Fellows Portal - Welcome to New Board Member, Joseph Marek

Members of the Society of Fellows are no strangers to the Garden Conservancy’s newest Board member: landscape architect and garden designer Joseph Marek. Joseph was voted in as a Director at our most recent meeting on March 12.

Joseph first became involved with the Garden Conservancy in 2003 while sharing his own garden in Santa Monica, CA, through our Open Days program. He joined the Society of Fellows the same year. He and his partner, John Bernatz, welcomed visitors back again in 2004 and 2007, at which point he became the area’s regional representative, organizing successful Open Days that feature gardens where participants can learn and be inspired by both professional landscape architects as well as home gardeners. This year, he has again planned our Los Angeles Open Day, which is scheduled for Sunday, May 3.

We profiled Joseph in our February 2014 Fellows e-newsletter, where you can read more about the origins of his lifelong passion for plants and garden design, and the philosophy behind his firm, Joseph Marek Landscape Architecture, which specializes in residential projects at a variety of scales throughout southern California. He has also designed projects ranging from large-scale commercial headquarters and university master plans to retail and restaurant gardens.

Joseph serves on our West Coast Council and is a leader in organizing our educational programs in Southern California. He was also instrumental in organizing our spring 2014 Fellows tour to Palm Springs, serving as chairman of the tour’s advisory committee. Participants visited more than 18 gardens that exemplify the Coachella Valley’s remarkable horticultural and indoor-outdoor design heritage.

Joseph studied architecture as an undergraduate at Yale University and earned a Master of Landscape Architecture degree from the University of Virginia.