JESSICA JAMES, RLA
Senior Landscape Architect

Jessica is a product of her upbringing in an east bay art collective ran by her parents, a metal sculptor and a painter.  Her passion for art began there as she roamed from studio to studio and observed artists in their element. This exposure to working artists has taught her to strive to explore the diversity of designs that arise from clients and sites.

Jessica was studying art and architecture when an ecology class ignited her interest in the natural environment, giving her creativity a greater purpose.  Her professor must have noticed it in her designs because she recommended landscape architecture which turned out to be a perfect fit. After receiving her Bachelor of Landscape Architecture degree from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, she returned to the Bay Area and worked as a landscape designer before joining Arterra in 2017.

Jessica loves sketching design iterations in search of the perfect expression of each unique client.  Outside of the office you’ll find her in the ceramics studio, strolling at an art walk, or exploring an ecosystem that she’s never seen before.