Landscape architect Ruth Shellhorn, Wikimedia CC BY 4.0.

Landscape architect Ruth Patricia Shellhorn—known for her work on Bullock’s department stores, Fashion Square shopping centers, and the original design of Disneyland—helped define the distinctive mid-century regional aesthetic of Southern California. Shellhorn’s masterfully curated, vibrant plant life and landscape designs transported visitors to distant lands of fantasy and adventure, contributing to one of the many innovative aspects of Disneyland. Join licensed landscape architect Kelly Comras for an in-depth look at Shellhorn’s contributions to Disneyland’s iconic aesthetic.

About the Speaker

Kelly Comras is a licensed landscape architect and member of the State Bar of California. Comras's landscape architectural practice focuses on community-based open space design, research, and publication in the field of cultural landscape. She is a founding member of the Stewardship Council for The Cultural Landscape Foundation and former President of the California Garden & Landscape History Society. She lectures at such institutions as Harvard Graduate School of Design, the Indianapolis Museum of Art, the Library of American Landscape History, UCLA, the Society of Architectural Historians, and the California Preservation Foundation, among others. Her work has been recognized by the American Society of Landscape Architects. Her book, Ruth Shellhorn, was released in 2016.

Visit kellycomras.com.