125th LAnniversary

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Overview

On October 6, 2023, the Landscape Architecture Alumni Advisory Board in conjunction with the MSU LA program will proudly be celebrating the Landscape Architecture program’s 125th Anniversary or "LAnniversary." The LAnniversary will be a special, day-long celebration of the program’s past, present, and future. The venue will be on MSU's East Lansing campus with most activities taking place in the MSU Student Union or the nearby home of SPDC, the Human Ecology Building. Attendees can expect a day of fun and engagement with student and alumni interactions. Activities will include:

Keynote Speaker, David A. Rubin, PLA, FASLA, FAAR of Land Collective
Campus Sketch Crawl led by alumni Bob Chipman and Danny Bulemore
Campus Development Tours hosted by alumni Steve Troost and Dave Wilber
Alumni Panels in two sessions
Opportunities for alumni and students to interact formally and informally
Displays of student and alumni projects and sketches from Sketch Crawl
Student ASLA club presentations
Program updates from the University, College and School
Dinner and Social Hour

Keynote Speaker

The night will culminate with dinner and a keynote speech titled “The Landscape of Future History” by David A. Rubin, PLA, FASLA, FAAR. Rubin is a nationally renowned landscape architect and the founding Principal of Land Collective, a landscape architecture, urban design, and planning studio with offices in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Indianapolis, Indiana. The firm practices with an emphasis on socially purposeful design strategies. The studio is dedicated to crafting landscapes that create positive change through the synthesis of art, technology, and the social sciences to create human centered works. Rubin’s talk will address a wide range of issues from sustainability and aesthetics to the Anthropocene and our on-going climate crisis. Learn more about Rubin's work here: https://land-collective.com/

To Register for Virtual Attendance of the Keynote Presentation Click HERE

Campus Tour

Alumnus Steve Troost, Campus Planner and alumnus Dave Wilber from MSU Infrastructure, Planning and Facilities (IPF) Division, will lead the Campus Development Tour. Troost is a former LAAAB Member and is overseeing the ongoing Comprehensive University Facilities and Land Use Plan. Sasaki Associates were hired to lead the planning process and actively engage the university community. You can learn more about the effort in the article in this newsletter titled University Facilities and Land Use Plan: Leveraging Assets through Strategic Investment. Come walk and talk with University planners, students, and alumni.

Student & Alumni Sketch Crawl

As part of the 125th LAnniversary events on October 6, 2023 the LAAABoard will host a campus sketch walk in the morning, from 9:30am-noon. All are welcome to join, especially LA students and professionals. Bring your favorite sketching supplies from pens and pencils to colored pencils and watercolors. The first 40 people will receive a commemorative accordion-fold watercolor paper sketchbook handmade by Bob Chipman [1981], who will also lead the group, along with Danny Bulemore [2009], our illustrative and talented alum from EDSA. We'll hit some favorite old MSU spots, and find some new parts of campus too, and it promises to be a great event to bring alumni and students together to share the relevance of hand drawing. Plan to meet at room 315 in the HE Building at 9:00am to gather, have a cup of coffee/bagel/pastry and get oriented for a fun session to kick off a day of celebration. Sketchbooks will be displayed during the evening gathering.

Memories, Work Examples and Stories

We will be providing instruction on how to upload stories, photos, and project examples for use and display at the 125th event to a Google drive this summer. Let us know if you intend to submit. We are also interested in photos, stories or thought on your time at MSU. You can send them to MSU125event@gmail.com

Unfortunately, MSU LA & LAAAB can no longer accept RSVP's due to event capacity

Event Sponsorship

The 125th Anniversary Event will be free to all Alumni and Students with donations accepted. The event is partly made possible with support from our generous and committed sponsors: $3,000 from Keynote Sponsor; Landscape Forms (landscapeforms.com), $1,500 from Reception Sponsors; Polycor (polycor.com) and Hagenbuch Weikal (kw-la.com), $1,000 from Lunch Sponsor; Anova Furnishings (anovafurnishings.com), and $500 from Breakfast and Break Sponsors; Romex USA (romex.us), Cheryl Zuellig & Ken Polakowski, VIRIDIS Design Group (virdg.com), Beckett & Reader (bria2.com), SmithGroup (smithgroup.com), TowerPinkster (towerpinkster.com), Hamilton-Anderson (hamilton-anderson.com), PEA Group (peagroup.com), Michael J. Dul & Associates, Inc. (mjdul.com), MCSA Group, Inc. (mcsagroup.com), Zaremba & Company (zarembaandco.com), and Bill & Dan Wenk.

If you have interest in becoming an event sponsor, please feel free to reach out to Board Member Joshua Seyfried at joshuas@ggnltd.com for more information and a description of benefits. Sponsorship packages are available as follows: Reception Sponsor, limit one ($1500), Lunch Sponsor ($1000), Breakfast and Break Sponsor ($500). Thank you to our generous sponsors for supporting the 125th LAnniversary.

Donate to the LA Innovation Fund

The LA Innovation Fund was established through the Landscape Architecture Alumni & Advisory Board (LAAAB) with an initial gift from Robert ‘Bob’ Chipman (’81). The fund supports MSU Landscape Architecture students’ scholarly development through experiential learning opportunities such as attending state and national landscape architecture conferences, site visits, field trips, hosting professional lecture and supporting technology advancements to ensure that students are being prepared for professional practice by staying at the forefront of the current field.