Program and Registration for 2011 Meeting in Boise Available

The Program and Registration forms for the 2011 Meeting of the Marion Dean Ross Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians are now available.  The event is slated to happen in Boise, Idaho from October 7 -9.

Program : 2011 Boise Meeting Program
Registration: 2011 Registration Form

UO honors Elisabeth Walton Potter with 2011 McMath Award

Elisabeth Walton Potter of Salem is the recipient of the University of Oregon’s 2011 George McMath Award. Potter’s longtime role as a public historian specializing in architectural history and historic preservation has earned her high praise and recognition. The awards ceremony will take place Friday, May 6 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the UO in Portland White Stag Block at 70 NW Couch Street. The University of Oregon’s Historic Preservation Program and the Venerable Group, Inc. present the McMath Awards annually to recognize an outstanding individual whose contributions in Oregon have raised awareness and advocacy for historic preservation. Graduate student in historic preservation, Carl Williams, will speak about his research at the luncheon. His topic is “Historic Structure Report: Lew Williams/Joe Romania Showroom, Eugene, Oregon.”

In 1998, Potter officially retired as coordinator of National Register for the State Historic Preservation Office in the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. The beginning of her career in the State Parks organization coincided with passage of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. After thirty years, including two years of fieldwork in Washington State, she had written, edited, or processed for review approximately 1,500 nominating documents for properties listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Her interest in historic cemeteries led to preparation of National Register Bulletin 41, “Guidelines for Evaluating and Registering Cemeteries and Burial Places,” in cooperation with National Park Service coauthor Beth Boland.

“Elizabeth Walton Potter has been an inspiration to me over the past eight years of my tenure at the University of Oregon,” says Kingston Heath, director of UO’s Historic Preservation Program. “Her depth of knowledge regarding preservation policy, university campus architecture, and Oregon history has shown through in our various meetings.”

Potter graduated from the University of Oregon with a bachelor’s degree in art history having studied architectural history under Marion Dean Ross. She received her master’s in art and architectural history from Pennsylvania State University, followed by another master’s degree from the University of Delaware in Early American Culture. Potter is a veteran member of the Marion Dean Ross/Pacific Northwest Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians, which she now serves as archivist and adviser.

“I have known Elisabeth as a tireless preservation advocate and supporter of student interests. I consider her a valued colleague of the highest rank,” says Heath.

Tickets to the award luncheon are $50 with the proceeds supporting financial aid for historic preservation students. The reservation deadline is April 26. For more information, please contact Twyla Tritt at 541-346-3697. Parking will be available at the Smart Park at NW Naito Parkway and NW Davis Street. Tickets may be ordered online at hp.uoregon.edu/mcmath.

The McMath Award honors the late George McMath, the “Father of Preservation” in Portland. An architect and preservationist, his life-long commitment to restoring and preserving Portland’s architectural history cemented his reputation as one of the most significant figures in safeguarding Oregon’s rich architectural heritage.

The recipient of the McMath Award is selected by a jury panel based on nominations from other professionals and Oregon citizens. Professor Heath, the 2009 McMath winner, James Hamrick, and Portland architect, Paul Falsetto, comprised this year’s jury that selected Potter.

source: UO press release

Oregon’s Most Endangered Luncheon

Curious to find out which buildings made the Most Endangered list?  Find out first-hand at the Historic Preservation League of Oregon’s Benefit Luncheon on Monday, May 23 at noon.  Bonus: The luncheon will be held at Portland’s historic University Club at 1225 SW 6th Avenue AND the keynote speaker will be Steve Berry, author of several historical thrillers including his latest, The Jefferson Key.  Tickets for the event are $40 ($35 for HPLO members).  For more information or tickets, check out the HPLO website at HistoricPreservationLeague.org or call 503-243-1923.

Taming the West in Boise

 

CALL FOR PAPERS
ANNUAL CONFERENCE
SOCIETY OF ARCHITECTURAL HISTORIANS
MARION DEAN ROSS/PACIFIC NORTHWEST CHAPTER
BOISE, IDAHO – OCTOBER 7-9, 2011

Abstracts or proposals for papers or work-in-progress reports are solicited for the 2011 annual meeting of the Marion Dean Ross/Pacific Northwest Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians. This year’s meeting will be held in Downtown Boise, Idaho. Known as the “City of Trees,” Boise is the state’s largest city within one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in the Northwest. 
 
This year’s theme is “Taming the West: Changing Landscapes and Resource Extraction. Submissions for the conference may address reclamation sites (dams, canals, etc), mining sites, forest/timber, recreation sites (primarily US Forest Service), or military facilities.  These topics will be given first priority. 
 
Other proposals addressing any aspect of the built environment from any time period or place are also welcome.  All abstracts adhering to the submission guidelines listed below will be given a fair assessment. Graduate students and advanced undergraduates in fields related to the built environment are particularly welcome to present at the conference. Membership in the Marion Dean Ross/Pacific Northwest Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians is not required for abstract submission, although everyone chosen for presentation will be asked to contribute chapter dues for the current year.
 
Submission Guidelines: The abstract should be no more than 500 words, and should fit onto a single-sided page. On a separate single page, include the author’s name, address, telephone number, and e-mail address with a brief, 100-200 word paragraph biography or one-page curriculum vitae. Abstracts are due on or before May 14, 2011, and authors of papers chosen for presentation will be notified by June 13, 2011. Registration fees apply. Please indicate in your abstract whether you intend to deliver a twenty-minute paper or a ten-minute work-in-progress report. Ideally, the papers or work-in-progress reports delivered at the conference should be analytical or critical in nature, rather than descriptive and aim to make an original contribution. Completed manuscripts of accepted papers must be submitted in full to conference organizers by August 13, 2011.
 
Authors shall retain copyright, but shall agree that the paper will be deposited for scholarly use in the chapter archive in the Department of Special Collections and University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries.  Electronic submission of proposals is preferred.  Please email submissions as Microsoft Word attachments with the subject heading SAH conference 2011 on or before May 14, 2011, to Phillip Mead at pmead@uidaho.edu
 
If you are unable to send your submission electronically, please send it via regular mail to:
 
Phillip G. Mead AIA
College of Art and Architecture
University of Idaho
PO Box 442451
Moscow, Idaho 83844 

UO Historic Preservation Field School 2011

This year’s University of Oregon historic preservation field school is slated to take place from August 14 until September 9 in the Olympic National Park.  The first session runs for two weeks from August 14-26 and focuses on the Peter A. Roose Homestead.  This is a back-country, hands-on experience working on an early 1900s subsistence farm site on the western edge of the Olympic Peninsula.  The remaining two one-week sessions, from August 28-September 2 and from September 2-9, will focus on the Sol Duc Falls Shelter, built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1939.

For more information contact: pnwfs@uoregon.edu
Website: http://hp.uoregon.edu/fieldschools/pnw/

Lecture on Thursday, March 3

Henry Matthews, author of Mosques of Istanbul will present a lecture on “Space, Light, Structure and Human Scale in the Architecture of Mimar Sinan” on Thursday, March 3 at 7pm.  The program, sponsored by the Jackson School of International Studies and the UW Department of Architecture will take place at Gould Hall and is free and open to all.

Oregon’s Most Endangered

Nominations Sought for Oregon’s Most Endangered Places

Every year historic properties across Oregon are rehabilitated and reused, enriching neighborhoods, revitalizing Main Streets, conserving resources, creating jobs, and attracting visitors. Unfortunately there are also scores of historic properties in imminent danger of being lost to hard times, development pressures, demolition or neglect.  These unique places embody tremendous resources and tell the story of Oregon communities – our heritage, values, industry and culture.

The Historic Preservation League of Oregon is inaugurating an annual list of Oregon’s Most Endangered Places to preserve and pass forward at-risk historic buildings, structures, districts, sites, and landscapes by focusing public attention and resources on them.  Properties selected for the Most Endangered Places List will receive assistance to address immediate threats and develop a strategy for long term viability.

Anyone may nominate an endangered property – residential, commercial, urban, rural, public or private – that meets the general criteria for eligibility in the National Register of Historic Places (over 50 years old, historic, cultural, or architectural significance and integrity). 

Nomination forms can be downloaded from the HPLO website and must be submitted by March 21, 2011.  The inaugural list will be announced in late May.  For more information, call the HPLO at 503 243-1923 or visit our website: www.HistoricPreservationLeague.org.

Some Words on a Conference Venue

THE KELOWNA ROTARY CENTRE FOR THE ARTS

 By Grant Hildebrand, Seattle

 

Photo courtesy of the Rotary Centre for the Arts

 
The Kelowna Rotary Centre for the Arts, whose South Atrium was the site of our Friday afternoon reception and address, struck many of us as a remarkable architectural design.  Intended as a multi-functional forecourt to a much earlier light-industrial building, the addition is a distinguished composition of articulated concrete piers supporting an eloquent structure of wooden elements, fronted by a range of sunscreens to ameliorate the low and intense summer sun.  In an elegant acceptance of disabled-access codes, major entries to the building are accessed only by shallow ramps; no awkward stair-and-ramp shotgun weddings here. 

 The new structure had its beginnings in the Kelowna Visual and Performing Arts Centre Society’s wish to remodel the old and little-used Growers’ Supply Building to suit their needs.  Hotson Bakker Architects of Vancouver, who had done award-winning work at Vancouver’s False Creek, were retained in 1998; the new building opened in November of 2002.  It is named in honor (honour) of the Central Okanagan Rotary Clubs.  Brochures describing the Centre rightly claim that it “remains a part of Kelowna’s past while embracing its status as a modern, multi-purpose arts and performance centre.”  And an extraordinaily handsome one too.

2010 Annual Meeting Wrap-Up

The 2010 annual chapter conference was held October 15-17 in Kelowna, a lakeshore city of 120,000 that is the agricultural and recreational hub of British Columbia’s scenic Central Okanagan Valley.  In brilliant open weather, a congenial group of just over thirty registrants gathered from all parts of the region to hear papers, participate in a panel discussion, and enjoy walking and bus tours organized around the theme, “ Small Cities:  Balancing Pasts and Futures in the Pacific Northwest.”  Past chapter president Martin Segger, University of Victoria, co-chaired the conference committee with regional delegate Hal Kalman of Vancouver.  Hussein Keshani, University of British Columbia, Okanagan Department of Art History and Visual Culture, directed local arrangements with the support of Lorri Dauncey, Grants Manager for the Central Okanagan Heritage Society, and Larry Foster, President, Heritage B.C. and former Long Range Planning Manager for the City of Kelowna.

Click here to read the full text of the conference summary by Elisabeth Potter.

Check out photos from the Annual Meeting by clicking here or on the relevant tab at the top of this page.

There’s still time to check out the fun at the Old Idaho Pen

Old Idaho Penitentiary in Boise is site of the 2010 UO preservation field school

One of longest operating territorial prisons in the American West will receive restoration attention from university students and faculty members this summer

 EUGENE, Ore. — (July 15, 2010) – Preserving significant Pacific Northwest buildings and using them as learning laboratories has been the focus of the past 15 years of work by the University of Oregon’s Pacific Northwest Field School.  This year is no different.  The 16^th annual Pacific Northwest Field School will be held at the Old Idaho Penitentiary in Boise, Idaho, one of the several remaining territorial prisons in the American West. The field school is still accepting applications from interested students, architects, skilled trades workers, and those interested in preservation.

 The five, week–long repeatable sessions start August 8. The primary focus will be on masonry preservation, but the site also offers a wide variety of teaching opportunities in wood, metal, and window restoration and structural stabilization. The buildings are constructed with “beautiful sandstone, “ says Shannon Bell, field school co-director.  “We will have a stonemason working with us each week. The quality of the craftsmanship of this site is similar to Joliet Prison in Chicago. There is not as much masonry construction in the northwest, and it’s nice to work on something so different.”

 Each weekly session will emphasize a preservation topic or skill.  For instance, cultural landscapes will be the emphasis of week one, August 8–13, and will provide instruction on archaeology practices, historic cemeteries, and interpretation.  Other week–long sessions will examine sustainability practices, preservation technology, field recording and documentation.

 Originally constructed in 1870, the Old Pen was in continuous use as prison for 103 years until its closure in 1973. The site is listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1974 for its outstanding Romanesque stone architecture and a century of penal practices reflected in its design and construction. Local sandstone was quarried nearby and used to construct the original building that still exists today.  Many buildings on the site were quarried and constructed by inmate labor. The Old Pen is a popular visitor site and museum serving over 30,000 adults and school-age groups each year.  “Having the field school here is invaluable to us.  We know that Old Pen is popular and we don’t want to love it death—we need to take care of it for the future,” says Amber Beierle, interpretive specialist at the Idaho State Historical Society.

 Graduate students in the historic preservation and architecture programs at the University of Oregon will also work on hands-on projects during the field school.  The field school usually has forty participants with an average of 6–8 people per week. Cost is $900 per week, all food and lodging for the week is included.  Academic credit is available. Application form and instructions are on line at http://hp.uoregon.edu/index.cfm?mode=fieldschools&page=pnw

The Pacific Northwest Field School is funded by Oregon, Washington and Idaho state parks and historic preservation offices and the National Park Service.  The locations for field schools rotate annually to a new site selected with one of the participating states.  Special funding for the Idaho field school has come from the Save America’s Treasures grant and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

About the University of Oregon
The University of Oregon is a world-class teaching and research institution and Oregon’s flagship public university. The UO is a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU), an organization made up of the 63 leading public and private research institutions in the United States and Canada. The University of Oregon is one of only two AAU members in the Pacific Northwest.

Questions?  Contact:
Shannon Bell, co–director, 541-954-6123, shannonb@uoregon.edu
Amber Beierle, interpretive specialist, Old Pen, 208-334-2844 x102, amber.beierle@ishs.idaho.gov

Links:
http://history.idaho.gov
http://history.idaho.gov/oldpen.html
http://hp.uoregon.edu/index.cfm?mode=fieldschools&page=pnw