2026 is the bicentennial of Frederic Church (1826-1900), America’s foremost landscape artist. In The Olmsted Network’s next free webinar on October 6, Sean Sawyer, President of The Olana Partnership, will examine Church’s 40 year-long project of creating Olana—his 250-acre masterwork of American landscape design overlooking the Hudson River in Hudson, New York.
Sawyer will detail how Church acted as his own architect, landscape architect, and interior designer, while collaborating with Calvert Vaux and drawing upon the most advanced thinking in design and environmental conservation. Free. Register at https://olmsted.org/events/olana-frederic-churchs-vision-of-art-and-landscape/
The Olmsted Network’s 2026 Annual Conference—The Power of Connection: Shaping Resilient Public Landscapes—will convene park leaders, designers, advocates, funders, policymakers, and practitioners from across the country September 23 – 25 to explore how connection shapes resilient public landscapes.
Set against the backdrop of Portland Oregon’s renowned park system and enduring Olmsted legacy, this year’s conference examines the relationships that sustain public spaces—linking people to parks, history to innovation, and vision to stewardship.
As public landscapes face mounting pressures from climate change, funding constraints, public health needs, and evolving community expectations, the conference offers a timely forum for collaboration and problem-solving. Through panels, roundtables, and site visits, participants will exchange ideas, strengthen partnerships, and gain practical strategies to support the future of public spaces.
Grounded in the principles of Frederick Law Olmsted while looking firmly toward the future, the conference invites participants to learn from the communities and environments of the Pacific Northwest and to experience connection in action: between parks and policy, design and equity, and climate response and cultural stewardship. As public landscapes face mounting pressures from climate change, funding constraints, public health needs, and evolving community expectations, the conference offers a timely forum for collaboration and problem-solving. Through panels, roundtables, and site visits, participants will exchange ideas, strengthen partnerships, and gain practical strategies to support the future of public spaces.
Grounded in the principles of Frederick Law Olmsted while looking firmly toward the future, the conference invites participants to learn from the communities and environments of the Pacific Northwest and to experience connection in action: between parks and policy, design and equity, and climate response and cultural stewardship.
Additional information about conference scholarships, hotel blocks, and LA CES is available below. For logistical questions, please contact Ella Menees, Logistics & Engagement Manager, at emenees@olmsted.org.
Tickets & Pricing Each ticket includes access to the welcome reception, conference sessions, happy hour, and awards dinner (with RSVP), as well as two breakfasts, two lunches, and a swag bag. The menu is available here; let us know of any food allergies during registration.
June 1 to September 15: Partner (with code): $350 Student (with scholarship code): $40 Regular: $400
Partner Code & Scholarship Codes: All listed partner organizations will be provided a partner discount code for $350 tickets. This code will come to your organization’s listed contact via email. You can also reach out to us if needed. Visit https://olmsted.org/events/2026-annual-conference/
From neighborhood parks to campuses to entire communities, Olmsted’s work was always about shaping identity through landscape.
We can feel that in places like Central Park—where people don’t simply pass through, but use the space to form memories, gather, protest, celebrate, and see themselves as part of something larger. Over time, those experiences become part of how a community understands itself across generations.
