April 23: Deck Parks & Connective Parks in Dallas Free Panel Discussion by The Dallas Architecture Forum

The Dallas Architecture Forum Presents

“Deck Parks and Connective Parks in Dallas”

April 23, 2019 – Free and Open to the Public!

The Dallas Architecture Forum, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing public education about architecture, design and the urban environment, continues its Spring 2019 Panel Discussion Series on Tuesday,  April 23, 2019 with “Deck Parks and Connective Parks in Dallas” moderated by Elissa Izmailyan.

“Parks serve as connectors and community gathering spaces between and within sections of cities. From Klyde Warren Park to the Deck Park over I-35, to plans for park expansion, this panel will look at how Dallas is making progress in accomplishing this goal while ensuring access to all residents of the city,” said Nate Eudaly, Executive Director of The Dallas Architecture Forum. Our Panelists and Moderator are park experts who will provide greater understanding of these important issues. Attendees will have an opportunity to ask questions.”

Panels are FREE for both Forum members and the general public as a public outreach of The Forum. The discussion begins at 6:30 pm, with complimentary beverages available beginning at 6:15 pm. No reservations are needed to attend. One CEU AIA credit is available. Join us for a cold beverage and lively dialogue!

The venue for this panel is the Dallas Black Dance Theater building directly behind One Arts Plaza. The DBDT is located at the corner of Arts Plaza Street and Ann Williams Way – at 2700 Ann Williams Way, Dallas, TX  75201. Free parking is available between the DBDT building and Fellowship Church, located to the east of the DBDT building.

Klyde Warren Deck Park has been a major catalyst for the transformation of the Arts District and Uptown areas of Dallas. Join The Dallas Architecture Forum for an enlightening and educational evening as we examine the multi-faceted impact that Klyde Warren Park has had on our city. Tara Green, Past President of Klyde Warren Park, will share insights with audience members about the successes and challenges faced by the Park. Our distinguished Panelists will also discuss the planned expansion of Klyde Warren, and how that expansion may impact Dallas. Attendees will learn about the plans and potential issues involved with the Deck Park being constructed over I-35 adjacent to the Dallas Zoo. Diane Jones Allen, Director of the Landscape Architecture program at UTA CAPPA, and Molly Plummer, Parks for People Program Manager for the Trust for Public Land in North Texas, will inform attendees on how parks in Dallas and other major urban centers can serve as connectors and community gathering spaces between and within sections of cites. The Panelists, led by Moderator Elissa Izmailyan, will look at how Dallas is making progress (and also still faces hurdles) in accomplishing these goals while ensuring accessible and equitable access to these parks by all residents of the city. Panel attendees will gain greater understanding on these important issues, and also be able to ask questions and engage in conversation with our Panelists and Moderator, each of them subject matter experts on Deck Parks. 

Elissa IZMAILYAN, Sr. Director for Community and Economic Development for the Trinity Park Conservancy

Tara GREEN, Past President of Klyde Warren Park; Principal, OBJ Landscape  Architecture

Diane JONES ALLEN, Director of Landscape Architecture, UTA CAPPA

Molly PLUMMER, Parks for People Program Manager for the Trust for Public Land in North Texas

The Forum’s Panel Season Sponsors are Electronic Interiors, Purdy-McGuire and Walter P Moore. The Panel Sponsor is Meg Fitzpatrick | MMF Strategies.

For more information on The Dallas Architecture Forum, or the Panel Discussion Series, visit www.dallasarchitectureforum.orgor call 214-764-2406.

Elissa IZMAILYAN
“Deck Parks and Connective Parks in Dallas”

23 April 2019
Tuesday, 6:30 pm, Informal reception at 6:15 pm

Venue:  Dallas Black Dance Theatre, 2700 Ann Williams Way in the Dallas Arts District.

ABOUT THE MODERATOR:

ELISSA IZMAILYAN

Elissa Hoagland Izmailyan serves as the Sr. Director for Community and Economic Development for the Trinity Park Conservancy, where she is currently leading the development of an Equitable Development Plan for Harold Simmons Park. Elissa joined the Conservancy from the Children & Nature Network, where she supported citywide initiatives for children’s equitable access to nature in 18 cities. Previously, Elissa founded and managed the Texas office of HR&A Advisors, where she served as an economic and implementation advisor to major urban park, infrastructure, and cultural projects throughout the American southwest, with particular focus on balancing value creation and inclusive community development.  Elissa began her career at the Trust for Public Land’s Center for City Park Excellence, where she analyzed the economic value of urban park systems and best practices to enhance the health and community benefits of parks. She holds a B.A. in Economics from Brown University and lives in East Dallas.

PANELISTS:

TARA GREEN

As Principal of Program Development, Tara Green leads OJB Landscape Architecture’s Activation division. Tara focuses on developing the firm’s park planning and programming initiatives. Prior to joining OJB in 2018, she was President of Klyde Warren Park turning it into a world-class model for successful public-private partnerships. Tara was responsible for keeping Dallas’ most active green space pristine and safe. She guided the strategic direction of the park and worked to generate operating capital for the non-profit, overseeing staff and operations, including 1,300 free activities for the over 1 million park guests annually. Past experience also includes 20+ years of experience in the sports industry. She was the Chief Revenue Officer at the American Airlines Center, Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the North Texas Super Bowl XLV Host Committee for Super Bowl XLV (45) and the Vice President of Sports Marketing for Visit Dallas, now the Dallas Sports Commission.

DIANE JONES ALLEN

Diane Jones Allen, D. Eng., ASLA, PLA, is Landscape Architecture Program Director, College of Architecture Planning and Public Affairs, University of Texas Arlington, and Principal Landscape Architect for DesignJones, LLC, New Orleans, Louisiana.  DesignJones LLC received the 2016 American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) Community Service Award.  Diane’s research explores environmental justice and sustainability in cultural landscapes, including impacts on places with unmet transportation demand, as discussed in her book Lost in the Transit: Race Transit Access and Suburban Form, Routledge Publishers. Diane also co-edited Design as Democracy: Techniques for Collective Creativity, Island Press which won an EDRA Great Places Award, Book Category 2018.

MOLLY PLUMMER 

Molly Plummer is the Parks for People Program Manager for the Trust for Public Land’s North Texas office.  She holds a Masters of Landscape Architecture from the University of Texas at Arlington and has a background in studio art.  Her research is focused on how social resiliency and the urban built environment are impacted by historic landscape architecture and planning mechanisms.  At the Trust for Public Land, Molly manages a number of projects including GIS-based city-wide planning initiative, a crowdsourced park quality assessment project, a watershed level master plan for parks and trails in Southern Dallas, the design and development of several parks projects in Dallas, in addition to organizing the community engagement and participatory design that accompanies these projects. 

About The Dallas Architecture Forum

The Dallas Architecture Forum is a not-for-profit civic organization that brings leading architectural thought leaders from around the world to speak in Dallas and also fosters important local dialogue about the major issues impacting our urban environment. The Forum was founded in 1996 by some of Dallas’ leading architects, business, cultural and civic leaders, and it continues to benefit from active support and guidance from these citizens. The Forum fulfills its mission of providing a continuing and challenging public discourse on architecture and urban design in – and for – the Dallas area. The Dallas Architecture Forum’s members include architects, design professionals, students and educators, and a broad range of civic-minded individuals and companies intent to improve the urban environment in North Texas. The Forum has been recognized nationally with an AIA Collaboration Achievement Award for its strategic partnerships with other organizations focused on architecture, urban planning and the arts. For more information on the Forum, visit www.DallasArchitectureForum.org.

Among the over 230 speakers who have addressed the Forum’s Lecture Series are Shigeru Ban, Brad Cloepfil, Diller + Scofidio, Peter Eisenman, Michael Graves, Daniel Libeskind, Thomas Phifer, Rafael Vinoly, Juhani Pallasmaa, AIA Gold Medal Winner Peter Bohlin, and regional architects David Lake and Ted Flato. Pritzker Prize winners speaking to the Forum have been Kazuyo Sejima, Rafael Moneo, Thom Mayne, Rem Koolhaas and Norman Foster (the latter two in collaboration with the ATT Performing Arts Center). Other speakers for the Forum have been leading designers Calvin Tsao, Andrée Putman, and Karim Rashid; landscape architect Michael Van Valkenburgh; and National Trust President Emeritus Richard Moe. Important critics, authors and patrons who have spoken to the Forum include Emily Pulitzer, Terence Riley, Pulitzer Prize winners Robert Campbell and Blair Kamin, Aaron Betsky, and the late David Dillon.

The Forum organizes and presents an annual series of Panels—local, informal, open, and offered free of charge as a public service to the community—led by a moderator who brings a subject of local importance along with comments by participating panelists. Moderators and Panelists have also come from both other Texas cities as well as from national institutions that were connected with particular Panel subjects. Panels offer attendees the opportunity to participate in creating discourse. Important topics addressed in Panels in recent years include: “Thoughts on the Dallas Comprehensive Plan”; “The Kimbell Expansion: A Discussion”; “Filling Out the Dallas Arts District”; and “Re-envisioning the Trinity”. 

For more information on the Dallas Architecture Forum, visit www.dallasarchitectureforum.org. For questions about the Forum, call 214-764-2406.

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