Public Art: UC Berkeley Professor Honored
California News Wire Services, News Partner
Patch
June 20, 2019

On June 19, 2019 in Philadelphia, Walter Hood — UC Berkeley professor and former chair of Landscape Architecture & Environmental Planning and Urban Design, and founder of Hood Design Studio — became the recipient of an inaugural John S. and James L. Knight Public Spaces Fellowship.  

The Foundation invests in journalism, the arts, and the success of cities, with the goal of fostering “informed and engaged communities, which [they] believe are essential for a healthy democracy.”

By the same token, the Knight Public Spaces Fellowship recognizes leaders who have strengthened community engagement and connection through their production of unique, enriching public spaces. 

The fellowship acknowledges Hood Design Studio’s practices at the “intersection of art, landscape, research, and urban design,” as well as its “contributions to neighborhood community spaces such as Splash Pad Park in Oakland.” 

Hood was one of the seven fellowship recipients selected out of 2,000 nominees nationally. He will receive $150,000 to further advance his firm and his work, which the Knight Foundation hopes will allow him to push his ideas further to find even more innovative ways of redefining interaction with public spaces.

Lilly Weinberg, director at the Knight Foundation said, “Erin (Salazar — another Bay Area recipient) and Walter are redefining how residents connect with community through public space.”

More about Walter Hood, here.