In celebration of Black History Month, ASLA Career Discovery and Diversity invites you to join us at the ASLA Center for Landscape Architecture to view the documentary Claiming Open Spaces produced by Austin Allen, ASLA, Associate Professor of Practice at University of Texas Arlington. The viewing will be followed by remarks from Professor Allen.

About Claiming Open Spaces

Claiming Open Spaces shares the perception of parks in cities such as New Orleans and Detroit, from the cultural perspective of the African Americans who use them. As noted by a young Walter Hood, ASLA, the cultural makeup of the communities that use city parks is often left out of planning and programming, which can alienate the people meant to use them. This lapse comes up in interviews with residents who fondly remember a neighborhood park before it was redesigned and with kids who wonder why they are constantly hounded by police for simply enjoying time in the park.