ASLA BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING, CONFERENCE, AND FIELD TRIPS - SEPTEMBER 2026

The ASLA Board of Trustees Meeting and Conference took place in September 2026. The surprise of the event was that the 2026 Primetime Emmy Awards took place right across from our JW Marriott LA Live Hotel. It was thrilling to meet Emmy Award winners with our ASLA attendees.

The headquarter JW Marriott Hotel was just around the block from the Grammy Museum and on the morning of the first BOT meeting day, I had the opportunity to see this fun and interactive museum.

Kona recommended seeing the places that we visit so I took the opportunity to see 2 more museums, MOCA and the BROAD. They were inspiring.

My three year term on the ASLA Board of Trustees representing our Hawai`i Chapter at this Los Angeles conference ended with a short speech. (see below).

The LA conference was equally great. I attended 2 very interesting morning talks. The first day's talk Layered Landscapes: Growing the Past in the Present was about native plants, a project, and seed bank (they showed a photo of the Hawai`i Seed Bank). John, Nina, and Katie shared that plants can be powerful ambassadors of historical and cultural interpretations in California's public realm. This session examines how three ongoing efforts use planting design, seeds, and native horticulture as interpretive tools to unearth the history of Southern California through landscape architecture, institutional programming, and urgent grassroots conservation responding to wildfire.

The second talk Move You: The Art and Practice of Signage in Public Landscapes was very interesting about signage. Erin, William, and Tim, spoke about Environmental Graphic Design (EGD) being one of the most direct tools for engaging visitors in civic landscapes. From revealing site history to guiding movement and deepening connections to nature, integrated wayfinding and interpretive strategies unlock powerful opportunities for landscape architects. I was intrigued by the artist William Dodge's markers to show the water levels and the animal sculptures around a parkway all without words. Awesome.

The 2 ASLA field trips that I was lucky to sign up early for were an Ecological Tour, Ecological Garden Design in Los Angeles with Terremoto Landscape to see 3 Silver Lake gardens including a drycleaner property renovated to a coffee shop. Jennifer, David, and Kara shared with us their beautiful landscaped projects. The journey included a historic hillside apartment complex featuring stunning architecture by Rudolph Schindler, and a special treat to see the inside of the neighbors beautiful home, a 1920s Andalusian garden restored with a native palette, and a native gravel garden at a local coffee shop.

The second field trip was the Disneyland Tour, Storytelling Through Landscape: The Making of Outdoor Environments in Disneyland Park It was wonderful.! To my happy surprise our own Kevin Nishikawa, Hawai`i Landscape Architect has been working for Disneyland for 18 years. It was a very fun day of learning the inside scoops and behind the scenes about the landscapes in Disneyland by the incredible Imagineering team. The magic of Walt Disney Imagineering landscape architects led us on a memorable tour of Disneyland Park. Bryan, Katie, Michael, Jennifer, Kevin, and Jonathan shared with us placemaking and dimensional storytelling to inform the creation of immersive, sensory-rich environments through themed hardscape, planting, and landform design. We gained insight into the highly collaborative process among creative directors, architects, producers, and horticultural experts.

We even went on two rides and on our free time the rollercoaster and log ride. I was terrified but now I can say I did them with my new friends Peter, Ali and Liz who were so sweet, supportive, encouraging, and great fun.

Disneyland is truly the happiest place on earth!

The expo was wonderful to see new landscape products and meet the many people in our fields like Maggie and at the sponsored Playcourt party. It was quite a great conference.

The following is my short Board of Trustee speech concluding my 3 year volunteer service as Board of Trustee representing Hawai`i.

I had a wonderful time serving on the ASLA Board of Trustees as the Hawai`i Chapter representative for the past 3 years.

I met wonderful leaders in ASLA, an amazing staff, especially Curtis, who I bothered all the time, and new friends from around the country.

Serving as Trustee provided me the opportunity to be part of ASLA on a higher level and a chance to see far away places.

Kona Gray, ASLA Past President, had suggested that we see the places that we visit.

My first BOT meeting took place in Washington D.C. and we visited the beautiful ASLA office and our State Capital.

The second BOT meeting was the lively and great place, delicious food, and friendly people of New Orleans.

And now Los Angeles. I visited the nearby Grammy Museum and it reminded me of the song written about Hawai`i's Foster Botanical Garden by 11 time Grammy Award winner, Joni Mitchell. "They paved paradise and put up a parking lot". And we need to try to prevent this.

And what a nice surprise that we are here during the Emmy's. I have gifts! Kukui Nut Lei for to celebrate your leadership and great work. Mahalo and Aloha, Dana Anne Yee, FASLA