ASLA Oregon will present its 2019 Recognition Awards in person at the Awards Soiree on Friday, November 1, 2019. The awards celebrate the spirit of the landscape architecture profession in Oregon by recognizing people and organizations for their outstanding service to the profession, design excellence, sustained community leadership and careful stewardship.
Join us in congratulating the 2019 ASLA Oregon Recognition Award winners!
MIG’s Portland office landscape architecture team --- Lauren Schmitt, Melissa Erikson, Laurie Matthews, Christina Frank, Rachel Edmonds and Casey Howard, with adjunct staff Robert Melnick and Dean Apostal --- will receive the Outstanding Firm Award in recognition of their design excellence; protection of natural, cultural and historic landscapes; support of emerging professionals; leadership in the profession and ASLA; and community involvement.
Collectively they provide a high level of leadership both in the firm and out of the firm, have and continue to demonstrate professional excellence, and mentor both staff and new generations of landscape architects and designers through their practice, service, innovations, communications, advocacy, and research. As a collective force, they are shaping the firm’s practice and influencing the profession.
Paula Barreto, ASLA will receive the 2019 Outstanding Emerging Professional Award. This award is given to an emerging professional in their first five years of practice that exceeds expectations and shows promise in making contributions to landscape architecture.
As a Latina, veteran, and immigrant, Paula’s commitment to equity, inclusion, and environmental justice led her to study landscape architecture at the University of Oregon. Paula's continued commitment to equitable and inclusive design is deeply entrenched in her work at PLACE and speaks to her natural abilities to connect with people. Paula is an instigator of social change and a role model who daily champions the rigors of service, civic engagement, and design excellence. With enthusiasm to give a landing hand, she connects her culture with fellow colleagues and the Society.
Paula’s journey as a volunteer and a designer continued past her academic career and it speaks to her natural abilities to connect with people making the world a better place. Be it her dynamic community engagement and design work for Metro’s 40-mile loop trail; her design leadership for the Portland Community College Cascade Campus Learning Gardens or the Las Adelitas, an infamous Sugar Shack strip club in Living Cully demolished to make way for 140 units of affordable housing, Paula continues to lead and learn.
Since arriving in Portland, Paula has demonstrated a tremendous potential as a leader in our field as the Oregon Chapter’s Student Liaison in 2016 and 2017. As a recent graduate of the University of Oregon, she was perfect for the role. During her tenure, Paula enhanced our chapter’s relationship with the student chapter and was instrumental in organizing Shadow Mentor Day activities in Portland. Paula also served on the planning committees for the 2016 Design Symposium and the 2016 Design Awards. She never ceased to volunteer and always offered to step up.
Paula represented Oregon beyond its boundaries as a participant in ASLA’s 2016 Diversity Summit and the 2017 Diversity SuperSummit. Each of ASLA’s summits has brought together a group of experienced and emerging landscape architects who identify as African American or Latinx to develop strategies that address diversity issues in the field. Paula’s input helped ASLA identify focus areas for four key diversity initiatives to guide ASLA’s work.
Embracing opportunities for engagement, Paula’s journey led her to the Soul River, Inc., a non-profit organization where veterans mentor, teach, and become role models to inner city youth while bringing awareness to the jewels of our national wildlife refuges. In 2017, Paula joined the cross-cultural Arctic National Wildlife Refuge deployment on the Chandalar River. Exploring regional tribal lands, the expedition focused on developing an appreciation of Venetie Indian Nations’ history and tradition applying conservation-minded practices. With ravenous hunger to serve and protect, leaving our youth with a world that is safer and rich with opportunity, Paula joined Soul River on several regional and local deployments promoting environmental and social justice.
Melinda Graham, ASLA, will receive the 2019 Lord & Schryver Award. ASLA Oregon established this award to honor a woman, a firm or an organization that had made significant contributions to the achievement and recognition of women in landscape architecture.
Melinda is a founding Principal of 2.ink Studio Landscape Architecture, a firm committed to creating landscapes that are intentional, meaningful and treasured by the communities around them.
Melinda champions work-life balance and diversity within the firm. She has addressed the gender disparity in landscape architecture not only through her hiring practices but also through the firm’s implementation of family leave and flexible full-time scheduling. This has allowed women in the firm to take time to have children without worrying about job security. Flexible scheduling cuts down on childcare bills and helps maintain a healthy work/life balance. Today, 2.ink Studio is comprised of 50% women.
Drawing from her career as a woman in the field of Landscape Architecture and her broad experience in both design and the business operations of the firm, Melinda is an invaluable resource and sounding board for new and established female practitioners. As a firm co-founder and owner, she models behavior that she wants to inspire in the industry: generous with her time, incredibly approachable and easy to talk to, and open to sharing information and resources.