GCA Celebrates the Centennial of the Rome Prize Fostering Talents in Landscape Architecture and Design

The Rome Prize, GCA’s First Scholarship, Laid the Groundwork for Generations of GCA Scholarships Supporting Research and Work/Study

January 21, 2026

Who is 100? The GCA Scholarship Committee is! 

In 1926, the Rome Prize Fellowship in Landscape Architecture was established—the first GCA scholarship.

Thanks to an intrepid committee and extensive grassroots fundraising efforts from generous member garden clubs and individuals, GCA assembled an endowment to create a postgraduate fellowship at the newly established American Academy in Rome (AAR).  The GCA Rome Prize has been awarded to 66 fellows, who have studied alongside other AAR scholars, artists, and writers in the fine arts and humanities. 

Through the years, GCA’s Rome Prize fostered talent that designed gardens ranging from The Metropolitan Museum of Art American Wing and Blair House in DC to the Frick Collection and Aqueduct Raceway.  Recipients have worked at Mount Vernon, New York Botanical Garden, Monticello, Van Cortlandt Manor, and more.The Rome Prize was only the beginning of GCA’s scholarship endeavors: A century later the GCA now collaborates with 16 partner organizations and offers 29 merit-based scholarships in 12 areas ranging from botany to urban forestry. In 2025, GCA awarded 119 scholarships; momentum is accelerating—2026 is expected to be the GCA’s biggest scholarship year ever.

Group Standing on Academy steps American Academy in Rome, 
Photographic Archives

McKim, Mead & White Building American Academy in Rome, 
Photographic Archives