Endangered Living Witnesses To History Recognized On 2007 ‘Landslide’ List - Heroes Of Horticulture
For Immediate Release, November 2007 http://www.tclf.org/landslide/2007
The Cultural Landscape Foundation, Garden Design magazine, and George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film Announce the 2007 ‘Landslide’ Designees: Heroes of Horticulture
They are the sole witnesses to some of the nation’s greatest people and most significant moments, some are hundreds of years old — the Horse Chestnut Tree that shaded suffragette Susan B. Anthony in the late 19th century; Oregon’s 230-year old Pow-Wow Bigleaf Maple, a traditional meeting place for the Clackamas Indians; and Charleston’s Angel Southern Live Oak, a majestic living legacy from the antebellum South. They are among the Cultural Landscape Foundation’s (TCLF) 2007 Landslide selections, Heroes of Horticulture. The complete list of twenty-one Heroes of Horticulture sites, located throughout the nation, is currently featured on TCLF’s website (www.tclf.org), and will be showcased in an exhibition at George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film, opening December 1, 2007 and in the January 2008 edition of Garden Design magazine.
Landslide is a yearly designation of significant landscapes at risk of being lost. The designees are chosen from hundreds of nominations submitted from throughout the nation that highlight current issues in landscape preservation and interpretation. This year, TCLF and Garden Design have partnered with George Eastman House to produce an exhibition of original photography of the Heroes of Horticulture by internationally recognized artists on view in Rochester from December 1, 2007 through March 2, 2008, and traveling thereafter. The exhibition includes images by such celebrated photographers as Mark Klett, John Pfahl, Eli Reed, Louviere+Vanessa, and John Divola, which will also be featured in the January 2008 issue of Garden Design magazine.
Along with the Eastman House exhibit of original photography, sites across the country will host the Heroes of Horticulture signboard exhibit at or near locations associated with the different Heroes. The signboard exhibit will provide the history of each horticultural specimen, the threat, information on how to support the feature, and associated historic and current photographs of each resource.
The twenty-one sites are:
American Sycamore Tree
Antietam National Battlefield
Sharpsburg, MD
Angel Oak Southern Live Oak Tree
Johns Island, SC
Azalea Collection
Airlie Gardens
Wilmington, NC
Baldcypress Grove Spring Grove Cemetery
Cincinnati, OH
Banyan Tree Alleé
Banyan Street, Boca Grande, FL
Bamboo Collection
Jungle Gardens, Avery Island, LA
Bur Oak Tree
Henry Ford Estate Fair Lane, Dearborn, MI
Horse Chestnut Tree
Susan B. Anthony House, Rochester, NY
Desert Ironwood Tree
Arizona-Sonora Museum, Tucson, AZ
Elms of the National Mall
Washington, DC
Eucalyptus Tree
Washington Park Arboretum, Seattle, WA
Live Oak Tree Alleé
Main Street, Houston, TX
Pear Trees
Ellwanger Garden, Rochester, NY
Moreton Bay Fig Trees
Rancho Los Alamitos, Long Beach, CA
Pow-Wow Big Leaf Maple Tree
Gladstone, OR
Rhododendron Collection
Greendale Cemetery, Meadville, PA
Southern Live Oak Tree
Baton Rouge, LA
Tree Peony Collection
Linwood Gardens, Pavilion, NY
For more information on the Heroes of Horticulture, including exhibit venues, visit www.tclf.org/landslide/2007.
“Landslide is one of TCLF’s key ways for highlighting how landscapes are integral to our nation’s cultural identity,” said Charles A. Birnbaum, TCLF founder and president. “Each Landslide site is irreplaceable; each is a unique link to the story of who we are.”
The Cultural Landscape Foundation, established in 1998, is the only not-for-profit foundation in America dedicated to increasing the public’s awareness of the important legacy of cultural landscapes and to help save them for future generations. In 2002, TCLF established the annual Landslide program (www.tclf.org/landslide) in an effort to focus attention on culturally significant landscapes and landscape features at risk for alteration or destruction.
Garden Design magazine is the champion of the exterior design movement, rooted in the fundamental values that recognize the integration of high style with social and environmental consciousness.
George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film was established on the estate of Kodak founder George Eastman in 1947. The historic house museum, surrounded by extensive gardens and located in Rochester, New York, is an educational institution dedicated to telling the story of photography and motion pictures.
