[Feature]
Reid BertoneJohnson A Life for Design
From working with the city of Northampton to managing the MacLeish Field Station, BertoneJohnson is actively engaged in helping design a more sustainable world. [Editor’s note: This profile was written for ENG 135, prior to the Fall 2012 completion of the Bechtel Environmental Classroom.]
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T FIRST GLANCE, SMITH COLLEGE’S Ada and Archibald MacLeish field sta‐ tion in West Whately, Massachusetts seems like a typical college field sta‐ tion with a noble but standard mission “to foster field‐based education and research that pro‐ motes environmental study and experiential learning in a forested and agricultural land‐ scape.” However, on a chilly afternoon in Febru‐ ary, the reason MacLeish is much more than the average field station becomes clear as manager Reid Bertone‐Johnson leads a tour intended to appeal to a different group of Smithies. Gestur‐ ing toward a small clearing, Bertone‐Johnson declares the field to be “fair game” for the coursework of a trio of art students designing outdoor installations. In addition to being a ha‐
16 CEEDS Design
ven for scientists, engineers and landscape de‐ sign students, MacLeish is intended to embody the liberal arts spirit of Smith itself, as well as the personal spirit and vision of landscape stud‐ ies lecturer Reid Bertone‐Johnson. “I feel like a city mouse,” laughs Lynne Yami‐ moto, the art faculty member leading this spe‐ cial studies class. And she’s right; this is not ex‐ actly the typical setting for an art class. The group walks warily up an unpaved road covered in thick, loose mud. Clods of it cake everyone’s shoes as they try not to slip. Her students point out certain features of the wooded trail and ad‐ jacent fields, bouncing ideas for projects off each other. Bertone‐Johnson interjects with ideas and suggestions of his own, clearly excited by the blending of art and nature. Photo Credit: Stefanie Cervantes