2025 Fellows: Tara Mahon Vincenta, FASLA, Connecticut Chapter

Artemis Landscape Architects, Sandy Hook, CT
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Tara Vincenta's work is nationally recognized for its thoughtful, beautifully detailed design and execution that harmonizes environmental sustainability and healing while fostering personal connections for all who encounter her designed spaces. For over 40 years her conviction in the healing power of landscapes has been applied across high-profile community and residential projects, with distinction for her industry-leading contributions to resilient coastal residential design. A true plantswoman, she is sought after for her knowledge and ability to weave resilient and native plants that heal, protect, and enhance shoreline ecosystems. Tara gives generously of her time to share her approach to landscape, including developing guidelines and a prototype environment connecting children on the autism spectrum with nature. Her award-winning project, The Clearing: Sandy Hook Permanent Memorial, is a nature-centric memorial honoring the 26 victims at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The five-acre site focuses on nature and serenity with a young sycamore as its centerpiece, situated in a low granite basin with water, its beveled edge engraved with the names of the deceased. In Fairfield, Connecticut, Hurricane Sandy devastated a residential property, wiping away all vegetation, with the house remaining intact. Tara's design focused on resiliency, protecting the property from future storms, and visually and physically reconnecting the newly elevated home with various ground-level spaces, while creating new dunes to bear the impact of subsequent storms. A Jamestown, Rhode Island, coastal residence was transformed into a resilient landscape focusing on expansive ocean views while respecting and fortifying the surrounding natural environment. After successfully mitigating the many invasive species, the site was replanted with native plants, improving the health of the wetland environment, providing food and shelter for wildlife, and engagement with nature.