LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT

When I started to write this, we were well into the holiday season. I had scored big at two of three white elephant gift exchanges, consumed delicious holiday lager, and scoured a forest of Rocky Mountain juniper and ponderosa for the ever-elusive Charlie Brown fir tree. All of that, and yet my mind kept returning to the sentiments of gratitude that kicked the season off. The focus of my gratitude was and remains on you and the amazing community of landscape architects, designers, and affiliated professionals we have here in New Mexico. In early December we hosted the NMASLA holiday party in Santa Fe. It was a blast because of all of you who showed up. We had a great showing from our Santa Fe membership, a good crew from the Albuquerque metro, including a fun group of emerging professionals, and even our dedicated southwest Colorado members (who knew?) made a weekend out of it. Thank you all for your good cheer, sense of humor, and excellent choice of white elephant gifts. Now a week into the New Year, the paper white bulbs I received in the gift exchange are standing tall, brightening up my winter kitchen with their fresh blooms. As I look towards the new year, I hope to inspire more involvement, more connection, and more community. I know that I don’t know you all, but in a chapter of only 120 plus or minus, it’s not unrealistic to think I might.

We have an exciting 2024 mapped put, but we need and want help from all of you to make it a success. The draft agenda included another great Climate Action educational event with speakers and hopefully some field trips to boot. We have an opportunity to educate the public about our field and the positive impact we can make on climate change at an exciting City of Albuquerque Earth Day event. We hope to get a committee group engaged in a community service effort and as always, we look forward to good times and laughs at our annual golf tournament. We’re planning to revive the popular multi-modal event - packed with CEUs of course, and the student-professional mixer continue to ba a great way to connect with the up-and-coming members of our profession. In between all of that, we want to host more happy hours to make sure we get to meet each and every one of you. Our executive committee spans the state this year, with representation from Santa Fe to Las Cruces and in between. As exciting as this diverse representation is, the Ex-Com is only 14 out of 120+/- members. There is room for everyone to get involved. Please reach out and let us know how you would like to make an impact on NMASLA this year, whether by hosting a happy hour in your neighborhood, chairing the community service or any other committee, or helping out with any of the events we have planned.

Wishing you all a very merry and bright 2024. I look forward to hearing from you.

Warmly,

Kristina Werenko (kwerenko@plandcollab.com)

PS - We’re trying to get our NMASLA email lists up to date and have set the reset button sending this to all our membership.If you’ve opted out in the past, I apologize for appearing in your inbox once again. If you still don’t want to hear from us, let me know, but I hope instead you’ll let me know why you opted out to begin with and stick around to see if we can do something about it

Each year, Landscape Architect professionals volunteer to be mentors to University of New Mexico Landscape Architecture students.  This allows the students a glimpse into the profession for which they are preparing to enter, to get a better sense of what direction they want their career to take.  In late September, the professional and the students gathered a pland collaborative’s new offices in downtown Albuquerque to meet, share some drinks and appetizers, and map out how they would work together.  The teams had been paired prior and they were introduced at the event.  This year’s teams were:

STUDENT/PROFESSIONAL TEAMS:  Jonathon Cunningham/Ted Webber;  Allison Arend/Bonnie Strange;  Holly Hearn/Abby Feldman;  Amanda Champion/Jessica Dunn;  Nikoma Henkels/Emily Rogers;  Roman Aragon/ Jitka Dekojova;  Farzin Baik/Chris Schlouski;  Dan Pingaro/Norma Oder;  Jasmin Self/Rob Loftis;  Viktorija Kristupaitis/Kristina Werenko;  Thea Swift/Gabriel Raab-Faber;  Lauren Thomson/Danny Mitchell;  Fereshteh Vamenani/Brian Griffith;  Cecily Anderson/Chet Lawton;  Amir Reza Maroofkhani/Courtney McKelvey;  Abby Kuchar/Mario Nuño-Whelan;  Louise Bani Sarcar/Travis Tabet

Here were some ideas for the mentee / mentor participation:

·      Visit your mentor’s office, have a few hours blocked out for job shadowing

·      See a current or past project you or your company designed

·      Tour multiple projects in town, share your favorite landscapes

·      Visit UNM George Pearl Hall Studio, give some constructive criticism before a studio presentation, be a guest judge in your mentee’s class

·      Grab coffee, meet for lunch, share some brews

·      Take a break away from landscape design altogether! Go for a run, bike ride, indoor climb, put your feet in the Rio Grande, watch a game

·      Attend a landscape-related conference (such as Think Trees, Land + Water, etc.) See some art galleries and live music during First Friday Downtown

·      Give your feedback on a design project your student wants to show you

·      Attend a conference or networking event together

·      Complete some CEUs/ PDHs/ courses together like the free ones offered at Water Smart Academy, Arid LID Coalition or an NMASLA event

·      Choose a landscape design book together to read and discuss

·      Go to a park and sketch what you see

·      Meet up with another mentorship pair and do any of the above! And this is just a start.

·      Do what feels right for you two!

And here were some ideas to discuss the students could discuss with their mentor:

·      What skills you’re currently trying to develop

·      Interview preparation

·      Current job market, career advising, what skills should you hone

·      Finding a work-life balance that propels your career without burning you out How you can introduce more creativity in your designs

·      What does leadership look like

·      Setting long term and short -erm goals then making a path to achieving them Improve your public speaking skills

·      How did you get to your position in the company

·      What changes would you suggest I make on my resume or in my portfolio? How do I ask my boss for a raise?

·      What is the promotion process at your company?

Wishing all the mentors and mentees the best of luck with their partnership, and hope it is once again a successful endeavor!

The ASLA Discover Landscape Architecture Activity Books are for anyone interested in landscape architecture, architecture, planning, and engineering, and for those who like to draw, doodle, and be inspired. The books' primary focus is landscape architecture, giving readers the opportunity to see the many drawings, places, and landscapes created by landscape architects. 

Learn how you can use ASLA’s Activity Books for Kids and Teens in your classroom! Complete your free registration for DREAM BIG with Design and follow along with Activity Book contributor, Michael Batts, ASLA, as he walks teachers step-by-step through a fun design sketch activity that offers helpful tips on the design process, talking about landscape architecture, and classroom management. Run time is approximately 18 minutes.

Activity Book for Kids  >

Take a journey across an imaginary town to learn about the building blocks of landscape architecture. In this activity book, you will learn about landscape architecture, see sketches from landscape architecture professionals, and have the opportunity to sketch and color drawings. This book is geared towards readers 9-12 years old.

Activity Book for Teens & Adults  >

Take a journey across the United States to see some of the great places designed by landscape architects. In this activity book, you will learn about landscape architecture, see sketches from landscape architecture professionals, have the opportunity to sketch and color drawings, and problem solve to plan your own projects. This book is geared towards readers 13 years and older.

Share the Books!

Do you have a friend that is interested in landscape architecture? Do your children like the idea of blending art with the environment? Are you a landscape architecture professional visiting a local school and searching for a fun interactive exercise?

Whether you are a kid, teen, parent, teacher, undergraduate student, or landscape architecture professional, there are many ways to share the activity books. To start, share with family, friends, classmates, neighbors, other professionals, and community members.

And don’t forget to share your work. Post your drawings with #ASLAactivitybooks to show the world your creative talents! Stay tuned for future initiatives at ASLA including available copies for distribution and Spanish translated editions.

Design from a Digital Device

Landscape architects create drawings on paper and on digital devices. If you are interested to complete the activity books from your digital device, check out some of the free apps and programs below that include drawing tools.

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE LICENSURE IN NEW MEXICO

NMASLA has begun planning and strategizing for the renewal of the Landscape Archtiect’s licensure in the State of New Mexico, which is scheduled to sunset in 2025. In the 2024 New Mexico Short Legislative Session, we will be tracking legislation that is introduced to either support or deny the upcoming renewal. NMASLA is in the process of hiring a lobbyist to work with us to make sure we can continue to be a profession that falls under the New Mexico licensure oversight. In the coming weeks, our Q1 activity will again be to attend the legistlative sessions to talk with our senators and representatives about the roles landscape architects play in the development process to ensure public health and safety.

The NMASLA 2024 Executive Committee:

Kristina Werenko, President

Claudia Horn, Immediate Past President

Arturo Merino, President Elect

Abby Feldman, Secretary

Ted Weber, Treasurer

Jitka Dekojova, Trustee

Member at Large: Jill Brown, Richard Bumstead, Brian Griffith, Cathy Mathews, Courtney McKelvey, Mario Nuno-Whelan, Emily Rogers, and Ken Romig

PLEASE SEND articles of interest, notices of meetings and events, awards, special projects, and other items that might be of interest to NMASLA members and associates to: Richard C. Bumstead at glenclark6517@yahoo.com

FEBRUARY 8-9, 2024 - Think Trees - 38th Annual Urban Tree Care Conference, Albuquerque, New Mexico

FEBRUARY 29, 2024 (TENTATIVE) - NMASLA All Member Meeting

MARCH 5-7, 2024 - Green Schoolyards Conference, Santa Fe, New Mexico

MARCH 6-8, 2024 - Land and Water Summit, Albuquerque, New Mexico

APRIL 2024 - World Landscape Architecture Month

APRIL 21, 2024 - Earth Day Event, Balloon Fiesta Park, Albuquerque, New Mexico

MAY 13-15, 2024 - Mountain West Rails Conference, Vernal, Utah

OCTOBER 6-9, 2024 - ASLA National Conference, Washington, D.C