For Release: February 28th, 2000
Frederick Law Olmsted was a wanderer, a writer and ultimately the most influential American landscape architect of the 19th and 20th centuries. Best known for designing New York's Central Park, Olmsted painted a green swath across Louisville that has defined the city. KET presents a look at the extraordinary life of Frederick Law Olmsted and his influence on Kentucky's largest urban center in Olmsted in Louisville , airing Tuesday, March 14 at 8/7 p.m. CT on KET and KET2.
Born in 1822 in Hartford, Conn., Olmsted was raised a gentleman. He never finished college, however, and moved to New York when he was just 18 to work as a scientific farmer. That venture failed, and it was during his subsequent travel abroad that Olmsted saw the beautifully landscaped gardens of England. They had a lasting impact on him and in turn on the United States.
After a stint as a reporter and a failed publishing venture, Olmsted took a chance and entered a contest to design New York City's Central Park. He won. As the superintendent of the project, Olmsted set a course for his life that would land him in the annals of American history and would forever make his name synonymous with planned landscape architecture.
His body of work spans the country, including New York's Central Park; the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.; Boston's park system, the Emerald Necklace; the Biltmore estate in North Carolina; and the 1893 Chicago World's Fairgrounds. Louisville's park system was the last project of Olmsted's distinguished career.
"Olmsted's influence made Louisville the city that it is," explains Vince Spoelker, producer and director of Olmsted in Louisville .
This ambitious project, designed in Olmsted's twilight years and constructed just prior to the end of the 19th century, features a system of three parks--Cherokee, Iroquois and Shawnee--each highlighting the strength and individuality of that particular part of the city.
Filmed over the course of all four seasons, Olmsted in Louisville captures the sheer beauty of Olmsted's vision. Interviews with Charles Beveridge, editor of the Frederick Law Olmsted papers; Arleyn Levee, co-chair of the National Association of Olmsted Parks; Susan Rademacher, executive director of the Louisville Olmsted Park Conservancy; and many others, as well as a bevy of archival photographs, flesh out this documentary on Louisville's bounty of outdoor tranquility.
"It was a real discovery for me to see how beautiful these places are," adds Spoelker. "As a Louisvillian, I didn't appreciate it until I moved away."
Olmsted in Louisville is a KET production, produced by Vince Spoelker. The program is closed-captioned for the deaf and hard-of-hearing. Viewers can find out more about programming on KET by visiting the KET Web site at http://www.ket.org , a Kentucky.com affiliate.
Contact: Todd Piccirilli
Image(s) may be reproduced in connection with the print and online promotion of KET programs and services. No other uses are authorized without securing prior permission from the copyright owner. All rights reserved.
Frederick Law Olmsted
Cherokee Park, Louisville
View or link to a public version of this release.
- Downloadable image(s) included. Please 
