Boston Flora

Tag: National Association of Olmsted Parks

  • Sunday, October 2, 5:00 pm – The Parks That Made the Man Who Made Central Park: A Frederick Law Olmsted Lecture, Online

    John Phibbs will speak on Sunday, October 2 at 5 pm Eastern time on Zoom on the topic of Frederick Law Olmsted and the influence of his travels in England on his work. In its travels across the Atlantic the English idea of gardens was stripped down and reformed to make a new approach to landscape architecture, which was, in turn, shipped back to Britain in the 20th Century. The talk is sponsored by the National Association of Olmsted Parks and is free to all. Register at

    https://olmsted200.org/events/the-parks-that-made-the-man-who-made-central-park/?mc_cid=4c61303777&mc_eid=24631ab4cc
    Birkenhead Park, Liverpool, the first public park and Olmsted’s inspiration for public parks

    Famously, Olmsted took from his travels not only the delight in nature that is so much a part of 18th Century English landscape, but also its didactic and philanthropic role in ameliorating the lives of ordinary people in the new industrical cities.

  • Tuesday, September 14 & Wednesday, September 15 – A Virtual Design Symposium and Flower Show: The Life and Legacy of Frederick Law Olmsted

    The Albemarle Garden Club is thrilled to announce that Charlotte Moss,  American interior designer and national author of ten books, has agreed to serve as the honorary chair of AGC’s virtual flower show: “Genius of Place: an Ode to Frederick Law Olmsted.” This virtual flower show will attract judges and exhibitors from across the country. It will offer classes in four divisions – Floral Design, Horticulture, Photography, and Botanical Arts. The two day Olmsted Forum will debut with the “Preview” of the flower show on Tuesday, September 14 from 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm Eastern time. This will be a ticketed, virtual event and feature a presentation by Charlotte Moss. Her new book, launching this spring, is entitled Flowers.  $40. Register at https://www.albemarlegardenclub.com/olmsted-forum-tickets

    On Wednesday, September 15 from 1:30 – 5:00 pm Eastern Time, with the support of the National Association of Olmsted Parks and the Center for Cultural Landscapes at University of Virginia School of Architecture, Albemarle Garden Club is planning Olmsted Forum – 2021. Building on our successful fundraising platform —Design Forum— the focus of this event will be Frederick Law Olmsted.  Olmsted is commonly known as the father of landscape design.  The Forum will survey his life and lasting legacy, providing the opportunity to learn about Olmsted from an historical perspective and how and why parks are so important today.  This event will be one of the first in a year-long line up of events organized by the NAOP leading to the bicentennial of Olmsted’s birth in May 2022. 

    Olmsted scholars and practitioners will present talks focusing on the relevance of Olmsted’s legacy in the park movement today. Speakers will include:

    • Susan Rademacher, GCA Honorary Member since 2017. Susan is the founder and President of ForeGround Consulting, LLC.  She was the Parks Curator for the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy which preserved, enhanced and promoted the Pittsburgh Parks from 2007 until 2019.  During Susan’s tenure, the Conservancy raised more than $126 million and completed 22 major projects.  Susan also served as the assistant director of the Louisville Metro Parks and the president of the Louisville Olmsted Parks Conservancy from 1991-2007.  She  has lectured and taught extensively and has authored award winning  books and articles.  She has been the recipient of a prestigious Loeb fellowship at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, and received the Frederick Law Olmsted Award for Distinguished Leadership.
    • Sara Zewde,  Founding Principal of Studio Zewde.  Sara is an Assistant Professor of Practice at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design.  She was named the 2014 National Olmsted Scholar by the Landscape Architecture Foundation, a 2016 Artist-in Residence at the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, and in 2018 was named to the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s inaugural “40 under 40” list. Most recently, she was named a 2020 United States Artists Fellow.  Sara is a registered landscape architect and holds a master’s of landscape architecture from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, a master’s of city planning from MIT, and a BA in sociology and statistics from Boston University. 
    • Sara Cedar Miller, Central Park Conservancy Historian Emerita.  Sara first joined Central Park in 1984 as a photographer. She conducts extensive research on Central Park, lectures on history and is the  author of award-winning books. She was named in 2020 a Preservation Hero by the Library of American Landscape History.

    The moderator for a live conservation with the speakers will be Elizabeth K. Meyer, FASLA.  

    Beth Meyer, the Merrill D. Peterson Professor of Landscape Architecture at the University of Virginia.  She founded the Center for Cultural Landscapes at UVA and is broadly recognized as one of the most influential landscape architectural critics and theorists.  She is a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects and the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture. She was awarded the Vincent Scully Prize by The National Building Museum in 2019 and in 2017 the Jot D. Carpenter Teaching Medal from the American Society of Landscape Architects. 

    The forum will also include a presentation by Albemarle Garden Club on its work at the Booker T. Washington Park in Charlottesville, Virginia. 

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    Format:  this will be a hybrid event with some components pre-recorded and available for viewing ahead of the event for ticket holders.  Speaker introductions and the panel discussion will be live and links will be provided to ticket holders. Register at https://www.albemarlegardenclub.com/olmsted-forum-tickets

  • 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/

  • Thursday, March 14, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm – Brooklyn’s Resilient Edge: The Transformation of Industrial Waterfront into Brooklyn Bridge Park

    Brooklyn’s Resilient Edge: The Transformation of Industrial Waterfront into Brooklyn Bridge Park, is a lecture by Nate Trevethan, Senior Associate at Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates and senior design team member for Brooklyn Bridge Park, sponsored by the Friends of Fairsted, to take place March 14, 2013, with reception at 6:00 pm, lecture at 7:00 pm, at Wheelock College, 43 Hawes Street, Brookline. Free and open to the public. Seating is limited. Reservations are requested: e-mail friendsoffairsted@gmail.com or leave a message at 617-566-1689, ext. 265.

    Ambitious and visionary goals guide the creative team in their transformation of Brooklyn’s former industrial waterfront into a new public landscape of diverse recreational, economic, ecological and social possibilities: to preserve the historic urban context and the way it is experienced in this dramatic waterfront site. The award-winning design by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates gives voice to physical history, geography, industry, urbanity and evolving recreational needs as it transforms a challenging waterfront into a sustainable public park of monumental vistas and diverse landscape experiences.

    Friends of Fairsted gratefully acknowledges the support of the following co-sponsors: National Park Service, Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site; Wheelock College; Arnold Arboretum; Boston Society of Landscape Architects; Brookline GreenSpace Alliance; Brookline Historical Society; Charles River Conservancy; Emerald Necklace Conservancy; The Fenway Alliance; Friends of Mount Auburn Cemetery; Friends of the Muddy River; Friends of the Public Garden; High Street Hill Association; Historic New England; The Landscape Institute of the Boston Architectural College; Library of American Landscape History; Massachusetts Historical Society; Muddy River Restoration Project Maintenance and Management Oversight Committee; National Association for Olmsted Parks; New England Landscape Design and History Association; Society of Architectural Historians, New England Chapter; The Trustees of Reservations.

    http://brooklynbridgepark.com/wp/media/2010/05/brooklyn-bridge-park-600x400.jpg