Stewardship Excellence Award: Shaun Saer Duncan
On Friday, October 10 at Octavia Gallery, Shaun Saer Duncan, Hon. ASLA, was recognized with TCLF's Stewardship Award for her decades of leadership, vision, and spirit in the service of preserving and protecting significant cultural landscapes, making the public aware of our rich and diverse landscape heritage, and championing the profession of landscape architecture.
Duncan was a Board Member of TCLF (2004-2018) and has served as a Trustee at River Fields, the largest and oldest river conservancy of the Ohio River, in Louisville, Kentucky; Board Member at the Cincinnati Horticultural Society, which provides support to horticultural programs and community beautification projects, in Cincinnati, Ohio; a Founding Board Member at Parks for All in your hometown of New Orleans, Louisiana, which “works to secure access to and financial support for quality green spaces for all residents”; a Board Member of the Preservation Resource Center in New Orleans; a Board Member of Longue Vue House and Gardens in New Orleans; and a Co-Chair of the Jefferson Circle Initiative, which advances historic preservation at her alma mater, the University of Virginia.
As a TCLF Board member for many years, five as Board Co-Chair, Duncan helped the organization grow substantially and develop comprehensive advocacy and public engagement strategies and opportunities. She was instrumental in forging and facilitating new dialogs with thought leaders, patrons, and other potential collaborators and partners, and was an effective and gracious ambassador. Within the Board she provided sound leadership, excellent counsel, and sage advice—especially for those new to the Board—and a seasoned perspective that helped the organization to mature.
In 2011, Duncan’s achievements and leadership were recognized when she became an Honorary Member of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA). Letters on her behalf noted: your ability to “inspire the general public”; your “love and enthusiasm for landscape and history”; that “she represents very well the highest values and ambitions of our profession”; her “steadfast commitment”; and that “her accomplishments and her humanity, in the service of the values of our discipline, are nothing short of an inspiration.”