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What’s Out There Weekend San Francisco Bay Area September 13-15, 2019, Features Free Expert-led Tours of Parks, Gardens, and Open Spaces

Media Contact: Nord Wennerstrom | T: 202.483.0553  | M: 202.255.7076 | E: nord@tclf.org


Part of a nationwide program that reveals the stories of places that are part of our daily lives

Washington, D.C. (August 15, 2019) – The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF) announces What’s Out There Weekend San Francisco Bay Area, September 13-15, 2019, featuring free, expert-led tours of the area’s parks, gardens, landscapes and open spaces.  These tours enable people to discover the design history of places they may pass every day but don’t necessarily know about. Expert guides provide rich stories, personal anecdotes, and keen observations about each site, landscape architecture, city shaping, and garden design. TCLF will produce an online What’s Out There Cultural Landscapes Guide to the San Francisco Bay Area with 55 sites, along with a print publication that is available for purchase.  An opening reception on Friday, September 13, precedes the tours.

Among the sites featured is Salesforce Park designed by PWP Landscape Architecture with a tour led by Ashley Langworthy of BRV; Mission Bay and Daggett Park with tours led by Rene Bihan of SWA and Chris Guillard of CMG; Crissy Field and Tunnel Tops with tours led by Claire Mooney of the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy and Michael Boland of the Presidio Trust; Stanford University with a tour led by Andrea Cochran of Andrea Cochran Landscape Architecture and John Wong of SWA; and the Kaiser Roof Garden and Lake Merritt with tours led by Jonathan Rusch of ICF.

All of the tours and the reception are free, but registration is required and capacity is limited.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13 Reception

  • SWA San Francisco: 530 Bush Street, 6th Floor San Francisco, CA 94108; 5:00-9:00 PM

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 14 Tours: Sites, Tour Guides, Times:

  • Golden Gate Park Japanese Tea Garden (San Francisco) | Stephen Pitsenbarger (SF Rec and Parks); 9:00-10:00 AM
  • Golden Gate Bridge Plaza, Pavilion and Trail (Golden Gate National Recreation Area), Golden Gate Overlook (San Francisco) | John Skibbe; 9:00- 10:15 AM
  • Stanford University (Palo Alto) | John Wong (SWA) and Andrea Cochran (Andrea Cochran Landscape Architecture); 10:00 AM-12:00 PM
  • Music Concourse (Golden Gate Park) + New de Young Museum Gardens (San Francisco) | Doug Nelson (RHAA) and John Dennis (SF Public Works); 10:15- 11:30 AM
  • Clement Street (San Francisco) | Andrea Dumovich (ICF); 10:45 AM- 12:00 PMllo
  • Fort Baker and Cavallo Point (Golden Gate National Recreation Area) (Sausalito) | John Skibbe; 10:45 AM- 12:00 PM
  • Greenwood Common (Berkeley) | Ted Korth (KSH); 10:45 AM- 12:00 PM
  • UC Berkeley (Berkeley) | Veronica Wong; 1:00- 2:30 PM
  • Marin Art and Garden Center (Ross) | Steven Schwager; 1:00- 2:30 PM
  • Crissy Field + Tunnel Tops (San Francisco) | Claire Mooney (GGNPC) and Michael Boland (Presidio Trust); 1:00- 3:00 PM
  • Civic Center Plaza (San Francisco) + UN Plaza (San Francisco) | John Dennis (SF Public Works), Nicholas Perry (SF Planning), and Jorgen Cleeman (SF Planning); 1:30- 3:00 PM
  • Golden Gateway + Sydney G. Walton Park + One Maritime Plaza (San Francisco) | Adam Greenspan (PWP); 2:00- 3:30 PM
  • Lands End (San Francisco) | John Skibbe; 3:30- 4:45 PM
  • Salesforce Park (Transbay Center) (San Francisco) | Ashley Langworthy (BRV); 4:00- 5:30 PM

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 15 Tours: Sites, Tour Guides, Times:

  • Justin Herman Plaza/Embarcadero (San Francisco) | Hannah Simonson (Page & Turnbull); 9:00- 10:15 AM
  • Sigmund Stern Grove (San Francisco) | Koa Pickering (SF Public Works); 9:00- 10:15 AM
  • Mills College (Oakland) | Vonn Marie May with Karen Fiene; 10:30 AM- 12:15 PM
  • Ghirardelli Square + Fort Mason + Aquatic Park + Jefferson Street (San Francisco) | Rene Bihan (SWA) and Fran Hegeler (SWA); 10:45 AM- 12:45 PM Please Note: Hilly Terrain
  • VMWare Campus (Palo Alto) | Jay Swaintek (PWP); 11:00 AM- 12:15 PM
  • Joe DiMaggio Playground + Fay Park + Pioneer Park (San Francisco) | Lizzy Hirsch (SF Public Works) with Julie Christensen (neighborhood advocate) Please Note: Hilly Terrain
  • Kaiser Center Roof Garden + Lake Merritt (Oakland) | Jonathan Rusch (ICF); 1:30- 3:00 PM
  • Oakland Museum of California (Oakland) | Hood Design Studio; 2:45- 4:00 PM
  • South Park (San Francisco) | David Fletcher (Fletcher Studio); 3:30- 5:00 PM
  • Warriors Stadium + Mission Bay public spaces + Daggett Park (San Francisco) | Rene Bihan (SWA) and Chris Guillard (CMG); 3:30- 5:00 PM

What’s Out There Weekend San Francisco Bay Area dovetails with TCLF’s web-based What’s Out There, the nation’s most comprehensive searchable database of historic designed landscapes. The database currently features more than 2,000 sites, 11,000 images, and 1,100 designer profiles. What’s Out There is optimized for iPhones and similar handheld devices, and includes What’s Nearby, a GPS-enabled feature that locates all landscapes within a given distance, customizable by mileage or walking time.

“The Bay Area’s rich and distinct identity is embedded in its diverse landscape legacy,” said Charles A. Birnbaum, TCLF’s president and CEO, “and the What’s Out There Weekend program is an engaging way to discover these riches.”

What’s Out There Weekend San Francisco Bay Area is made possible by the National Endowment for the Arts, San Francisco Recreation & Parks Department, American Society of Landscape Architects Northern California Chapter; Presenting Sponsors Bartlett Tree Experts, BrightView Landscape Development, Kay Woods, SWA and Victor Stanley; and additional Supporting Sponsors and Friends.

About The Cultural Landscape Foundation

The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit founded in 1998 with a mission of “connecting 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.