The Cultural Landscape Foundation Announces 2017 Stewardship Excellence Award Recipients – The Halprin Landscape Conservancy and The Sea Ranch Association
Media Contact: Nord Wennerstrom | T: 202.483.0553 | M: 202.225.7076 | E: nord@tclf.org
Awards to be presented Oct. 20 at The Landscape Architecture of Lawrence Halprin exhibition opening at the A+D Architecture and Design Museum>LA in tandem with ASLA Annual Meeting and Expo
Washington, D.C. (September 11, 2017) – The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF) today announced the recipients of the 2017 Stewardship Excellence Awards - the Halprin Landscape Conservancy in Portland, OR, and The Sea Ranch Association in Sea Ranch, CA. The honorees, which both promote sound stewardship of landscape architect Lawrence Halprin’s built legacy in Portland and Sea Ranch, respectively, will receive their awards at the opening reception Friday, October 20, 2017 for The Landscape Architecture of Lawrence Halprin exhibition at the A+D Architecture and Design Museum in Los Angeles, CA. The reception is a ticketed event and space is limited; tickets are available at TCLF’s website.
First awarded in 2001, the Stewardship Excellence Award is bestowed on a person, group or agency that share TCLF’s mission of “connecting people to places.” The aim of the award is to highlight stewardship stories that will educate and inspire future generations of cultural landscape stewards. Past recipients of the Stewardship Excellence Award include: individuals (Mayor Richard M. Daley, Dr. Charles E. Beveridge); not-for-profit organizations (Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, The American Academy in Rome, Greenacre Foundation); historic properties (Indianapolis Museum of Art, Casa del Herrero Foundation); local groups (Friends of Gas Works Park, Louisville Olmsted Parks Conservancy); state municipalities (Kentucky Heritage Council); and federal agencies (The Presidio Trust, National Park Service).
About the 2017 Stewardship Excellence recipients:
The Halprin Landscape Conservancy
As the first park conservancy focused on the stewardship of a collection of Modernist landscapes, the Halprin Landscape Conservancy has been selected in recognition of its significant achievements – all since its founding in 2006. In 2009, the Conservancy made its presence known with the memorable and enormously successful, “City Dance of Lawrence and Anna Halprin," an NEA American Masterworks music/dance performance, while also publishing the book, Where the Revolution Began: Lawrence and Anna Halprin and the Reinvention of Public Space (2009).
Five years after its founding, and fully recognized in the City of Portland by both the public and public agencies, the Conservancy put in place an agreement for public/private partnerships with the city. The following year it undertook a Conditions Assessment Report for the much-needed restoration of the resources that also served as a springboard for the 2013 listing of the entire Sequence of Open Spaces in the National Register of Historic Places. With an executive director on board since 2013, the Conservancy has worked closely with Portland Parks & Recreation on a wide array of achievements, among them, a complete restoration of the pavilion at Lovejoy Plaza and the trimming/thinning of trees at Pettygrove Park. In 2016, the Conservancy completed a $2.15 million Local Improvement District with matching $1.45 million from the City.
The Sea Ranch Association
Conceived to “serve as stewards for the conservation and enhancement of the environment and administer Sea Ranch affairs,” The Sea Ranch Association, was established by the developers at its founding, along with a Design Committee to guide/control any physical improvements at The Sea Ranch (TSR). This revolutionary idea was given real teeth by a comprehensive set of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions, known as “the CC&Rs.” Building on these early planning and design principles, dozens of stewardship activities have been accomplished. A centerpiece of these efforts is the Commons Landscape Committee (CLC) whose members, work in concert with other groups. Hundreds of member volunteers target such activities as monitoring and planting hedgerows, actively maintaining trails, and addressing TSR’s overall vision, with special attention to its meadows, native plants and forests. Of note is The Sea Ranch Landscape – Summary of Commons Landscape Planning and Management 2010-2016, a concise treatise for managing the natural and cultural systems of TSR.
Equally significant is the work of The Sea Ranch Design Committee whose efforts are central to the stewardship/protection of all Sea Ranch development -- whether held in private or in common. Its oversight during the half century since the founding team, led by Larry Halprin and Al Boeke, created the community’s overarching planning and design intentions, has been fundamental to the quality and character of TSR today. Finally, a very conscious strategic effort is underway to actively document and interpret TSR for new generations– making visible and instilling respect for TSR’s unique character and design legacy through workshops, lectures, websites, and publications.
“Lawrence Halprin’s built legacy is revolutionary, influential and extremely fragile and its future is dependent on well-informed, pro-active stewardship,” said Charles A. Birnbaum, TCLF’s president & CEO. “The Halprin Landscape Conservancy and The Sea Ranch Association, working at some of Halprin’s most iconic projects, demonstrate the thoughtfulness and leadership necessary to manage change and continuity with great Modernist works of landscape architecture.”
About The Cultural Landscape Foundation
The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit founded in 1998 to connect people to places. TCLF educates and engages the public to make our shared landscape heritage more visible, identify its value, and empower its stewards. Through its website, publishing, lectures and other events, TCLF broadens support and understanding for cultural landscapes.
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