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| Directed and produced by Carolann Stoney. |
Okay, this documentary just looks cool.
Women in the Dirt is a new film that showcases seven landscape architects in California: Cheryl Barton, Andrea Cochran, Isabelle Greene, Mia Lehrer, Lauren Melendrez, Pamela Palmer, and Katherine Spitz.
From the Web site: “Through conversations with the landscape architects in their offices, or in the stunning spaces they’ve designed, the film explores each woman’s personal aesthetics and approach to their discipline. Women in the Dirt shows how these ‘masters of the obvious’ create the sublime.”
An excerpt from a review by Lydia Schrufer:
Women in the Dirt reveals landscape architecture’s unique status as a modern profession founded by both men and women. This history is graciously deepened by vignettes of seven contemporary women landscape architects. Director Carolann Stoney has selected top landscape architects whose contributions to American landscapes will now receive their due. ‘Just as anyone can enjoy histories of women artists, Women in the Dirt is gendered in its subject, but not its audience,’ observes Katie Kingery-Page, Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture at Kansas State University.
The above is only one of many testimonials to which I wholeheartedly add my own; kudos to Carolann Stoney for an aesthetically challenging, thought-provoking, beautiful film.
Urban Gardens featured the film on their site back in January:
Women, the film demonstrates, are influencing the profession of landscape architecture more today than ever before. Though each of the landscape architects featured has a unique body of work, ‘their concerns overlap in the realm of sustainability and enduring design.’
By shaping our lives, transforming our cities, and nourishing the environment, landscape architecture, as the film shows, is more than the ‘simple arrangement of plants and flowers for corporate spaces and the gardens of rich people.’
The press photos on the site are breathtaking–definitely check them out. While the film appears to be screening in theaters, you can also purchase the DVD here.
Thanks for the preview, ladies.
Re screenings, yes, they’re going on across the USA & in Europe. Seems a lot of folks are interested in landscape concepts. (Reader, if you think you’re not, walk down an urban street without plants & see how it feels!)
This movie looks awesome. I look forward to seeing it.
Angela: Thanks for visiting the site!
It’s so true about how greenery changes a place, particularly in urban spaces. I recently moved from a town that seemingly had the plan of “level everything and pour concrete” to one that does a fantastic job with landscape. One specific example is in parking lots. I’ve noticed parking lots with multiple trees planted in them, which makes them less of an eyesore, and I suspect also helps keep them cooler in the summer. It looks and *feels* better when there is some attempt at landscape architecture.