Fantastic What’s Out There Weekend Baltimore

Featuring more than two-dozen free, expert-led tours, What’s Out There Weekend Baltimore, organized by The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF), saw the participation of hundreds of attendees who explored some of the city’s best-known and beloved landscapes, including Druid Hill Park and Fort McHenry National Monument & Historic Shrine, as well as often overlooked gems, like Pearlstone Park and Woodberry Historic District. The weekend of free tours, the majority of which were sold out, was complemented by the publication of a printed What’s Out There Baltimore guidebook (TCLF’s 27th What’s Out There guidebook), and expansions to the comprehensive online What’s Out There Baltimore Cultural Landscapes Guide, which originally launched in 2019. 

Prior to the weekend, TCLF hosted a launch event at American Institute of Architects (AIA) Baltimore’s Center for Architecture and Design. The event, sponsored by Victor Stanley, AIA Baltimore and the Maryland chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), honored the generous sponsors, local partners, and volunteers who contributed to making the weekend possible. Following opening remarks by Om M. Khurjekar (Hord Coplan Macht) on behalf of Maryland ASLA, Charles A. Birnbaum, TCLF’s president and CEO, addressed the dozens guests in attendance. Birnbaum reiterated that What’s Out There Weekend Baltimore is intended to encourage area residents to learn about and discover the landscapes that they pass every day and explore parts of the city that they have never visited before. 

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The event kicked off on Saturday morning with a tour of Green Mount Cemetery, led by Pat Hawthorne (Baltimore Heritage). After traversing the rural cemetery’s hilly terrain on participant remarked, “I’ve been wanting to tour this site for years.” The tour was followed by Fells Point Historic District led by David Gleason (The Society for the Preservation of Federal Hill and Fell’s Point), Carroll Park led by Krista D. Green (Mount Clare Museum), Gwynn Falls - Leakin Park led by Erica Lewis (Friends of Gwynns Falls/Leakin Park), and Johns Hopkins University. The latter was led by landscape architects Michael Vergason (Michael Vergason Landscape Architects) and Jonathan Ceci (Jonathan Ceci Landscape Architects) who delighted attendees with their knowledge of the campus’ design, having both completed projects at the university. 

Tours continued into the afternoon with Frederick Douglass-Isaac Myers Maritime Park led by Michael Vergason (Michael Vergason Landscape Architects), Patterson Park led by Jennifer Robinson (Friends of Patterson Park), West Shore Park led by Om M. Khurjekar (Hord Coplan Macht), and Jones Falls and Woodberry Historic District led by Nathan Dennies (Baltimore Heritage).  

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Saturday was marked by four tours featuring Druid Hill Park, the nation’s third oldest large municipal park. Attendees learned about different aspects of the park’s history from Larissa Torres (Baltimore City Recreation and Parks), Sandy Simmons (Howard Peters Rawlings Conservatory), and Cecilia Wichmann (Baltimore Museum of Art). Nick Glase (Unknown Studio) and Jennifer Dowdell (Biohabitats) highlighted the current rehabilitation of Druid Lake, the park’s drinking water reservoir. The duo led attendees from the park’s southern entrance, marked by a monumental classical sandstone archway gate (1868), to the western shore of the lake where they presented plans and diagrams about the project. 

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Sunday, the first day of Autumn, boasted an equally packed schedule of tours. The morning started with tours of Federal Hill Park led by Dave Schenning (Baltimore Heritage), followed by tours of Cylburn Arboretum led by Brent Figlestahler (Cylburn Arboretum Friends); Morgan State University led by Kim McCalla (Morgan State University; Clifton Park led by John Ciekot, Charlie Schlauch, and Janet Felsten (Civic Works); and Baltimore Museum of Art led by Philip Dugdale (Sasaki) and Oliver Shell (Baltimore Museum of Art). Dudgale and Shell led visitors from the museum to the Ryda & Robert H. Levi Sculpture Garden, designed by landscape architect Jospeh Hibbard of Sasaki Associates (now Sasaki). There, attendees gathered under the garden’s beech, oak, and honey locust trees, dappled with fall color, where Dugdale detailed the site’s design and relayed anecdotes personally conferred by Hibbard. 

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The day continued with tours of Latrobe Park led by Cheryl Duffey (Parks and Beautification Committee of Locust Point Civic Association); Wyman Park and Wyman Park Dell led by Sandy Sparks (Friends of Maryland’s Olmsted Parks & Landscapes); Roland Park led by Judy Dobbs (Friends of Maryland’s Olmsted Parks & Landscapes) and Kathy Hudson; Sudbrook Park Historic District by Melanie Anson, Deane Rundell and Denise Watkins (Sudbrook Park, Inc.); and Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine Perimeter led by the National Park Service. On the tour, “Pearlstone Park and Mount Vernon- LGBTQ+ History of Baltimore,” guides Max Dickson (OLIN) and Richard Oloizia (Baltimore Heritage), highlighted the work of artist and activist Scott Burton. Touring Pearlstone Park, the only park Burton designed in its entirety, Dickson detailed the site’s design, the artist’s oeuvre, and how Burton’s identity as gay man informed his work. The weekend concluded with a tour of Historic Sharp Leadenhall Community led by Betty Bland Thomas and Courtney C. Hobson, who passionately conveyed the community’s history and significance. 

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Attendee feedback was very positive: “I loved this, I learned so much and the tours got me out to see parts of the city I rarely visit,” and, “the elegantly organized WOTW in Baltimore by an incredibly dedicated, knowledgeable and generous organization, The Cultural Landscape Foundation, offered hundreds of us enriching experiences.” 

What’s Out There Weekend Baltimore would not have been successful without support from Guidebook Sponsor, the Brick Industry – Landscape and Paving Brick Council; Lead Sponsor Maryland ASLA; Presenting Sponsors, Baltimore City Recreation and Parks, Baltimore Heritage, Friends of Maryland’s Olmsted Parks and Landscapes, Friends of Patterson Park, JMI Equity, Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects; and all our Supporting Sponsors and Friends. A special thank you goes out to Om M. Khurjekar, Sarah Trautvetter, Michael Pullano, Lauren Bostic Hill, Claire Agre, Adam Boarman, Jennifer Dowdell, Nick Glase, Manuel Gonzalez, Isaac Hametz, Johns Hopkins, Dennis Nola, Jennifer Robinson, Sandy Sparks, Larissa Torres, and David Zielnick, and all the volunteers.