ABOUT THE EVENT
Film | Frederick Law Olmsted: Designing America
Celebrate Earth Day with an afternoon spent at the NBMAA. Watch a film about the father of landscape architecture, grab a sandwich and drink at the Museum Café, and take a walk on the Museum grounds and Walnut Hill Park.
April 26, 2022, marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Frederick Law Olmsted, the master designer of public parks and a founder of the field of landscape architecture. Olmsted emphasized the public health, mental health, and even spiritual health benefits of the park experience for everyone in a democracy. Arguably, he was one of our first urban planners for our great urban parks and parkways.
Olmsted's career included: co-designing Central Park, being the head of the first Yosemite commission, leading the campaign to protect Niagara Falls, designing of the U.S. Capitol Grounds, being the site planner for the Great White City of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, and planning Boston’s 'Emerald Necklace' of green space. He also designed parks in many other cities, including New Britain's Walnut Hill Park.