Boston Flora

Tag: National Association for Olmsted Parks

  • Wednesday, October 27 – The Olmsteds and Campus Design Symposium

    Duke University and the National Association for Olmsted Parks will host a Symposium on October 27 on The Olmsteds and Campus Design.

    In the wake of the Civil War, American universities emerged as important national institutions.  Olmsted believed that the physical environment of learning – buildings and grounds – played a significant role in the success of education.  He planned campuses for Cornell and Stanford and successor Olmsted firms undertook projects at scores of institutions including Duke, Sewanee, Colby College, Harvard, Gallaudet, Wellesley, Swarthmore, and Johns Hopkins. 

    In this day-long symposium, practitioners and scholars will focus on the Olmsteds and Campus Design to discuss campus planning and how Olmsted principles can inform campus design today.    The roster of speakers includes: 

    • Cathy Blake, FASLA, University Landscape Architect, Stanford University: Rebuilding the Olmsted Framework at Stanford University
    • Mark Hough, FASLA, University Landscape Architect, Duke University: Uncovering the Olmsted Brothers Legacy at Duke University
    • Laurie Olin, FASLA, FAAR, Partner, Olin Studio and member Olmsted 200 Honorary Committee.  Keynote: The Olmsteds and the American Campus
    • Frederick Steiner, FASLA, FAAR, Dean and Paley Professor, University of Pennsylvania School of Design: Olmsted and Land Grant Institutions
    • Michael Vergason, FASLA, FAAR, Principal, Michael Vergason Landscape Architects: Adapting Olmsted Precedent in Contemporary Campus Design

    Continuing education credits will be offered and attendance is limited to 80 participants. For a small fee, breakfast and lunch will be served.  

    More details, including how to register, will be available at https://olmsted200.org/events/symposium-the-olmsteds-and-campus-design/. 

  • Tuesday, July 20, 3:00 pm – 4:30 pm – Conversations with Olmsted: Creating Parks for the Ages, Online

    Tuesday, July 20, 3:00 pm – 4:30 pm – Conversations with Olmsted: Creating Parks for the Ages, Online

    Olmsted 200 invites you to join a July 20 webinar at 3 pm Eastern time in our Conversations with Olmsted series as we explore different aspects of Olmsted’s far-reaching influence on America’s physical landscape and social fabric. Frederick Law Olmsted and the Olmsted firm believed that thoughtfully-designed public parks could bring communities together and provide residents and visitors with a host of health, economic and environmental benefits. Over a century after their creation, parks in New York, Louisville and Seattle face new opportunities and challenges.

    Moderated by Karen Phillips, FASLA and 2021 LAF Medal Honoree in conversation with three innovative leaders of historic Olmsted parks, this program will examine the importance of public parks in addressing today’s ecological, social, and cultural changes as well as the need to sustain them for future generations. Panelists include:

    • Susan Donoghue, President and Park Administrator, Prospect Park Alliance and NYC Parks
    • Layla George, President/CEO of Olmsted Parks Conservancy in Louisville, KY
    • Jennifer Ott, Assistant Director of HistoryLink and Steering Committee Chair of Volunteer Park Trust in Seattle, WA

    Share your thoughts and questions about the event using #ConvoswithFLO and #ParksfortheAges. Don’t forget to follow us and tag us @Olmsted200.

    To learn more about the Olmsted 200 bicentennial celebration and find nationwide events honoring the life and legacy of Frederick Law Olmsted, please visit olmsted200.org.

    By registering for this free event, you agree to receive communication from The National Association for Olmsted Parks and Olmsted 200. You will receive the Zoom link via email 24 hours before the event. Register through Eventbrite HERE

  • Monday, December 2, 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm – The Papers of Frederick Law Olmsted Volume VIII: The Early Boston Years, 1882 – 1890

    Frederick Law Olmsted relocated from New York to Boston in the early 1880s. With the help of his stepson and partner, John Charles Olmsted, his professional office grew to become the first of its kind: a modern landscape architecture practice with projects throughout the country. During the period covered in Volume VIII of the Olmsted Papers, Olmsted and his partners designed the park system of Boston and Brookline—including the Back Bay Fens, Franklin Park, and the Muddy River Improvement.

    Though Olmsted would never provide a definitive treatise on landscape architecture, this volume contains some of his most mature and powerful statements on the practice of landscape architecture. Join The Arnold Arboretum and the sponsors below on Monday, December 2 at the Weld Hill Research Building for a lecture, panel discussion and celebration of this newly published landscape design resource.  Fee: $10 (Students: Call 617.384.5277 to register for free.)

    Doors open at 6:00pm. Light refreshments served.  Books available for purchase and signing.  Weld Hill Research Building is located at 1300 Centre Street, Roslindale, MA.

    Sponsored by the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, Emerald Necklace Conservancy, Friends of Fairsted, and National Association for Olmsted Parks in collaboration with the City of Boston, Parks and Recreation Department, Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site, Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, and Town of Brookline, Parks and Open Space Division.

    http://www.olmsted.org/storage/images/00_Home_Page/volume_8_cover.jpg

  • Arnold Arboretum Appoints Iris Gestram as Deputy Director

    The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University is pleased to announce that Iris Gestram has been appointed as the new Deputy Director. She will join the organization in May 2012. Iris comes to the Arboretum from the National Association for Olmsted Parks where she served as Executive Director. Previously, Iris headed the Education and Visitor Services Department at historic Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, PA, where she oversaw guest services, education, public programs, public relations, and marketing for the 1,000-acre public garden. Iris also served as Director of Education and Visitor Services at the Olmsted-designed Bok Tower Gardens in Lake Wales, FL, adjacent to Mountain Lake Community with its numerous residential landscapes designed by the Olmsted firm. Iris offers the Arboretum extensive experience in non-profit management, strategic planning, and program development. She holds a master’s degree in plant science from Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany, and a master of science degree in public horticulture administration from the Longwood Graduate Program, University of Delaware. While in the Longwood Program, Iris developed a preservation plan for the historic landscape of Gibraltar in Wilmington, DE, designed by pioneer woman landscape architect Marian Cruger Coffin.

    An active participant nationally in the fields of historic landscape preservation and public horticulture, Iris has served on the Longwood Graduate Program Executive Committee and the Gibraltar Landscape Advisory Committee for Preservation Delaware, Inc. She recently completed a strategic plan for the Smithsonian Horticulture Services Division that initiated a name change to Smithsonian Gardens to better reflect the organization’s stature and operations as a public garden, educational institution, and horticultural display garden.