MILESTONES, Cornelia, grants 2017, inspirations and the Schwabenbauer Award winner Nora Topalian [UdeM] make the news this month as LACF continues moving forward and gaining new ground. Vincent Asselin shares a few words about these many achievements.
AN LACF MILESTONE with VINCENT ASSELIN
IMAGE: Vincent Asselin, LACF President
For the first time in its history, the assets of the foundation have surpassed the $500,000 dollar mark!
‘’The Foundation has reached a new plateau and this is really great news’’ says president Vincent Asselin. ‘’The last few months have been particularly fruitful in achieving this financial objective and this is thanks to the sustained efforts of the board of directors as well as the generosity of our LACF members and friends.
Notably, the Association of Landscape Architects of Saskatchewan (SALA) established an endowment fund of $ 50,000 for a scholarship in Saskatchewan. In addition, the reverse auction led by Michelle Legault, executive director of the AAPC, at the Winnipeg CSLA Congress Gala Banquet generated the extraordinary sum of $ 32,000 in pledges and donations. And finally, the celebratory reception in honor of Mrs. Cornelia Oberlander receiving the Governor General’s in landscape architecture raised over $ 8,000 in support of the Foundation.
According to Vincent, reaching this new plateau of half a million dollars is pure incentive to continue working towards promoting the values of the profession of landscape architecture through research, communication and scholarship LACF thanks all members and friends for their continued support.
CELEBRATING IN STYLE WITH CORNELIA HAHN OBERLANDER
IMAGE: Guests at the CSLA | LACF reception for Cornelia in Ottawa, photo: Jean Landry
Both the award ceremony and a banquet reception held in Ottawa on September 20, in honour of Cornelia Oberlander receiving the inaugural Governor Generals medal in Landscape Architecture, were great successes. The dignified ceremony at Rideau Hall was accompanied by many emotions. The festive atmosphere of the banquet that followed permitted CSLA members along with Cornelia’s friends and family to congratulate Cornelia on her many achievements.
During a brief presentation at the banquet, Vincent Asselin reminded guests that the Governor General's medal in Landscape Architecture is the fruit of many years of work and represents the maturation of the profession of Landscape Architecture. It is also a form of well-deserved recognition and the recognition offered to Cornelia unquestionably has a positive impact on the entire profession. The Foundation thanks the AAPC for inviting LACF to partner on this momentous occaision.
CALL FOR PROPOSALS _ LACF ANNUAL GRANTS PROGRAM 2017
IMAGE: 2016 Grant Award Jardin de M/tis, photo: faire des ronds dans l'eau de Gisèle Teyssier
The deadline to submit your research proposal is Nov. 18. 2016. miss the boat!
LACF grant proposal criteria and timeline for 2017 are now posted online. This year a total of $20,000 in grants will be awarded. Up to $10,000 is available for professional grant proposals and up to $2,000 is available for student grant proposals. For more information…
READ OR DOWNLOAD > ANNUAL GRANTS 2017.PDF
GET INSPIRED!
IMAGE: Alissa North
Allissa North, Associate Professor and Director of the MLA Program at the University of Toronto's Daniels Faculty and an LACF grant recipient herself, was happy to respond when asked if she would endorse the LACF Annual Grants Program. In her words: ‘’LACF is an incredible opportunity for both emerging and established landscape architects. The application process is structured very reasonably for the grant amounts, which provide perfect seed money to quickly initiate projects. It is an uncomplicated, very open, and transparent granting process, allowing the applicant to prepare a proposal that is truly based on their interest in contributing and progressing the knowledge base of landscape architecture in Canada.’’
Get inspired by reading Allissa’s complete testimony along with comments from other past Grant recipients….on our TESTIMONIAL PAGE.
MEET NORA TOPALIAN, ANDRE SCHWABENBAUER SCHOLAR
IMAGE: left to right _ Franck Scherrer, Vincent Asselin, Nora Topalian and Wendy Graham photo: Maïa Cinq-Mars
A small and meaningful ceremony was held at the University of Montreal on October 5th to present one of the six LACF Andre Schwabenbauer Scholarships 2016 to Ms. Nora Topalian. The ceremony was presided by Franck Scherrer, Director of the Program of Urban planning and Landscape architecture and attended by faculty members, students and LACF representatives Vincent Asselin and Wendy Graham. Topalian completed an undergraduate degree in Urban planning at UdeM with high academic results and is currently enrolled in her final year of the MLA program.
According to her professors, ‘’Nora has excelled in all aspects of her education. Her intellectual capacity enables her to react strongly to the challenges of a landscape architecture project and find innovative and measured solutions. She masters the understanding of issues related to the transformation of landscapes while keeping her mind open to both social and environmental change. Her design studio work has generated truly original solutions that are indicative of her natural curiosity and demonstrates her ability to push the boundaries of the profession.
In thanking the Foundation, Nora expressed how receiving this distinction validates the efforts she has invested over the years to find her place within the field of landscape architecture. ‘’My projects will now be carried forward with the hope that they are worthy of this honour’’ she added. In regards to her future plans, Nora replies ‘’ I am truly excited about finding landscape solutions that respond to current and future issues that confront us and hope to focus my career on resolving environmental issues within the urban landscape through design of public spaces.
Congratulations Nora!
IMAGE : HAUT DE PAGE : LOWER ROUSSEAU FALLS, MUSKOKA ONTARIO, PHOTO: DAVID POLLARD, OALA | CANADIAN LANDSCAPE PORTFOLIO