John Van Bergen was a Prairie Style Architect who designed more than 30 buildings in Highland Park. The City’s Historic Preservation Commission and the Historical Society have teamed up for a series of events highlighting the career of this brilliant Prairie Style architect. They’ve planned house tours, exhibits, lectures, and more. To join the celebration, purchase tickets through the HP Historical Society.

Of all the Prairie architects, John S. Van Bergen (1885-1969) is probably the most closely associated with Highland Park. He worked for Frank Lloyd Wright for a year and started his own practice in Oak Park in 1911. He moved to Highland Park at the end of the First World War and lived here with his family for 25 years. The more than 30 buildings in Highland Park he designed include Braeside School as well as single-family homes throughout the city. Jens Jensen, the noted landscape architect, was Van Bergen’s neighbor, friend, and mentor, and they collaborated on several projects including an addition at Ravinia School.

Kim will be honored for her activism over the past two decades to improve community and environmental health by Safer Pest Control Project at their annual Ladybug Bash on October 18. For more information and to purchase tickets, go to www.spcpweb.org.

Highland Park will host Greentown: The Future of Community, an experience designed to promote sustainability, on October 18 and 19 at The Art Center. I will be moderating a panel on Clean Energy at 3:30 on October 19. The event will bring together business owners, municipal staff and community members to learn, create a dialogue and develop actionable ways to promote healthy living, walking and biking, downtown development, arts and culture, waste reduction and more. For more information or to register, go to www.greentownconference.com.

On October 17 there will be a screening of the film Waste Land at Renaissance Place Theatre in Highland Park at 7 pm as part of Greentown. I saw Waste Land three years ago at the Mountain Film Festival, and highly recommend it. Filmed over nearly three years, “Waste Land” follows renowned artist Vik Muniz as he journeys from his home base in Brooklyn to his native Brazil and the world’s largest garbage dump, Jardim Gramacho, located on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. The film is the story of the transformative power of art and the alchemy of the human spirit, as it follows an eclectic band of “catadores”—self-designated pickers of recyclable materials. Directed by Lucy Walker (Devil’s Playground, Blindsight and Countdown to Zero), Wasteland won a Sundance Festival Best World Cinema Documentary award. Consider purchasing tickets in advance, as this film is likely to sell out. Tickets can be purchsed at: https://tickets.landmarktheatres.com/Ticketing.aspx?TheatreID=257&MovieID=14163&ShowDate=10/17/2012&ScheduleID=56665.