AIC's 42nd Annual Meeting in San Francisco, California

Senior Lecturer Fran Gale and recent SOA graduate students Sarah Hunter and Emily Ardoin participated in the 42nd Annual Meeting of the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works in San Francisco, California, on May 28-31, 2014. http://www.conservation-us.org/annual-meeting
The theme of the meeting was Conscientious Conservation: Sustainable Choices in Collections Care. There were sessions on energy and sustainability, the importance of engaging communities in collections care, and sustainable preservation environments.  Meeting attendees included conservators of books and paper, paintings, objects and architecture as well as museum curators and managers of historic sites.  Conservation professionals represented the US and Canada as well as Latin America and the Caribbean.
 
Sarah Hunter and Emily Ardoin were awarded scholarships to present their thesis research in an Architectural Specialty Group student session.  Sarah’s presentation was on the materials and techniques used to construct 19th century concrete buildings in Seguin, Texas.  Emily Ardoin shared her research on Dance Halls of South Louisiana and discussed preservation concerns.  In another Architectural Specialty Group session, Fran Gale’s presentation on the Matagorda Island Lighthouse discussed the importance of balancing the needs of natural and cultural resources. 
 
In addition to attending meeting sessions, Gale, Hunter and Ardoin visited the Weston Havens House in Berkeley, California. This circa 1940 residence was designed by architect Harwell Hamilton Harris who served as SOA Dean from 1952-55. The Havens House is now under the stewardship of the UC Berkeley College of Environmental Design and is used as a residence for distinguished visiting CED professors and as a site for studio investigations and projects.  http://ced.berkeley.edu/resources/havens-house/ 
 
The Havens House tour was provided by Architectural Resources Group, Inc. Senior Associate Kitty Vieth.  http://www.argsf.com/home  A nationally recognized architectural office providing design, planning and conservation services, ARG recently completed a Historic Structure Report and restoration plan to address high priority repairs and future seismic stabilization for theHavens House. For this project, ARG hired Emily Ardoin to conduct historical research using the Alexander Architectural Archive, where an inventory of Harris’ papers, photographs and drawings resides. http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/utaaa/00001/aaa-00001.html