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When the final remnant tree in back of a downtown Lawrence architecture firm died, staff saw an opportunity to pay homage to their late colleague.
Jackson Clark was an architect at Gould Evans for nearly 30 years and had been retired for around 10 when he died at 76 in April 2024. Gould Evans recently rebranded to Multistudio, 706 Massachusetts St.
Robert Whitman, a landscape architect at Multistudio, designed a garden memorializing his former colleague of decades.
Blue grama grass, Montrose White calamint and Baptisia ‘American Goldfinch’ are among the varieties now living on the small patch of land.
Contributed photo Lawrence landscaping company Gardens and Grass planted trees, shrubs and a variety of other plants.
Whitman and Clark had shared an affinity for landscaping, sometimes taking their discussions of perennials past work hours.
Jackson Clark
“I’d say everyone that works in the office knew how much Jackson loved landscaping,” Whitman said. “He was an architect, but he was really fond of gardens and trees in particular. He, as I understand it, would assist folks with measuring champion trees. And so when he would go on these tours or these excursions to look at trees; I’d get to hear about it.”
Clark’s wife of 35 years, Brigid Murphy, said she was amazed at how many people told her after Clark passed that he was the closest friend they’d had. A plaque above the garden honors him as a “colleague, mentor and friend.”
“I was just really touched,” Murphy said.
“I guess I sometimes thought maybe he was a bit curmudgeonly, and I think even some people at Gould Evans were a little intimidated by him. It’s just gratifying to be shown how much he was appreciated. And, of course, they appreciated him through the years when he had work anniversaries, but it was just a lovely thing. It’s a real tribute to him.”
John Wilkins, Multistudio principal, and Clark met as freshmen at the University of Kansas in 1980. While Wilkins was a teenager entering his first year there, Clark was at a later point in his life. In 1985, they began their careers together when they were both hired at Gould Evans.
“He was a great resource to many people who were starting their careers, just because on the one hand, he was one of us, but on the other hand, he was a lot more mature than the rest of us,” Wilkins said. “So he became a great mentor to many people.”
A “real renaissance man,” as Murphy described him, Clark had vast interests. He was instrumental in building science — analyzing energy efficiency, indoor air quality and other systemic factors in the firm’s work.
Contributed photo Brigid Murphy (center) attends a private reception on Oct. 8, 2025 for a garden at Multistudio, 706 Massachusetts St., dedicated to her late husband, Jackson Clark.
“Jackson had a lot of integrity, and he felt really strongly that buildings should be not just showy but have a lot of integrity in the way they’re built,” Murphy said.
Close friends celebrated the completion of the garden at a private reception earlier this month.
Staff members now enter and exit the office each day with a fresh view, and passersby are welcome to watch as seasonal plants bloom across the fall, spring and summer.
Contributed photo Robert Whitman
Contributed photo Benefitting native pollinators, most plants in the garden are native to the area.
Contributed photo A bronze plaque, made by Schurle Signs, is posted on the building near the garden.
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Maya Hodison (she/her), equity reporter, can be reached at mhodison@lawrencekstimes.com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
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