Spend a day with San Diego Floral and presentations from local and national experts as they examine Balboa Park. interesting experts from near and far. Presentations are scheduled from 10am until 3-3:30pm (lunch on your own from noon til 1:30pm). The day also includes walking tours highlighting gardens and buildings of the 1915 Panama-California Exposition. Presenters include:
Kim Duclo has served as a San Diego City park ranger since 1996. He is a beloved representative of Balboa Park and a keen student of its history. “Ranger Kim” will welcome us to Balboa Park and display some precious artifacts of early park history from his collection.
Vonn Marie May is a landscape historian and cultural landscape specialist. She has authored several successful National Register nominations and contributed to preservation and restoration projects at Mills College, Oakland; the University of California, Berkeley; the Naval Training Center, San Diego; and at the Rancho Santa Fe Covenant. She will set out the subject of the day by describing the meaning of the term “cultural landscape.”
Professor Robert Z. Melnick, School of Architecture and Allied Arts, University of Oregon is a nationally and internationally recognized expert in cultural landscape evaluation and historic landscape preservation planning. A Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects, he publishes widely and speaks at events and conferences worldwide. He is the co-editor of Preserving Cultural Landscapes in America (2000). Professor Melnick will discuss his recent research and thinking on the challenges of cultural landscape preservation in an era of climate change.
Elizabeth (Betsy) Barlow Rogers is a landscape designer, landscape preservationist, teacher, lecturer and writer. She is president of the Foundation for Landscape Studies, served as the first Administrator of Central Park and was the founding president of New York City’s Central Park Conservancy. She has written several books on the history of landscape design and the cultural meaning of place and is the recipient of numerous awards for her scholarship and preservation work. She will speak on the value of public-private partnerships in the strengthening and preservation of cultural landscapes.
Nancy Carol Carter is currently focusing her historical research on Balboa Park and regional horticultural history. She is an associate editor of California Garden and has published in Pacific Horticulture, the Journal of San Diego History, and Eden. Using historic photographs, she will recount the pre-1915 landscape history of Balboa Park and discuss the landscape and architectural influences of the Panama-California exposition.
Cultivating Identity: Balboa Park as Cultural Landscape takes place on Saturday, October 3, 2015, 10am to 3:45pm at the San Diego Museum of Photographic Art Theatre, Balboa Park. This is a ticketed event. $10 for San Diego Floral Association members and students. $25 for nonmember residents of San Diego. Seating is very limited. Purchase your tickets online at the San Diego Floral website.
Get ready for the day-long event by attending a reception the evening before at the Marston House. Meet the distinguished speakers and members of the California Garden and Landscape History, enjoy appetizers and wine in the garden of this beautiful historic home and museum. The evening includes tours, the exhibit Balboa Park Exposition Designers 1915-1935: The Making of the Dream City, and the Museum Shop. Tickets for the reception are available for purchase at the San Diego Floral website.
