When
Where
Join us for a 30-minute kickoff led by Nancy Pollock-Ellwand, dean of the University of Arizona’s College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture (CAPLA). Drawing on years of research into the life and work of Frederick Law Olmsted, the visionary behind Central Park, the dean will explore how the park was conceived not just as a landscape, but as a bold social experiment — created for and shaped by the people.
Discover surprising stories about Olmsted, the intense social and cultural debates surrounding the park’s creation, and the powerful idea that public green space could serve as common ground in a rapidly changing city. Learn how big ideas, courageous decisions, and real human struggles transformed a rugged stretch of Manhattan into one of the world’s most influential public parks.
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Stay on afterward for an optional Central Park Conservancy tour, where the park’s design principles and people-first vision come to life on the ground — revealing Central Park as it was always intended to be: the people’s park.
Central Park Conservancy Tour
Tuesday May 19, 11 a.m.
Price: $26
Capacity: 30 guests
Location: Central Park