Frederick Law Olmsted
Zenos Frudakis has created the first statue of 19th century Renaissance man Frederick Law Olmsted (1822 – 1903). Commissioned by The North Carolina Arboretum, the monument to the man known as the “Father of American Landscape Architecture,” who was also a reporter for the fledgling New York Times, a social critic and public administrator, to be unveiled at a ceremony on April 22, in the Arboretum’s Blue Ridge Court in Asheville, N.C. Sculpted by Zenos Frudakis, this is the first ever larger-than-life bronze statue of Frederick Law Olmsted.
Monumental Sculpture
Size: 8-feet high
Media: Bronze
Installed: April 22, 2015
Location: Blue Ridge Court,
The North Carolina Arboretum,
Asheville, North Carolina
⭐ America 250—Shaping the American Landscape: Enduring Impact of Olmsted's Parks
Known as the “Father of American Landscape Architecture,” Frederick Law Olmsted was the nation’s foremost park designer, co-creating iconic green spaces such as New York’s Central Park and the U.S. Capitol grounds. Olmsted’s revolutionary vision of democratic, public landscapes emphasized the social and psychological benefits of nature in urban environments. He believed that access to natural spaces was a right for all citizens, and that exposure to scenery could have a restorative, “unconscious influence” on the mind and body, providing relief from the stresses of city life. His work inspired the creation of municipal parks across the United States, and his principles continue to shape American parks, fostering elegant, equitable, and accessible spaces for everyone—a concept that remains central to the idea of the public park.
“It was important for me to create a sculpture which embodied the idea of Frederick Law Olmsted as a visionary of monumental proportions. In his hands he holds the abstract topographic map, which came from his mind and became the land that he stood on.”