How the Park was Made

---

Founded in 1978 by Ruth Lansford and a handful of environmental activists, Friends of Ballona Wetlands (FBW) was formed to save the last remnants of the once-massive Ballona Wetlands ecosystem in western Los Angeles County. The Friends worked tirelessly for the next decade to push for restored tidal flow, a contiguous constructed freshwater marsh to clean urban runoff, and launched a full-scale education and restoration program (including uprooting invasive plant species by hand and restoring nine acres of dunes habitat) that has brought over 100,000 volunteers to the wetlands since 1994.

Located in Playa del Rey, Friends of Ballona Wetlands' Los Angeles County-based education and restoration programs, collectively called “Explore Ballona!(®” provide hands-on educational experiences, restoration and service learning opportunities to Pre-K-12, college, community, and corporate groups, an ethnically, culturally, and economically diverse population of 7,000 residents each year at Ballona's salt marsh, dunes and freshwater marsh, and in various community settings. "Explore Ballona!®" changes community members from uninformed residents to active stewards of the county's last remaining viable coastal wetland and watershed. Working in Partnership with Loyola Marymount University and Playa Vista, Ballona Discovery Park, a 1.7-acre open-air science and cultural exhibit, offers new adventures for people and students of all ages wanting to “Experience Ballona”, starting at the trailhead of the Ballona Wetlands in the community of Playa Vista and continuing into the adjacent Riparian Corridor and nearby Freshwater Marsh. To learn more, please visit the Friends of Ballona Website. 

Loyola Marymount University is one of the nation’s top-ranked Catholic universities, recognized by U.S. News & World Report among the top 50 private and top five Jesuit institutions in the country, and among California’s top six private schools. Founded in 1911 and rooted in the Catholic, Jesuit, and Marymount traditions, LMU enrolls 7,100 undergraduates and 3,000 graduate and law students across seven colleges and schools. The university offers 56 undergraduate majors, 57 minors, 43 master’s degree programs, three doctorate programs, and 12 credential/authorization programs. With top-ranked programs in law, film and television, entrepreneurship, business, and the arts, LMU is embedded in the creative, cultural, and economic life of Los Angeles. The university generates $1.4 billion in annual economic impact. A proud member of the West Coast Conference, LMU fields 14 NCAA Division I teams and competes with purpose, pride, and integrity. To find out more about LMU, please visit their website. 

Sussman/Prejzaʼs focus is the development of distinctive and successful visual communications programs for the built environment, ranging in scope and complexity. As the recognized trailblazer in this discipline, S/Pʼs expertise can be seen in civic, cultural, corporate, sports, institutional, entertainment and retail projects around the globe. Established in 1968, S/P works with its clients to develop memorable identities and branding, based upon research and graphic archeology. Abstract stories are woven into the visual product, creating a sense of place and memories that users retain and remember.

S/Pʼs work has pushed the boundaries of environmental graphic design to meld cohesively with architecture, civic planning, and landscape design. With award-winning work that has been described as “urban poetry”, S/P is composed of a multi-generational and multi-cultural staff of graphic designers, architects, interior designers and conceptualists. They are the keystone to S/Pʼs success; creating multi-layered programs from the printed page to the built environment. S/Pʼs work continues to expand the boundaries of graphic design and its seamless integration with architecture and public space. To find out more, please visit their website.