#calvert vaux

[imagesofnyc]

Monday, June 22nd, 2026.

The Boathouse.

Prospect Park, Brooklyn.

[rabbitcruiser]

Frederick George Richard Roth unveiled the Balto statue in Central Park on December 15, 1925. The most important among the honored guests was the real Balto himself.

[conformi]

Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, Central Park, New York City, USA, 1857-1873 © Google Maps VS OFFICE Kersten Geers David Van Severen with Wonne Ickx, BORDER CROSSING, Mexico/USA, 2005 (Competition, 1st prize)

[newyorkthegoldenage]

Columbus Park, November 1953.

Photo: Frank Oscar Larson via Frank Larson Photos

[ashleyyazdani]

My book comes out tomorrow (!!!), and I thought I’d give a little behind the scenes peek at the cover for A Green Place to Be. 

The cover began with a series of tiny thumbnail sketches. I like to work small at this stage (at or around postage stamp size), and will often try to churn out 8-10+ ideas before honing in on a smaller number. For this cover I printed out a blank cover template and went to town sketching directly on that. You can see the first little version of what would become the final cover in the upper left section of the page. 

After refining some of these and sharing them with my art director, Amy, we decided that one or two of them were promising, but that I should try just a few more options. We had a phone call, and I did a bit of sketching on the back of an envelope. It’s not glamorous, but I often prefer my sketches when I’m not too precious about the materials. It frees me up to try new things, loosen up, and get a bit messy. The envelope sketches may not look like much, but this part of a project is always really exciting. 

Each piece that I do is a back-and-forth process between traditional and digital materials. Sketches usually begin with pen or pencil, then are revised digitally, before the final art is made traditionally, and then revised digitally again. For this project I splurged on a Cintiq, which was such a time saver for sketching, hand lettering, and the final edits. You can see an alternate little shovel-toting Frederick Law Olmsted being sketched on my trusty Cintiq. 

I revised the ideas that Amy and I discussed on the phone into digital grayscale final sketches that I sent back to my art director. We decided to go with the image of Calvert and Frederick in the Ramble for the front of the book, and the back of the book would be the image of Conservatory Waters. At the last minute I added some kids in front of the pool of water to make the back cover more engaging. 

Thanks for looking! Check out A Green Place to Be at your local bookstore to see the full cover! 

[marisagertz]

calvert vaux, nyc

[victorianhouses]

Great Homes of Riverside, Illinois by Riverside Illinois

[manhattan-forever]

Central Park - Foliage over Bank Rock Bay from Oak Bridge.

Bank Rock Bay is a popular bird-watching area that lies just beyond Oak Bridge.

The Oak Bridge project, which has transformed the appearance of one of the main entrances to the Ramble near West 77th Street, is an attempt to restore the section of the park to the original vision. Calvert Vaux had originally created an ornate design: carved white oak, panels of decorative cast iron set in the railings, and pine floorboards. However, the upkeep of the wood turned out to be more than challenging. After numerous attempts at repair, including a reconstruction in 1875, the bridge was finally torn down and replaced in 1935 with a utilitarian footbridge that was meant to be temporary. “Central Park is not just a collection of individually designed elements, it’s a composition.” said Christopher J. Nolan, vice president of capital projects for the conservancy. “The restoration of the bridge is an element of the restoration of the lake.” The bridge crosses over the mouth of Bank Rock Bay, a small cove that itself was restored, in 2008.

└─►Official Website of Central Park