Sculpture to honor Olmsted’s landscaping legacy

The North Carolina Arboretum in Asheville, N.C., has commissioned a sculpture honoring Frederick Law Olmsted, the father of American landscape architecture, whose vision for the most comprehensive arboretum in the country served as the impetus for The North Carolina Arboretum. 

Through his holistic approach, Olmsted created harmonious compositions that equally addressed ecological, economic, social, and aesthetic issues. His extensive writings on design served as a primer for the modern day principles of landscape architecture. 

In 1858, Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, an accomplished English architect, won the design competition for New York City’s Central Park. The design—Olmsted’s first—is heralded even today for its architectural ingenuity and positive socioeconomic impact.

Olmsted’s final grand project brought him to the mountains of North Carolina during the late 19th century. Having been hired by George Vanderbilt to design a landscape for his Asheville home, Olmsted recognized the potential to transform the land, damaged and worn from years of farming and logging. 

The Olmsted sculpture by renowned artist Zenos Frudakis will join more than 200 works in the Arboretum’s collection. Frudakis has executed commissions ranging from golf professional Payne Stewart at Pinehurst Resort to the National Air Force Memorial Honor Guard Sculpture at Arlington National Cemetery.