Pioneer Information
Born in Montrose, Pennsylvania, Sprout studied at the Cambridge School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, earning a B.A. in landscape architecture in 1928. She worked in the office of landscape architect Annette Flanders from 1928 to 1933, where she worked on private estates in the New York metropolitan area with a specialization in planting design. Sprout was hired in 1934 by the New York City Department of Parks, where she worked on a number of significant park projects, including the Central Park Zoo (1934), Staten Island Zoo (opened in 1936), and the Henry Hudson Parkway (completed in 1937). She also collaborated with architect Lusby Simpson, Gilmore Clarke, Aymar Embury, and Ruth Dean on the Bryant Park redesign in 1934. From 1935 to 1937 Sprout worked with Clarke and landscape architect Thomas Price on plans for the Central Park Conservatory Garden, for which she designed the elegant planting scheme. She designed gardens for the 1939 New York World’s Fair and plantings for Battery Park (1939). Clarke and Sprout were married in 1941, and they continued to work together in the firm of Clarke & Rapuano, formed in 1939. While Clarke concentrated on private work, Sprout continued to work on public projects. These included plantings at City Hall Park (1947) and parks in the Nassau County park system. With Clarke & Rapuano, she designed the planting plan for Cadman Plaza Park (1940), the Parkfairfax neighborhood in Alexandria, Virginia (1941 to 1943), and designed the grounds of Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village in Manhattan (1943). Sprout was a member of the American Society of Landscape Architects. She passed away at the age of 55.
