QUARTERLY MEETING

February 12, 2013 | RHAA Office, Mill Valley

Chair: Cathy Garrett
Recorder: Larkin Owens
Attendees: Jennifer de Graaf, Cate Bainton, Doug Nelson, Diane Einstein, Ellen Johnck, Gretchen Hilyard, Chris Pattillo, Valeria Vincent Sancizi, Cathy Garrett, Catherine Clow, Linda Van Fossen, Larkin Owens, and Sarah Raube (via conference call)

Mark your calendar for the next meeting: Saturday, 18 May, OR Tuesday, 21 May 2013 - details forthcoming.

This meeting was generously hosted by the firm Royston Hanamoto Alley & Abey in their Mill Valley office. Following brief introductions, Doug Nelson of RHAA gave a fascinating presentation and slide show on founder Robert Royston. Doug detailed Royston's associations with fellow influential landscape architects such as Thomas Church, Garrett Eckbo, and Ed Williams, which ultimately led to the founding of the original firm Eckbo Royston & Williams in 1945. Doug provided insight into how the firm evolved and the landscape profession shifted following WWII to focus on home and garden show collaborations, residential garden design, and public parks. In addition to historic photos, stylistic plans and hand sketches demonstrated how Royston's work embodied the modernist California ideal of indoor/outdoor living. For further reading, Doug suggested the book Modern Public Gardens: Robert Royston & the Suburban Park published by William Stout Books.

Cathy Garrett then called the meeting to order and noted that Larkin Owens had volunteered to take on the role of Secretary.

1. HALS Heroes

   Chris Pattillo was pleased to announce that she received the first seemingly complete HALS Heroes submittal by Fred Reichman of both a short-form narrative and measured drawings for Rancho Los Alamitos. The drawings were reviewed during the meeting and received a few comments for minor revisions. As this would be the first complete submission, Chris questioned if everyone would be in agreement on HALS paying the Heroes stipend once the complete submittal has been made to the Library of Congress - all were in agreement. The group collectively questioned how we would actually dispense this money to Fred, but Chris assured that if either she or Cathy completes the required form, there will be not issues.

   Chris also reported that Nancy Vazquez, submitted the Mission San Diego de Alcalá short-form narrative written by Holly Peterson for the HALS Challenge last year, and has applied to do the photography for HALS Heroes. Chris circulated Nancy's résumé, references, and a 150-pg Cultural Landscape Report on which she worked, and noted that she completed an NPS internship with Paul Dolinsky and Chris Stevens.

   Dane Pollok is the third potential HALS Hero, having submitted a short-form narrative that Chris and Jennifer Liw, PGAdesign, wrote for the Oakland Museum of California and has asked to complete the photographs. Chris also circulated his bio and photography samples. The group collectively enquired about the rules for submitting a narrative that someone else had written, as the HALS Heroes system was set up to provide a written short-form narrative first to prove your commitment to completing either drawings or the long-form report. Submitting photographs is a new expansion for the program. Consensus was that the rules allowed for submitting a previously completed short-form report.

   Other interested volunteers include Matt Bossler (if anyone is willing to complete the work that he has started, he will hand off the research materials), Pam-Anela Messenger (who has good ideas, but has made no formal application), Thomas Eddy (who has noted interest in submitting photographs, but doesn't currently have the time), Cate Bainton (who asked that her application be ignored if other qualified, seriously-interested people apply), and Gordon Osmondson (who has also expressed interest without a formal commitment).

   Ellen Johnck highlighted that while HALS does not want to lose sight of threatened landscapes (such as China Camp), that shouldn't be our exclusive focus, as a parallel goal of programming is to encourage more documentation. Chris Pattillo agreed that we should try to get more people involved and engaged. At the same time, Cathy Garrett also noted that she has reservations about inexperienced photographers meeting the large format and NPS standards. Though she wants to encourage everyone to get involved, she doesn't want to submit photos that the NPS can't accept. For example, Brian Grogan has demonstrated in the past where good photos weren't meeting the standards and Cathy questioned how we would consistently determine this without an expert. Gretchen Hilyard agreed that we need to rectify this.

   Cathy Garrett recommended that we distribute the photos along with the narrative to review as a group. Jennifer de Graaf had concerns about who ultimately become watchmen of quality - who looks and decides whether the photos match the standards? Gretchen Hilyard mentioned that for HABS, mitigation on photos is often at the local level, even if they must meet national standards. Chris Pattillo asked the group if they believe we need to change the rules, and Cathy agreed that this is the debacle. What is our filter? Cathy noted that serious applicants have nine months to complete their HALS Heroes requirements before their money is forfeited. Chris stated that these rules were written, circulated, and published, and that if these two serious applicants in question do meet the standards, we should give them the chance. She stressed that changing rules mid-application isn't fair, but suggested that we review the rules before the next submittal call.

   Doug Nelson emphasized that grants typically are very competitive and that being more selective is not unreasonable, especially if the goal is quality. He suggested that perhaps we choose the best HALS Heroes applicant from this round of deadlines and encourage others to re-apply next round. Cathy reiterated that the goal is to get word out there and attract interest. Chris noted that we're two years into the program and we've only now received the first complete submittal. Cathy also argued that the last time people did get involved it caused national money to flow to California. At the same time, Doug questioned whether applicants would use the expectation of receiving the $1K stipend to purchase photography equipment. Gretchen countered that we are giving people the opportunity to earn, not preemptively giving out money, and that she's okay with that.

   Chris Pattillo officially moved on authorization to proceed on distributing money to Fred once the plans and narrative are submitted to the NPS, and that we will commit to the two applicants from this HALS Heroes deadline (Vazquez and Pollok) while underscoring expectations. Doug questioned what would happen if the Park Service won't accept the submittal? Chris assured him that they most likely would. Cate seconded the motion. All present at the meeting were in favor. Note: Since the meeting, Chris talked to Chris Stevens at NPS to confirm that Rancho Los Alamitos is CA-90 - both Chris' were surprised to realize this. Chris Pattillo alerted Chris Stevens to our quandary regarding the quality of photographs.

2. 2013 HALS Challenge

   Chris Pattillo reminded the group that the theme of the 2013 HALS Challenge is to document landscapes that reflect the heritage of women. Libby Simon, who participated in last year's Mission Challenge, has said that she will participate again and document the Wilshire Ebell Theatre garden, by Florence Yoch and Lucile Council. Doug Nelson noted interest in documenting the Outdoor Art Club, a women's organization in Mill Valley. Cate Bainton has also begun working on several landscapes and was identified as the clearinghouse source for maintaining a list of chosen landscapes, so that there is no overlap. Narratives are due again in July and Chris encouraged all to get involved, as we now have a reputation to uphold.

3. China Camp Documentation Update

   Ellen Johnck reported collective success in the ongoing efforts at China Camp State Park. In the campaign to save our state parks, several local operating agreements were put in place, including joint operating agreements between Tomales Bay, Olompali, and China Camp. Ellen is in the process of writing the long-form report on China Camp, an expansion of the shorter narrative which is delving further into the cultural heritage of the Chinese fishing industry, ancient site archaeology, and natural resources. She is also looking into the State Park General Plan that was created when California bought the parkspace in the 1970s. Ellen believes this plan provides a lot of baseline documentation on which she will be able to build her detailed sections on landscape characteristics and use, topography, vegetation, spatial organization, land patterns, circulation, relation to coastline, etc. Photos have been completed by Steven Quiñones-Colón and submitted by Chris Pattillo to the NPS.

   The next challenge will be to complete measured drawings with the information HALS collected onsite last June. Cathy Garrett enquired whether we have set up the CAD drawing standards that are unique to HALS plan requirements. Jennifer de Graaf reported that she has not had the time to begin those drawing standards, but with an intern starting in the next few days, she suggested that they try to get a start on that. Cathy enquired about whether it was reasonable to expect a draft long-form narrative to be distributed and drawings set up for the next meeting, to which both Ellen and Jennifer agreed they were hopeful. Ellen added that further interpretation is great and that she wants to submit as a joint report with HALS, Friends of China Camp, and Northern California Parks & Recreation. All in all, while the process is seemingly slow, documentation is going well.

   In regards to state park funding, Diane Einstein also reported that Marin County was the hardest hit by the closures with an estimated $6M cut in funds for Marin County alone (the average county lost $2M). She noted that Friends of China Camp was wildly successful in fundraising and volunteering and, in just negotiating with State Parks on the operating agreement signed by Ruth Coleman the day before she left office, they were able to amend this agreement to include Olompali and Tomales Bay State Parks. There is also a matching fund agreement which Diane is hopeful will bring back a hefty piece of losses sustained. Sonoma County was another hit hard through closures, but local efforts there have also saved a few parks, such as Jack London State Park and the Petaluma Adobe. Diane mentioned that State Parks are losing people through attrition, people are taking early retirement and not refilling positions, others are taking on far more (such as one superintendent for a massive combined district). All of this points to a decimated State Parks system, but she is hopeful that some money is now coming back through partnerships like those mentioned in Marin and more specific models in individual parks.

4. SHPO Meeting

   Cathy Garrett reported difficulty in reaching our SHPO, but is hopeful to talk with her soon and provide information at our next HALS meeting. Note: Cathy connected with Carol Roland Nawi shortly after our meeting and is working on identifying a date for a meeting with the SHPO and staff.

5. HALS National ASLA Liaison Meeting Update

   As the continuing HALS-NCC Liaison, Chris Pattillo reported on the quarterly conference call meeting which took place the previous week. Qualification standards for Historic Landscape Architects were discussed and Chris has now provided comments, which are in NPS possession. Discussion also included their ongoing effort to identify more liaisons and add more members to this core group. HALS Liaisons Marion Presley and Bob Paige at the Olmsted Center are currently trying to come up with tours for the upcoming 2013 ASLA conference in Boston. Chris agreed to make another presentation on HALS, which occurs every other year, at the Chapter President meeting the day before the conference starts. In regards to the 2014 HALS Challenge, Chris proposed documenting WPA/CCC landscapes, which was well-received. Plans are also being made to sponsor a HALS webinar series, which would be designed for continuing education credits. The next Liaison conference call meeting will be held on 12 March 2013, should anyone have any topics that they'd like Chris to discuss.

6. Announcements & Upcoming Events

   Cathy Garrett announced that the National Association of Olmsted Parks will be hosting two Symposia on the Work of F.L. Olmsted Jr.: one in Washington, DC on 10-11 October 2013, and another at Stanford on 27-28 March 2014.

   Gretchen Hilyard also announced that The Cultural Landscape Foundation will be hosting a reception at 6:30pm on 4 April 2013 to honor Golden Gate National Parks and the Presidio Trust as a Model for Stewardship Innovation & Design Excellence. Individual tickets are $50. Gretchen will forward information on the event to the HALS email group.

   Note: Since this meeting, Sarah Raube contacted HALS to propose a joint two-day event in October with the California Garden & Landscape History Society (CGLHS), combining the missions and efforts of both groups and perhaps building on the 2013 HALS Challenge topic (cultural landscapes of women). She would appreciate any suggestions or collective expertise that people may have on potential sites and speakers of interest, ideally clustered in the Bay Area, as well as a venue for an evening social event. CGLHS would like to visit historic sites and learn about local history, plants, and people, as well as documentation.

7. Future Meeting Locations

   Several suggestions have been made for future meeting locations, though specific coordination must still be made. Chris Rasmussen spoke to Janet Gracyk about a potential meeting hosted by Brian Collett at Mare Island in Vallejo. Ellen Johnck might help with this and will coordinate with Jennifer de Graaf. Melissa Mourkas has also been coordinating with Jennifer regarding a potential Sacramento meeting place, where an ethnographer who has studied native tribes and song trails in the Mojave Desert might be willing to provide insights to the ethno-cultural landscape resources in the surrounding area. Jennifer will follow-up on inviting the ethnographer to one of our upcoming meetings. In general, requests have also been made to hold the meeting either in the evening or on a Saturday. As such, upcoming meetings are as follows:

   Saturday, 18 May, OR Tuesday, 21 May 2013 - details forthcoming
   Tuesday, 13 August 2013, 4pm - Lake Chalet, Oakland
   Tuesday, 12 November 2013 - details forthcoming

Cathy Garrett closed this meeting in thanking Doug Nelson and RHAA for their gracious hospitality and interesting presentation.