“Olmsted 200” to Celebrate Frederick Law Olmsted: Parks for All People
The year 2022 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Frederick Law Olmsted, social reformer and founder of American landscape architecture. His legacy lives on in iconic spaces around America including in New York’s Central Park, Boston’s Emerald Necklace and in Atlanta’s Druid Hills and its Olmsted Linear Park.
Olmsted used his landscape designs to promote harmony, health and social democracy and believed that parks and green spaces were places for people to come together, build community and connect on common ground. A national celebration of his life and legacy will be coordinated nationally by the National Association for Olmsted Parks (www.olmsted200.org) around his April birthdate in 2022.
In Atlanta, a weeklong celebration is being planned by the Druid Hills “Olmsted 200” Celebration Committee to commemorate Olmsted’s vision and contributions to this community’s quality of life. The local committee is composed of a diverse range of organizations in the historic Druid Hills area of Atlanta, whose purpose is to plan and coordinate a series of events as part of “Olmsted 200,” focused on the week of April 26, 2022.
The local effort will highlight Olmsted’s many contributions to the Atlanta community, including the design of the historic Druid Hills subdivision with its sylvan Olmsted Linear Park. The week-long celebration will feature a Druid Hills Home & Garden Tour, an Olmsted 200 Birthday Celebration hosted by Callanwolde Fine Arts Center, Plein Air Painting exhibitions, outdoor markets, concerts and many more daily activities for all ages in Olmsted Linear Park, all intended to inspire the continuation of Olmsted’s principles of beauty, preservation and sense of community.
A portion of the proceeds from the “Olmsted 200” commemoration week will be used to create an Olmsted Lasting Legacy project in the Druid Hills community.
For more information about “Olmsted 200” and how you can become involved, please contact Sandra Kruger or Anne Wallace.
Atlanta Olmsted 200 Events
