2022 Class of Fellows, Richard Alomar, New York Chapter
Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey
Throughout his nearly three decades of practice, teaching, community engagement, and service, Richard Alomar successfully advocated for sketching as a space to view, engage, and build awareness of the beauty and complexity of the landscape. He helped transform Urban Sketchers from a group of a few hundred participants to over 300 international chapters with more than 200,000 followers, with a robust executive and advisory board, a digital magazine, sustainably funded grant programs, and sponsored partnerships with art suppliers and art institutions. Over the last decade Richard has led over 100 sketch walks with more than 2,000 participants-including those at ASLA conferences-and has published or contributed to over twenty articles and books on sketching landscapes. His methods are followed by many ASLA chapters, landscape architecture programs, and sketch groups around the world. Working with designers, students, and community groups, sketching has been the glue connecting education, advocacy, art, and engagement. Richard is an associate professor, department chair, and graduate program director at Rutgers University where he also directs the Rutgers Office of Urban Extension and Engagement and is a Core Faculty member on the Rutgers Global Health Institute. His work in the public sector, engagement with communities, and contributions to the ASLA-NY chapter, National ASLA, and New York State Education Board of the Professions have been long and consistent.
