Olmsted Now Kickoff Events for 2022 Bicentennial
Edwina Kluender | Jamaica Plain News | April 4, 2022
https://www.jamaicaplainnews.com/2022/04/04/olmsted-now-kickoff-events-for-2022-bicentennial/397505
The bicentennial of the birth of Frederick Law Olmsted will be marked by Greater Boston with Olmsted Now, a collaboration to amplify the vibrancy and inclusivity of shared use, shared health and shared power in parks and public space.
Initiated by Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site (Fairsted) and the Emerald Necklace Conservancy with more than 100 organizations within a 60-mile radius of the city, Olmsted Now explores these legacy values of America’s great placemaker and designer of the Emerald Necklace park system with a season of public events from April through October 2022.
Olmsted Now aims to strengthen equity and community connection through a framework that centers decision-making for bicentennial programs with a Committee of Neighborhoods, Boston leaders trusted for their commitment to under-heard voices and under-served open spaces, especially those valued by their neighbors who identify as BIPOC. The initiative also fosters co-learning through monthly public dialogues to dive deeper into issues related to the themes of shared use, shared health and shared power in parks and public space. And the bicentennial is an opportunity to pilot cross-neighborhood collaboration to create in-park programming through the monthly series Parks as Platform in the Emerald Necklace parks.
Committee of Neighborhoods
To orient bicentennial planning, the Emerald Necklace Conservancy commissioned Stephen Gray, Associate Professor at Harvard, and his firm Grayscale Collaborative to conduct an equity analysis and action plan. This foundation has guided Olmsted Now organizers to do more than “include” communities that have historically been structurally excluded from park decision-making in Greater Boston. The bicentennial has become the opportunity to recognize and affirm the power within neighborhoods to imagine new ways to experience and activate public space, and to re-center programming decisions where they need to be: in the community.
To kick off the bicentennial, the Olmsted Now partners are excited to announce the following:
Parks as Platform
Starting this April, the Emerald Necklace Conservancy will transform its annual Summer on the Emerald Necklace series into a shared resource that amplifies partner programs at sites along the Emerald Necklace. Each month through October, the Conservancy will collaborate with a site partner to anchor programming with extra support including securing permits and providing amenities such as signage, performance utilities, food trucks, portable restrooms, volunteer coordination and more. Parks as Platform intends to support neighborhood leaders by easing access and logistics for planning in-park events, and promotes expanded, cross-neighborhood audiences to maximize program impact. The monthly dates and locations of partner collaborations (with rain dates) include:
- April 23 (24): Olmsted Park, with Brookline’s Parks and Open Space Division
- May 8: Arnold Arboretum, with Harvard staff to support Lilac Sunday
- June 11 (12): Franklin Park, with Boston Arts & Music Soul Festival
- July 9 (10): Back Bay Fens, with Fenway Porchfest
- August 20 (21): Jamaica Pond, with JP Porchfest & Dunamis Boston
- September 24 (25): Necklace-wide event in all parks of the Emerald Necklace
- October 1 (2): Charlesgate Park, with Charlesgate Alliance
To read about partner projects and see the full list of events, click here