Jill Trischman-Marks

Jill Trischman-Marks bears the title executive director in her new role at McIntire Botanical Garden, but
she calls herself its chief cheerleader. Her enthusiasm for the outdoors and all things wild (and some cultivated) is so abundant that the self-proclaimed title fits. As the first person to head up the nonprofit civic effort, Trischman-Marks, a landscape architect, brings decades of design and horticultural experience to the job.

And what a job it is. Trischman-Marks will guide the realization of an eight-and-a-half acre design by Boston- based landscape architect Mikyoung Kim, whose projects also include the Chicago Botanic Garden. Kim is quite a catch. A recipient of the 2018 Smithsonian Cooper Hewitt National Design Award and the American Society of Landscape Architects Design Medal, her firm was named by Fast Company this year as one of the world’s most innovative businesses. Working in tandem with Charlottesville’s Waterstreet Design, Kim will transform the McIntire Park parcel into a showcase of the Piedmont landscape—and what Trischman-Marks believes will be central Virginia’s premier botanical garden.

Jill Trischman-Marks holds a Master of Landscape Architecture degree from the UVA School of Architecture and has worked in the field—and in her own garden—for 30 years. Photo: Virginia Hamrick

The garden plans have been in the works since 2015, and it’s going to be a challenge for Trischman-Marks to bring them to life. It helps that a world-class design team is in place, and that the new executive director is charging ahead with great energy. She’s definitely going to need it as she pushes to secure $600,000 to complete the design phase and then see the project through to completion.

Trischman-Marks has no shortage of confidence that she will succeed, and introduce local residents and visitors alike to a space that will bring them closer to nature just a short jaunt from downtown Charlottesville.

Unbound: As a longtime resident of Charlottesville, what makes you most excited about the plans for McIntire Botanical Garden?

Trischman-Marks: The garden will be a free and accessible destination. It will be a community nest of sorts, a nurturing, safe space where visitors can learn, relax, and celebrate the natural beauty of the Piedmont with Virginia’s flora as the background.

Free and accessible—let’s talk more about that.

The “free” aspect is a given with the space we’re in, as a part of McIntire Park and this project being in partnership with the City of Charlottesville. As a free community asset, it will become more relevant, vital, and beloved—a space for the whole community to grow. Children will grow up here, become parents one day, and remember their own childhood memories and come back. Generations will help maintain the garden.

It’s clear that it will take some time to build the landscape. What’s going on at the garden now?

As a part of McIntire Park, the space is open for people to enjoy. It’s not a curated garden yet—it’s in process. We’ve already cleared nearly four acres of invasive plants. The best way to maximize an experience in the landscape now is to go when a garden representative is there during our butterfly, bird, and tree walks.

What’s next?

We just completed the schematic phase for the future site and the next phase will be design development, where we think about things like drainage and walls for deer protection. We’re holding a community night on October 10 at City Space from 5:30-7:30pm to share new schematics and garden updates. Visioning walks will follow in the spring.

We know you’re passionate about the outdoors. Can you speak about the importance of a garden vs. native plants and habitat?

A botanical garden is a curated garden, where the best of what’s available is pulled out for display as a community resource. The celebration of the Piedmont region is our key goal. We want a design that speaks to plant communities as opposed to individual species of plants, where everything is working together as a habitat for pollinators and to improve air quality.

Climate change is obviously a pressing issue. What’s your perspective on how it influences the botanical garden?

I’ve spent the past 30 years not just as a landscape architect, but also in my own garden, and it has affected my own thinking every single day. I have weeds in my garden I’ve never seen before. All the rules are being broken, growing zones and temperatures are changing. Our team is always thinking about that and what it means.

Which central Virginia flora are you most interested in highlighting in the space, and why?

In my own garden and most of the gardens I’ve dealt with in the past, there’s enormous deer pressure. Since the garden will be protected by deer fencing, plants will be given the opportunity to grow and thrive. Old species will be coming back, and we’ll have a chance to see our understory friends again.

McIntire Botanical Garden has been a dream of many in the community for a long time. Can you speak to that?

We’re so fortunate that years ago people like Albemarle County resident Helen Flamini advocated for a botanical garden in Charlottesville, and that the city’s Parks and Recreation department had the foresight to think of McIntire Botanical Garden. Without them, there would be no garden. We have a talented and committed board of directors and hard-working volunteer corps who are helping to make this signature community asset a reality.

At a glance:

Born: Connecticut

Years in Charlottesville: 30

Education: 1992 Master of Landscape Architecture, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia; 1981 Bachelor of Science, Goddard College, Plainfield, Vermont

Profession: Started her landscape architecture firm in 2001; now MBG executive director

Spouse: William (Bill) Marks, owner of Marks Fine Woodworking

Children: Elizabeth, 24

Pets: Two dogs, Crockett and Inca, plus “whatever Service Dog of Virginia puppy is being fostered
at our home at any given time.”

Pet-peeves: “My husband and I are cyclists, and it always gets me when we take a long bike ride on a beautiful day and don’t see anyone else outside.”

Tour de force

For the past couple of years, Jalane Schmidt, UVA professor and activist, and Andrea Douglas, Jefferson School African American Heritage Center director, have been conducting tours of our downtown monuments, providing new context for the Confederate statues that have long dominated Court Square and Market Street parks.

Now, those who haven’t seen the tour in person can experience it online, thanks to WTJU. The local radio station recorded the tour and will be airing short excerpts over the next two weeks, along with putting a web version on its site.

The tour offers history from a perspective that challenges the Lost Cause narrative most Southerners were taught.

“Virginia has the largest number of Confederate monuments in the country,” says Douglas. “Seventy-five exist in front of courthouses.”

Noting that founding fathers Thomas Jefferson and James Madison frequented Court Square, Schmidt says “It does beg the question why the people who tried to overthrow the U.S. Constitution are here on this ground.” Schmidt notes that the Johnny Reb statue in front of the Albemarle Circuit Court was installed after Reconstruction in 1909, when the Confederates who had been barred from office slipped back into government “to re-establish white supremacy—and they use those words,” she says. “They were not embarrassed by it.”

Jalane Schmidt and Andrea Douglas lead a tour that challenges the Lost Cause narrative of Confederate monuments. Photos Eze Amos

Quote of the week

“Like everyone else—sick to the stomach, very angry about our elected officials doing nothing to change anything. We are so long past ‘thoughts and prayers’ and we are so overdue gun reform.” Priya Mahadevan, leader of Moms Demand Action in Charlottesville, responding to the latest mass shootings.

In brief

Riggleman rebuked

On July 27, the 5th District Congressional Committee tried, and failed, to muster a censure of U.S. Representative Denver Riggleman for marrying two men who had volunteered for his campaign. The determined anti-gay marriage chair of the Cumberland County Republican Committee, Diana Shores, then tried another tack: On July 29, she pushed through a unanimous vote of no confidence for Riggleman for failing to represent her values, the Washington Post reports.

Filmmaker dies

Paladin Media Group founder Kent Williamson, 52, was on the way to the movies when an alleged drunk driver crashed into the car in which he was a passenger August 2 in Berrien County, Michigan, the Progress reports. The father of six was with three extended family members, who also died in the crash.

Fiancée killer

Cardian Omar Eubanks was sentenced August 5 to life plus eight years for the murder of his estranged fiancée, Amanda Bates, 34, whom he shot while she was seated in her car in her driveway March 24, 2018. At the time, her two sons were inside the house on Richmond Road. Bates’ family has spoken out about the tragedy to raise awareness of domestic violence.

Crozet commuter

JAUNT launched its Crozet Connect August 5, with two routes from east and west Crozet, each with three morning departures to UVA and downtown Charlottesville. The rides are free for UVA faculty, staff, and students, and free for other riders until October 1, after which the commute will cost $2 each way.

Mother indicted

Nydia Lee, 26, was arrested August 5 for second-degree murder in the January 10 death of her 20-month-old child, according to Charlottesville police. A multi-jurisdictional grand jury returned the indictment and Lee is being held without bond.

Garden director

The McIntire Botanical Garden, in the works since 2013, announced the hiring of its first executive director. Landscape architect Jill Trischman-Marks, who has served on the botanical garden’s board of directors and multiple committees, was selected through a competitive process, according to a release, and starts September 1.

Topping the agenda

It was a packed house Monday night at City Hall, where Char- lottesville City Council returned from its summer hiatus to vote
on several issues that had been at the forefront of discussion over the past few months.

The rezoning proposal for the Hinton Avenue United Methodist Church was passed unanimously, paving the way for the church to construct 15 apartments with at least four affordable housing units for the intellectually disabled. The type of rezoning received pushback from Belmont neighbors worried about increased traffic on the road and fewer parking spots.

Charlottesville City Schools Superintendent Rosa Atkins laid out a new model for Quest, the city’s gifted program that’s seeing
changes in how students are selected and will no longer be separating kids from the rest of their classmates. The plan, which was approved in a 5-0 vote, includes $468,000 in funding for city elementary schools to hire eight new instructors to help implement the revamped program for the 2019-20 school year.

After a year of research, the Police Civilian Review Board outlined proposed bylaws for a permanent CRB (to include two full-time employees). Council will hold private discussions with staff, including Police Chief RaShall Brackney, before drafting a final proposal in October.

And Unity Days organizer Tanesha Hudson asked for an additional $35,000 to bring D.C. rapper Wale to the Made in Charlottesville Concert at Tonsler Park on August 18, but the motion, supported only by Councilor Wes Bellamy, never made it to a vote.