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Frederick Law Olmsted’s 200th Birthday

April 27, 2022 @ 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm

 

America’s great place-maker Frederick Law Olmsted famously said his Brookline landscape architecture firm must “do the best for Boston all the time.”

Join us in honoring Olmsted’s 200th birthday. Due to inclement weather, we have moved this event to our rain date, Wednesday, April 27!

– Celebrate Olmsted’s legacy values of shared use, shared health and shared power in parks and public space with treats and toasts

– Cheer leaders in park advocacy and access recognized by Olmsted 2022

– Learn more about Olmsted Bicentennial events offered through October

Registration is not required, but strongly encouraged in order to track attendance and order enough treats for everyone!

 

Gerry Wright, founder of Olmsted 2022, will recognize local partners at the birthday event for their outstanding support of the community and public space.

Olmsted 2022 is a program under Community Service Care (CSC), Inc. aimed at protecting and preserving our parks and public space.

Special Recognition:  

Olmsted 2022 annually recognizes local leaders for their parks access and advocacy work. 

For the first time since Covid, they will publicly recognize recent awardees:  

Kent Jackson, Director of Education, Emerald Necklace Conservancy
Kent.160Kent is an experienced program administrator and a seasoned educator who has successfully created, developed, directed, facilitated and evaluated environmental education, nature connect and leadership programs for more than 20 years. Kent has previously worked with The Appalachian Mountain Club, Eagle Eye Institute, The Trustees of Reservations and the Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy.

 

Patrice Kish, Chief of Design and Engineering, Department of Conservation and Recreation

Patrice Kish has been involved in preserving Massachusetts’ significant cultural resources from Boston to the Berkshires for over 30 years.  She began her career in preservation when she joined the Department of Environmental Management, now the Department of Conservation and  Recreation (DCR) in 1987 as staff for the Olmsted Program, the nation’s first statewide program to restore public landscapes designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and his firm.

Since joining the Department, she’s focused her attention on expanding the agency’s historic preservation mission, particularly in the area of landscape preservation. She built a team of preservation professionals, improved the agency’s regulatory compliance track record, and developed many of the agency’s preservation programs and innovative award-winning initiatives including the Historic Landscape Preservation Program; the Historic Cemeteries Initiative; the Massachusetts Heritage Landscape Inventory; and the Historic Curatorship Program. In connection with the centennial of the State Forests and Parks system, Patrice initiated a statewide survey of Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Resources in the Massachusetts State Forest and Parks. The initiative received the Paul A. Buchanan Award for Fieldwork and Interpretation from the Vernacular Architecture Forum. She has guided the development of several program publications, including Reading the Land; A Parkway is not a Road and the Terra Firma series.

Since 1996, she has served on the Massachusetts Historical Commission. Patrice served as a trustee of the National Association of Olmsted Parks (NAOP) from 2001–2007 and 2012 – 2021.  In 2021, she joined NAOP’s Advisory Council. Patrice is the recipient of several historic preservation awards including the 2010 Paul E. Tsongas Profiles in Preservation Award from Preservation Massachusetts. Patrice is currently the Chief of Design and Engineering for DCR where she oversees the planning, design and construction of DCR’s capital projects.

For the bicentennial year, Olmsted 2022 spotlights prior awardees whose empowerment work exemplifies the themes of the Olmsted Now Bicentennial:   

Carol Miranda, Director, Community Connections Coalition/Tree of Life/Arbol de Vida
Carol Miranda is the Director of the Jamaica Plain Community Connections Coalition/Tree of Life/Arbol de Vida and the Jamaica Plain Family Engagement Network, where she dedicates her time to anti-poverty initiatives. Carol works with low income families in the community providing family support, community engagement and school readiness. In addition, Carol’s program provides a weekly mother’s support group, a father’s support group, and grandparents raising grandchildren groups. Carol also created The Family Exchange Boutique, a physical space located inside of the Mildred C. Hailey Development, which offers free, gently used, household items and clothing. Carol engages families and connects them with opportunities and resources in collaboration with other community partners. Carol Miranda graduated from Springfield College with a Bachelor’s Degree in human Services and continues to work in the Jamaica Plain community.

Community Connection’s Coalition/Tree of Life, has been providing services to families since the beginning of the pandemic. Free kids meals and other food were distributed to the community on a daily basis along with personal protection equipment and other emergency items for the entire family.  Two free pet vaccine clinics were provided for families and their furry animals in collaboration with the MSPCA, Mildred C. Hailey Apartments in Jamaica Plain and the Archdale Village Apartments in Roslindale.

Corey Stallings, Program Director, South Street Youth Center
Corey Stallings joined the South Street Youth Center (SSYC) as Program Director in February 2015 with 20 years’ experience in youth development, program management and fundraising. At SSYC Corey developed the South Street Clubhouse. He secured funding for an up-to-date computer-learning lab and reinforced skills development by engaging Youth Leaders as peer educators. He creates innovative digital media programs that engage students intellectually and artistically while providing a platform for exploring individual artistic visions as well as issues of racial, economic, and social justice. He collaborates with business and community leaders to create entrepreneurial opportunities for SSYC youth. South Street Youth Center’s programs include: entrepreneurship, photography, graphic design, video production, audio engineering, culinary arts, general arts, college prep and tours (nationally), health equity and social justice, annual 5k Fun Run, and Girl Scouts.

Corey is also on Boston Children’s Hospital Collaboration for Community selection committee. Awards include Adobe Lead Educator, Olmstead Healthy Community Award (Friends of Jamaica Pond), Community Service Award (William B. Evans, Boston Police Commissioner), and Community Service Award (Boston City Councilor Matt O’Malley). Corey sits on the board of The Centre for Faith, Arts, & Justice, as well as Community Service Care Inc.

Performance

Award-winning storyteller and JP resident Diane Edgecomb along with Celtic harper Margot Chamberlain will open Olmstead’s 200th birthday party with a story and music entertainment created for this special event. Well known locally for their annual Story and Music journey, Edgecomb and Chamberlain tour throughout the US with their unique blend of story, music and song.

For Olmstead 2022, this delightful program weaves a Shaker Hymn celebrating the healing power of nature with a native Iroquois creation myth on how this land – Turtle Island – came to be, a vocalized/sung poem of sunrise is then complemented by a beloved Ukrainian folktale and melody adapted to include iconic nature elements of the Emerald Necklace celebrating this living community of nature and people. The Ukrainian folktale, The Mitten, was specially chosen for this 200-year birthday celebration of Frederick Law Olmstead to honor the difficult times we live in as well as to honor Gerry Wright, long-time interpreter of Olmstead’s visionary life. Gerry’s long and important history with the Ukrainian people includes helping to establish the Boston/Kyiv Sister City Association which focused on the wonderful parks in both cities.

Learn more about Diane Edgecomb: www.livingmyth.com

Details

Date:
April 27, 2022
Time:
6:30 pm - 7:30 pm
Event Category:

Venue

Jamaica Pond Boathouse
507 Jamaicaway
Boston, Massachusetts 02130
+ Google Map

Details

Date:
April 27, 2022
Time:
6:30 pm - 7:30 pm
Event Category:

Venue

Jamaica Pond Boathouse
507 Jamaicaway
Boston, Massachusetts 02130
+ Google Map