Frederick Law Olmsted's Design Legacies in Lake Park

Event Details: We will meet on the patio of the lower level of Lake Park's pavilion. Park in the lot near Lake Park Bistro. Dress for the weather and varied terrain. Rain or shine (except if lightning is predicted.)

Event Description: Explore the vistas and ravines of one of Milwaukee's most inviting and historic parks and learn about principles that informed its design. Starting in 1892, Frederick Law Olmsted, the creator of New York's Central Park and father of American landscape architecture, began designing several public landscapes in Milwaukee. Olmsted's approaches to democratic, accessible and interlinked parks also inspired many other aspects of the public realm here, including the creation of parkways, greenways, Lincoln Memorial Drive and early mass transit.

About your Tour Guide: Virginia Small is an award-winning journalist who has researched, written and presented about landscapes for 25 years. The Wisconsin Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects honored her in 2019 with its "Visibility Award." After working for several decades as a journalist and communications professional on the East Coast, she returned to her hometown of Milwaukee. She writes extensively for national and local outlets about cultural and historic landscapes and environmental topics. The author of Great Gardens of the Berkshires, she recently contributed a chapter about Olmsted's legacies for The Milwaukee River Greenway: A Wealth of Nature in the Heart of the City and co-wrote an essay for the catalog of the exhibition "In the Park with Olmsted: A Vision for Milwaukee"  currently showing at Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum.

2022 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Frederick Law Olmsted, social reformer and founder of American landscape architecture. Learn more about his impact here: https://olmsted200.org/