org, or call 617-522-2700.

  • Wednesday, May 11, 11:00 am – Save the Date: Party in the Park

    The Emerald Necklace Conservancy will again host the Justine Mee Liff Fund Luncheon, Party in the Park, on Wednesday, May 11, at the Pinebank Promontory on Jamaica Pond in Boston.  This major fund raising event helps preserve the legacy of Frederick Law Olmsted’s Emerald Necklace. The genius of Frederick Law Olmsted, who designed more than 1,100 acres of meadows, woodlands and paths, can be enjoyed by all more than 100 years after the completion of his work, thanks to the stewardship of the Emerald Necklace Conservancy in collaboration with its public partners.

    The Party in the Park is one of the conservancy’s surest signs of spring and one of the most anticipated social events in Boston. To date, the luncheon has generated a $7.25 million for the parks. The proceeds go directly to the Justine Mee Liff Fund for the Emerald Necklace that underwrites improvement projects in the Emerald Necklace.

    Every May, just as spring declares itself in Boston, the luncheon draws hundreds of parks champions to gather for an elegant lunch served in a beautiful tent in one of the Necklace parks. Known as the “hat lunch” because so many guests complement their spring wardrobes with flowers and feathers, the party is planned over the course of a year by an all-volunteer committee to ensure a memorable afternoon. For more information, call 617-522-2700.  Buy tickets online at www.emeraldnecklace.org/party-in-the-park.

  • Thursday, December 3, 6:00 pm – Our National Parks and the “Fairsted School”: An Enduring Legacy

    The Olmsted firm is famous for the design of hundreds of municipal parks and other landscapes. The achievements of Olmsted and his successors in scenic preservation are less well understood, but park design and scenic preservation were both aspects of the practice of landscape architecture Olmsted developed in the second half of the nineteenth century. This December 3 talk explores the role of the “Fairsted School” of landscape architecture and its influence on scenic preservation and the design of state and national park systems through the twentieth century. The program will begin with a 6 pm reception followed by the lecture at 7, at the Wheelock College Brookline Campus, 43 Hawes Street, corner of Hawes and Monmouth Streets in Brookline. Reservations are required. Call 617-566-1689, x 265, or reserve online at http://friendsoffairsted.org/programs/register/

    Ethan Carr, PhD, FASLA, is a landscape historian and preservationist specializing in public landscapes. He has taught at the Harvard GSD, the University of Virginia, and at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he is a professor. He has written two award-winning books, Wilderness by Design (1998) and Mission 66: Modernism and the National Park Dilemma (2007), and is the volume editor of Volume 8 of the Papers of Frederick Law Olmsted, The Early Boston Years, 1882-1890 (2013).

    Limited street parking is available. Public parking is not allowed in the Wheelock parking lot. Venue is easily accessible by MBTA Green Line “C” (Hawes Street) or “D” (Longwood) trains.

  • Sunday, August 9, 10:00 am – 11:00 am – Planting the Seed for Our National Parks

    Planting the Seed for Our National Parks, The 150th Anniversary of Frederick Law Olmsted’s Yosemite Report, will be celebrated Sunday, August 9, 10:00–11:00am.
    Location: Outdoors, by a giant sequoia, Conifer Collection of the Arnold Arboretum, honoring the 150th anniversary of Olmsted’s Yosemite and the Mariposa Grove: A Preliminary Report, 1865 and its vision for national parks

    Known to many for creating public parks in cities, Frederick Law Olmsted was also an important advocate for scenic preservation across America. In his 1865 report, Olmsted articulated – some say for the first time by anyone – the role of government in protecting and making accessible our nation’s scenic landscapes for the enjoyment of all people in a democracy. Join us in the landscape by a giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) as we read aloud portions of the report with Olmsted’s eloquent and prescient prose on the actual anniversary of its first public reading by its author.

    Special guest reader: Dayton Duncan, Emmy Award-winning producer/writer of PBS’s The National Parks: America’s Best Idea. Performers: Maliotis Chamber Players, flute ensemble; Diane Edgecomb & Margot Chamberlain, Celtic harp and spoken word.

    Parking: Park on Bussey Street. Enter the Arboretum through the Bussey Street or Walter Street Gates and follow signs for Conifer Path to the giant sequoia.

    Public Transportation: Take the T to Forest Hills. Exit the T station on the upper level. Cross Washington Street and enter the Arboretum through the Washington Street Gate. Follow Blackwell Foot Path to South Street. Cross South Street to reenter the Arboretum. Turn left at the intersection on Hemlock Hill Road and follow signs to the event.

    Note: bring a low chair or cushion to sit upon. Wear comfortable walking shoes as Conifer Path traverses a steep incline. For general information: www.nps.gov/frla, 617-566-1689

    For directions and parking information: www.arboretum.harvard.edu, 617-384-5209. Co-sponsored by Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site, the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, and the Emerald Necklace Conservancy. This program is made possible in part by generous support from the Friends of Fairsted.

  • Sunday, June 7, 8:00 am – 2:00 pm – The Emerald Necklace Walk

    Beginning in Franklin Park, this free six-hour National Park Service walking tour on Sunday, June 7 from 8 – 2  will examine Olmsted’s masterpiece of linear park design, The Emerald Necklace. Pastures, ponds and parkways were woven into the city’s fabric and combined both state-of-the-art engineering with artistic sensibility. The walk will end in the Back Bay Fens where people can ride the “T” back to Franklin Park or anywhere they wish. Bring a lunch. REGISTRATION is required – please visit http://www.nps.gov/frla/planyourvisit/walks-and-talks.htm.  We don’t need to emphasize that comfortable shoes are a must.

  • From the Archives: The Trees of Beacon Street

    A letter went out to the residents of Beacon Street in 1910, from a citizens committee chaired by Mrs. F. T. Lord, from the Committee of the Metropolitan Improvement League (whose members included Frederick Law Olmsted,) and from the Secretary of the Massachusetts Forestry Association, Mr. Irving T. Guild. The letter is excerpted below:

    “A year ago a committee of residents of Beacon Street met with delegates of the Metropolitan Improvement League and the Massachusetts Forestry Association to consider the planting of a row of trees on either side of Beacon Street between Arlington Street and Massachusetts Avenue. A strong sentiment in favor of tree-planting had previously been shown by a house-to-house canvass by ladies of this committee. As a result of this meeting, Mr. Arthur A. Shurtleff, the well-known landscape architect and tree expert, was requested to make a complete study of the situation and to present a full report…

    The undersigned committee recommend that Mr. Shurtleff’s plan be adopted and the details of the undertaking be placed in his hands as architect. To do this will cost approximately $12,000, or an average of $34 per house, there being 352 houses between Arlington Street and Massachusetts Avenue.

    It is desirable that the work of preparing the pits be done during the summer months, when most of the residents will be away and when the work can be done more cheaply.  The planting should be done either in November or April, better in the latter month…

    Will you not contribute toward this well-considered, desirable, and permanent improvement of Beacon Street?  Cheques may be made payable and sent to R.G. Wadsworth, 323 Beacon Street.  If enough money is not raised, the cheques will be returned.  The committee wish to point out that as all the 352 houses between Arlington Street and Massachusetts Avenue are not occupied by permanent residents, it is hoped that those who are especially interested in the plan will not limit their contributions to any arbitrary sum. On the other hand, small contributions from any one interested will be very welcome.  Should more money than is necessary for the actual planting be obtained, this excess will be used for the future care of the trees.”

    This project was a successful early example of crowdfunding.  Thomas High, in his invaluable site www.backbayhouses.org, notes that Dr. Wadsworth was a physician who lived and maintained his office at 323 Beacon Street. Noted artist Polly Thayer Starr also resided there, and the building is now a lodging house. Picture below is from 1870, of a treeless Beacon Street looking west from Arlington Street.

    Save