WESTERN Show Offers Opportunities for Landscape Architects

The 2009 WESTERN Annual Meeting and Trade Show features valuable educational options for landscape architects, including a colloquium with legendary horticulturist Michael Dirr, Ph.D., and Peter Cummin, MLA; a presentation by Brian Clark, ASLA, about his firm’s work on the Wells Fargo West Des Moines (Iowa) Campus sustainable landscape project; and a Landscape Architect Registration Examination (LARE) review session.

In addition to participating in the Dirr Colloquium II, “Integrating Landscape Design, Plant Selection, Installation and Maintenance ... The Whole is Greater than the Sum of its Parts: The Theory and Practice of Garden-Making,” Dirr and Cummin also are participating in general-session speaker presentations.

 As senior principal and president of Brian Clark & Associates, a landscape architecture, planning and urban design firm based in Des Moines, Clark can provide unique insight into the planning and creation of a functional, sustainable and restorative facility in West Des Moines. The Wells Fargo campus features a unique organizing principle, the native central park spine, as well as utilizes native plants.

Anyone interested in taking the LARE can’t afford to miss the review session by the Prairie Gateway Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects. It is open to all attendees, but especially aimed at the emerging young professionals preparing for the license-testing process. This one-day review covers graphic sections in detail and provides an overview of multiple-choice sections.

 The 2009 WESTERN Annual Meeting and Trade Show is Jan. 4-6 at the Overland Park Convention Center in Overland Park, Kan. For updates and more information, visit www.WNLA.org or e-mail info@WNLA.org.