'A Sustainable Landscape for St. Scholastica Monastery' in Anne Kittrell Art Gallery

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — University Programs hosts "A Sustainable Landscape for St. Scholastica Monastery" from April 18-22 in the Anne Kittrell Art Gallery at the University of Arkansas. The gallery will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, with a reception at 7 p.m. April 22.

The exhibit highlights student drawings that combine environmentally responsible solutions to storm water runoff with aesthetically appealing design for the Fort Smith monastery. Students in two disciplines teamed to create the site plan.

Students in Tom Costello's Senior Design in Biological Engineering class tackled the technical issues, while students in Carl Smith's Landscape Architecture Design IV class addressed aspects of land use and beauty. Costello teaches in the College of Engineering, and Smith teaches in the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design.

"This is not just about the quantity and quality of water leaving the site; it's also an opportunity for amenities — recreation, aesthetics, wildlife," Smith said. "Engineers think in utilitarian terms. Landscape architecture students tie those plans to the overall site strategy.

 "With this project, we're making the hydrological cycle more readable, and celebrating it in all its diversity — evapotranspiration, evaporation, infiltration," Smith said. "In the natural world, that's what takes place. In the urban environment, all we really get to see is rain — and the problems it causes when it overflows the drainage system."

A grant from the University of Arkansas Office for Sustainability provided funding for the collaborative project.

The Kittrell Gallery exhibit coincides with Earth Day festivities on April 20 and Spring Family Reunion on April 22-24. The exhibition will move to the Fort Smith Public Library, 3201 Rogers Ave., from April 24-30.

This event is sponsored by University Programs through the Office of Student Activities and is supported by the Student Activities fee. For accommodations because of disability, please contact the Office of Student Activities, osa@uark.edu or call 479-575-5255.

For more information on this event, contact University Programs Art Gallery Chair, Cori McCleskey at upart@uark.edu or 479-575-5255 or Trisha Blau at tblau@uark.edu or University Relations staff writer, Bettina Lehovec at blehovec@uark.edu or 479-575-7422 or Landscape Architecture associate professor, Carl Smith, at cas002@uark.edu or 479-575-5922.