Boston, MA – August 23, 2006 – As part of Wentworth Institute of Technology’s Distinguished Lecture Series, renowned artist, architect and environmentalist, Patricia Johanson, will be presenting a public lecture on Friday September 15. Ms. Johanson will be speaking about "Art and Survival", which is the title of a recently published book on her work.

This lecture, is part of a three-day visit that Ms. Johanson will be spending at Wentworth. On Wednesday evening she will talk to sophomore architecture students on the topic: "Creative Solutions to Environmental Problems".

Patricia Johanson
Recipient of the 2003 award for Outstanding Woman of the Year by the Arts and Healing Network, Ms. Johanson is best known for her visionary work in reclaiming the earth, piece by piece. Holding degrees in Fine Art, Art History and Architectural Engineering, she blends art, science and technology to redesign vast public areas that have been abused and neglected. Fair Park Lagoon in Dallas; Endangered Garden, Sunnydale Facilities in San Francisco; Ulsan Park in Korea and The Rocky Marciano Trail in Brockton, Massachusetts are just a few of her many "ecoventions" that have been given back their historical sense of place and renewed as vibrant sites where nature and humanity reconnect.

At the core of her work is the passionate belief that art can heal the world. Her message to those who would follow her lead is in the transformative power of art. "It is your ability as a creative person to envision positive change and make a difference in the world." It is a message both simple and profound. Everyone one of Ms. Johanson’s projects transforms this joyful optimism into reality, as the world is given new access to natural habitats once destroyed, and now reclaimed.