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Central Park Hosts Morrison Lecture, LALH Film


Central Park Hosts Morrison Lecture, LALH Film

Darrel Morrison
Darrel Morrison from the film Designing in the Prairie Spirit. Courtesy of Florentine Films/Hott Productions.

Native plants enthusiasts, transplanted Midwesterners pining for the prairie, and anyone curious about a naturalistic approach to landscape design will find much of interest at a lecture by Darrel Morrison, FASLA, and screening of the LALH film, Designing in the Prairie Spirit: A Conversation with Darrel Morrison. In the film, the renowned landscape architect traces the origins of his design philosophy to Prairie School landscape architect Jens Jensen and conservation writer Aldo Leopold, among other influences. Morrison’s talk, co-sponsored by LALH, is part of the New York City Parks Department’s “Uncommon Ground” lecture series, held in the Arsenal in Central Park. The talk is free and open to the public, 6 p.m., April 25, 2013.

Butterfly on butterfly bush
University of Wisconsin Arboretum. Courtesy Florentine Films/Hott Productions.

Morrison, who has lived in the city since 2005, is a long-time advocate of using native plant communities as models for the designed-and-managed landscape. He has taught at the University of Wisconsin Department of Landscape Architecture, the University of Georgia School of Environment and Design, and the Columbia University Landscape Design program. He was the senior landscape architect at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin, Texas. Morrison’s recent landscape projects include: Storm King Art Center at Mountainville, New York; a native garden at New York University; the Old Stone Mill landscape at New York Botanical Garden; and, currently, the extension to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s Native Flora Garden, scheduled to open in June. Morrison also serves on the LALH Board of Directors.

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