Associate Professor Blake Belanger traveled to Estonia May 6 through May 16. In collaboration with Assistant Professor Vaike Haas of West Virginia University, he researched urban resilience in Tallinn and scouted potential design studio opportunities, particularly the decaying Soviet-era site of Linnahall, prominently located on the city's waterfront. Belanger and Haas co-presented "Looking Forward in American Landscape Architecture" and "Case Study: Mesa del Sol" to faculty and students of the Estonian University of Life Sciences (EMU) in Tartu. In addition, Belanger presented portfolio design strategies and an Adobe InDesign tutorial to landscape architecture students, participated in desk critiques of urban design studio projects, and participated in a volunteer campus planting project. 

Dean de Noble shared a   link to Design and Disruption: Millennials in Architecture, a presentation and panel discussion at the AIA NY Center for Architecture. 

Landscape Performance Education Grants

To help landscape architecture programs integrate landscape performance into their curriculum, LAF is offering five $2,500 mini-grants to faculty for the Fall 2016 term/semester. Participating faculty will work with LAF to develop and test models for integrating landscape performance into landscape architecture course offerings, such as research and methods, site planning and analysis, design studios, and other lecture or seminar courses. Materials developed through the grants will be shared on the Resources for Educators section of LandscapePerformance.org, which includes assignments, syllabi, faculty reflections, and other resources to help bring landscape performance into the classroom. Landscape performance is one of the Professional Curriculum topics in the revised 2016 LAAB Accreditation Standards.

Applications due: June 15, 2016

More info at: www.lafoundation.org/teaching-grants

KaBOOM! is teaming up with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Target, Playworld, the U.S. Department for Housing and Urban Development, and the National Endowment for the Arts, to ensure that kids grow up with the childhood they deserve, filled with play. Beginning May 3, the Challenge will accept submissions from anyone who has an idea for how to turn everyday life and unexpected places - like sidewalks, bus stops, and vacant lots - into play spaces for kids across America. Click here for more information.

The Beach Museum of Art is sponsoring a unique art-science conversation on the prairie on July 15, 2016! K-State rangeland researcher Carol Blocksome received a grant from the Office of the Provost to put together a day of exploration for artists and scientists. The program will be held at the Konza Prairie barn, and keynote speaker Matthew Coolidge from the Culver City-based Center for Land Use Interpretation ( clui.org) will share his experiences in the fertile zone between innovative science and engaged art practice. More information is available here.