Virginia Small is an award-winning journalist and lifelong writer in multiple genres. She has served as a senior editor for a national landscape magazine, a staff reporter and cultural critic for several newspapers, and a contributor to many national and regional publications, including the Tampa Bay Times, Strong Towns, AlterNet and USA Today. She served as director of public relations for Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida, for 13 years.
Virginia began studying the history of landscape design 20-some years ago and has written extensively about it, including Great Gardens of the Berkshires, published by Down East Books. Since returning to Milwaukee, she has written for many publications. She focuses her research and journalism on public-interest topics, including environmental and parks issues, urbanism, social justice, and Wisconsin’s exceptional ecological and conservation history. She has spoken about landscape history at national and regional meetings and has conducted workshops on writing and creativity. In 2020 she earned a Silver Award from the Milwaukee Press Club and was featured in the "This is Milwaukee" Project. The American Society of Landscape Architects' Wisconsin Chapter awarded her with its Visibility Award in 2019.
