ASLA’s 2023 Conference on Landscape Architecture is a little more than two months away but the host chapter, Minnesota, has been planning earnestly for two conference traditions—the WILA Walk and the Legacy Project.

WxLA-MN is ready to lead conference attendees on the annual WILA Walk through downtown Minneapolis. The local WxLA-MN organization was founded in 2011, with the mission to provide increased transparency, leadership, and representation for womxn (women, women-identifying, and non-binary people) in the profession by providing mentorship and scholarship opportunities. The organization has grown its presence in the Twin Cities landscape architecture community—WxLA-MN has provided over 20 scholarships, hosts regular happy hours, and plans various networking and educational events.

This year’s walk is an ambitious round trip to the Mississippi River and back. Conference attendees are guaranteed to meet or exceed their daily step goals while passing through a broad range of city planning and landscape architecture projects designed by womxn practitioners in the North Star state and region! At the River, participants will pause at a sacred space for a land acknowledgement in coordination with the local community.

Volunteers will be distributing hand-warmers at the start of the walk. Coffee and donuts will also be provided at the mid-point. Don’t forget to pack your warmest hats & mittens, your puffiest coat, and your sturdiest all-weather shoes/boots!

Legacy Project Design Workshop with Maxfield students. Photo credit, MN Chapter

For the 2023 Legacy Project the Minnesota Chapter has been engaging students from Maxfield Elementary School, to support the redesign of the schoolyards. Maxfield is located in the historically Black neighborhood of Rondo in St Paul, MN. To provide Maxfield students with a comprehensive design experience, the Chapter has engaged students from the University of Minnesota as well as partnered with the St Paul Public Schools, the Garden Alliance and the Trust for Public Land (TPL). Maxfield’s students have been directly involved in exploring the site and have also developed options for the redesign. The MN Chapter Legacy Project team will present a video during the conference general session, where attendees will learn about the evolution of the project, the selected, final design and implementation plans.