Cherie Kluesing was an American landscape architect, designer, and educator. She received a Boston Society of Landscape Architects award in 1988 for her restoration plan for Frederick Law Olmsted's Buttonwood Park in New Bedford, Massachusetts. She wrote extensively on land art and landscape architecture, and was known for her advocacy for integrating art works and landscape.
Early life
Born in Peoria, Illinois, Kluesing lived in various locations in the Midwest during her formative years. Her parents, Byron and Ginger, had two other later offspring, John and Nancy. The near Kluesing family was composed of siblings John, Alvin, Peter, Olga and Herman. Byron, Cherie's father, was a child of John's first wife along with Alvin and Millie. Cherie often mentioned the childhood influences of her great uncle Herman Kluesing, great aunt Olga Ryan and aunt Marylin Duke. Herman, an interior designer, created a sketch of World War I that is reputedly part of the Louvre's collection. Childless, Herman spent time with Marylin Duke, as well as John's other stepchildren Connie Springborn and Lucy Ihrcke. Olga was a milliner and Marylin Duke was a costume designer. Connie Springborn worked briefly for Marylin Duke who influenced her to attend art school at McMurry College. She later completed her studies at the Museum School at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts. Cherie and her aunt Connie met later and formed a familial and artistic bond.
Chair Robert Riley and Natalie Alpert recognized the promise Kluesing offered and brought her on as part of the faculty upon her graduation. Kluesing began teaching as an assistant professor at the Department of Landscape Architecture at the University of Illinois where she served as Chair of the Lorado Taft Lecture Committee from 1981 to 1982 and received the Outstanding Educator Award from the in 1981. She moved on the Harvard Graduate School of Design an assistant professor from 1982 - 1985 where she taught with Laurie Olin, Peter Walker, Carl Steinitz and Michael Van Valkenburgh.
Professional work
Kluesing was exposed to landscape architecture while working for Barton-Ashman Associates in Evanston IL from 1973 to 1975 where she contributed primarily as a graphic designer on urban redevelopment planning projects prior to attending the University of Illinois. Kluesing began professional practice with Walker Design Group in Urbana, Illinois in 1979. She became a partner with Walker-Kluesing Design Group as the office moved from Belmont MA to Boston MA in 1985. The work focused on a mix of institutional, commercial, corporate and public work, with the latter focusing primarily on large historic parks.
Honors and awards
Individual Project Fellowship, National Endowment for the Arts, Design Arts Program Grant, 'New Landscapes: Observing the National Collection', 1984 - 1985 Research Grant, Harvard University Graduate School of Design, 'Observing the National Landscape: 25 Years of Art on the American Landscape', 1983 Merit Award, American Society of Landscape Architects, "Reclamation Works: An Aesthetic Approach to Land Reclamation", 1981 Outstanding Educator Award, Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture, 1981 Entering Professional Designer Fellowship, National Endowment for the Arts, Design Arts Program, 1980 -1981
Honors and awards with Walker-Kluesing Design Group
Merit Award, Boston Society of Landscape Architects, Visitor Center Park, Lawrence Heritage State Park, 1994 Merit Award, American Society of Landscape Architects, Boston Common Management Plan, 1992 Merit Award, Boston Society of Landscape Architects, Larz Anderson Park, Brookline, 1992 Merit Award, Boston Society of Landscape Architects, The Children's Hospital Gateway Park and Winter Garden, Boston MA 1990 Merit Award, Boston Society of Landscape Architects, Buttonwood Park Master Plan, New Bedford MA, 1988 Merit Award, Boston Society of Landscape Architects, Viewing Courtyard, Boston MA, 1988
Publications
"Site Artists: The Role of Outsiders in Landscape Design" Landscape Architecture, Volume 78, No. 3, pp 120, 104, 106, April/May 1988
"Art: Creative Experiments in Re-Use of Mined Land", Rock Products Magazine, June 1987
"New Realities: The Artist in the Landscape", Radcliffe Quarterly, March, 1987.
"Site-Specific Art: Landscape as Medium", Art New England, May 1986.
The Cherie Kluesing Fellowship
The Cherie Kluesing Fellowship is a full tuition fellowship that is awarded to an entering graduate student in the Landscape Architecture who shows the best promise for integrating art and design.
