Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site in Brookline is running a visual art and writing contest for high school students.
The Inspired by Olmsted contest seeks to engage teens with the National Park Service and the legacy of Frederick Law Olmsted and the Olmsted landscape architecture firm. In 2017, the contest commemorates the 160th anniversary of the start of the Central Park design competition that launched Frederick Law Olmsted’s career in 1857. High school students are invited to submit designs for a public park in a fictitious city, along with written vision statements for their designs.
The Inspired by Olmsted contest runs until July 15. A panel of judges will then select winners and runners-up who will receive cash prizes and be honored at a ceremony in Brookline in September. The winning entry will earn a $250 first prize. The winner’s, runner-up’s, and finalists’ designs will be exhibited during the fall at “Fairsted,” the one-time Brookline home of Frederick Law Olmsted and his sons and the longtime headquarters of the Olmsted landscape architecture firm. Registration and other information is available here.
This year’s contest is co-sponsored by the Friends of Fairsted, the Boston Society of Landscape Architects and the Brookline GreenSpace Alliance.