ASLA UTAH MAY 2023 NEWSLETTER

UPCOMING EVENTS

**CALL FOR NOMINATIONS - ASLA Utah Chapter Executive Committee Elections Due Friday, June 23rd 5:00pm**, **Email nominations to: Paul Stead, paul.stead@sgcity.org**

**BELGARD Lunch & Learn - Mirage Porcelain Tuesday, June 13th, 12:00pm - 1:00pm ASLA UT Offices 270 S 400 W SLC** **REGISTER HERE**

INMAN INTERWEST & HARCO Lunch & Learn - HDPE Presentation Tuesday, June 27th, 12:00pm - 1:00pm ASLA UT Offices 270 S 400 W SLC **REGISTER HERE**

UNLA Women in the Green Industry Lunch & Roundtable Event August 10th, 12:00pm – 1:00 pm Botanicals Design, 8610 State Street, Sandy **REGISTER HERE**

Leadership Express

Jake Powell, ASLA Utah President

I hope you were able to enjoy at least some portion of the 2023 Utah ASLA Conference held in May. It was an amazing event that Adam Castor, Jenny Sonntag, and the rest of the ASLA Utah Executive Committee really worked hard to make a reality. One of my favorite aspects of the conference was watching the attendees conversing, sharing insights, discussing pressing topics, and sharing their love for the profession. I was once again reminded of the amazing profession and people we have the honor of calling colleagues. I know you are all very busy, so thank you for coming, engaging, and adding to the collective value of the conference.

During the conference I had an opportunity to share some thoughts with the audience. I want to summarize the primary points and reiterate a call to action I am feeling more and more passionate about!

Recently Governor Cox called legislators to minimize the number of boards and commissions operating in our state. The landscape architecture board who provides recommendations to the Utah Department of Professional Licensing (DOPL) regarding licensure requirements, and grievances is one such board that will be considered this summer as part of a larger study of all boards seeking to find boards to eliminate. Although an elimination of the landscape licensing board does not eliminate licensure, we at the UTASLA feel that it is an erosion of the strength of the license here in Utah. We are working to advocate for an independent board or a possible combination with the board of an allied profession.

Advocacy requires your voice. Landscape architects tend to enjoy quietly doing good work, and hoping their work speaks for itself. It does not. All of us need to make some additional efforts to share not just your work, but the IMPACT of your work on your communities, families, and elected officials that will in the very near future be involved in deciding how the landscape license board is organized. Please take some time to contact elected officials to explain how your work matters to them. The political sphere may not be a comfortable space for many of us, but one we must begin operating in. We also need a loud, clear, and compelling voice. This means many of our colleagues that are not part of ASLA, but equally passionate about the profession of landscape architecture need to be engaged and share their voice with ours. Please take a minute to reach out to people you know in the profession and allied disciplines to help us communicate our impact.

We all have a lot of work to do in a very short amount of time. Please engage in strengthening the understanding of our profession wherever you are, whenever you have the chance. We have a lot to brag about, and this is the time to do it.

2023 ASLA Utah Annual Conference Recap

Adam Castor, ASLA Utah Past President

Hello again ASLA Utah!

It was great to see all of you at the 2023 Annual Conference on Landscape Architecture. Thank you to everyone that was able come out for two days of presentations and breakout sessions related to landscape architecture, sponsor vendor interaction, and of course the conference social on Thursday evening with the Rob Harrington Band. To all of you that were not able to attend, you were missed and hopefully we will see you at next year’s conference.

It is really hard to gauge the level of effort and dedication necessary to plan and organize a conference until it becomes your primary responsibility as a member of the executive committee. It is intense, but the reward comes from seeing everyone together in one place to talk about everything we love about landscape architecture and to catch up with colleagues and friends. And without the efforts and dedication of our executive director, Jenny Sonntag, the conference simply does not happen. So, a huge thanks to Jenny, to the conference planning committee, to all of the conference speakers and our generous Sponsors, and to all of our ASLA Utah membership in helping make our 2023 Annual Conference a success!

Here are a few notable highlights from the conference:

Climate Action Plan presentation by ASLA National President Emily O’Mahoney
Presentations and breakout sessions by several Utah landscape architects – Abram Nielson, Cory Shupe, Scott Peters, Mark Morris, Josh Sundloff, and Jay Bollwinkel
Registered conference attendees: 113
Vendor booths: 42 (up from 32 at the 2022 conference)
Conference social attendees: 30-35 +/-

The conference is often viewed as the past-president’s final obligation to the chapter….”whew, I did my part, now I’m out!” However, I see it as an opportunity to continue the dialogue amongst our community of landscape architects, as well as our community of allied professionals. I am inspired by the feedback that I have received from the landscape architects and non-landscape architect folks that participated in and/or attended the conference, and I believe that collectively we can do great things for our clients, the communities we serve as design professionals, and for the state of Utah. I don’t intend for this conference to be my last chapter obligation and I am looking forward to seeing where things go following the conversations we had during the conference. I genuinely hope that you all learned something new, met someone new, and enjoyed your time spent at the conference.

Sincerely, Adam Castor, ASLA Utah Past-President

ASLA UTAH AWARDS 2023

Tyler Smithson, VP of Membership and Membership Services

The ASLA Utah Awards is Utah's design competition recognizing Utah's best projects. Entries are juried by ASLA members from our fellow Wisconsin Chapter.

Important Dates:

Submissions Open Now!
Early Bird Deadline June 16th ($20 Discount per submittal)
Deadline for submissions June 30th
Winners will be notified in September
Awards Event in October
Winners will be featured on ASLA Utah's Website and TBD press outlets.

Guidelines: Entries must be submitted and received via the online entry system by June 30, 2023.

Awards is open to: Individuals, firms, or agencies performing work within the State of Utah at the time the project was executed.

Questions: Contact: Tyler Smithson, VP of Membership & Membership Services PHONE: 404.539.5217; EMAIL: tyleraslautah@gmail.com

Learn more about PIKUS

Special Thanks to ASLA Utah 2023 Sponsors & Corporate Partners for their Support!

Click here to become a 2023 ASLA Utah Sponsor!

Platinum Sponsors
BioGrass | Great Western Recreation l Pikus | Rain Bird | Victor Stanley

Corporate Partners
Denton House | Io LandArch | SGLA Technical Training

ASLA UTAH MAY NEWSLETTER