Preservation Alumni

February 2022

This month was already filled with historic events, but check out the following news, upcoming events, and opportunities in the preservation field! 
Call for Nominations: 
Preservation Alumni Leadership Award
Applications are still open for the 2022 Preservation Alumni Leadership Award!

Since 2015, this award has been presented annually to an outstanding graduate of Columbia University’s Historic Preservation Program who has contributed significantly to the preservation field, while devoting their time and talents to support the mission of Preservation Alumni. This award recognizes our community’s leaders who are an essential part of keeping preservation relevant and innovative, as well as ensuring that the alumni network remains strong and accessible to current students.

Please send your nominations for the 2022 Preservation Alumni Leadership Award to info@preservationalumni.org by Friday, March 11, 2022. Any questions about the award or nomination process can also be sent to this address.

Information should include:

  • Nominee’s name
  • Nominee’s graduation year from Columbia’s Historic Preservation program
  • A short paragraph describing why this person should receive the 2022 Preservation Alumni Leadership Award

All nominations will be reviewed by the Preservation Alumni Board and the winner will be announced later this spring.

In Memoriam: 
Lori Zabar

It is with great sadness that Preservation Alumni announces the passing of Lori Zabar, a 1977 graduate of Columbia’s Historic Preservation Program, after a battle with cancer.

Lori’s contributions to the preservation field in her native New York City were vast. She served as the first director of the NYC Historic Properties Fund at the New York Landmarks Conservancy, opened the Kurland-Zabar Gallery to celebrate English and American decorative arts, served as a research associate in the American Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and was a preeminent scholar on developer W.E.D. Stokes, on whom she wrote her master’s thesis. She also served on the boards of Landmarks West and the Preservation League of New York State, leading to the creation of the Zabar Family Scholarship Program which supports education and research expenses of three preservation students in New York State each year.

Contributions may be made in Lori’s honor to the Preservation League of New York State. Lori’s full obituary can be read here and a tribute to Lori from ilovetheupperwestside.com can be read here.

Announcement:
Read the Summary Report of the HP Program’s Anti-Racism Task Force 
Preservation Alumni is pleased to announce that the Summary Report of the work of the HP Program’s Anti-Racism Task Force is now available online. The Task Force was formed, and the report was written, to help the Program to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion by providing specific recommendations to guide the Program’s efforts in addressing systemic racism in our profession. (You can read the full Statement of Purpose here.) You can access the full report using this here!
Fitch Colloquium: 
Preservation in China’s Future
Join the Historic Preservation Program, in collaboration with the Museum of Modern Art in New York, for the annual Fitch Colloquium on March 3 and 4!
Preservation in China’s Future will critically examine how Chinese architects are engaging with preservation to imagine new forms of creativity and cultural relevance. This event will take place virtually over two consecutive days, please register in advance for the Zoom webinars using the links below:

Please note that separate registration is necessary for each date.

Calls for Submissions:
Grant & Other Opportunities
National Fund for Sacred Places
A program of Partners for Sacred Places in collaboration with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the National Fund for Sacred Places provides financial and technical support for community-serving historic houses of worship across America.  The program will be accepting Letters of Intent until March 7. Congregations meeting the eligibility criteria can apply for grants ranging from $50,000 to $250,000 to support significant capital projects at historic houses of worship. Apply and read more here!
Save America’s Treasures
The National Park Service is pleased to announce that the Save America’s Treasures (SAT) grant program is now accepting applications. The Save America’s Treasures grant program was established in 1998 and first awarded grants in 1999 to help preserve nationally significant historic properties and collections that convey our nation’s rich heritage to future generations. Since 1999, there have been more than 4,000 requests for funding totaling more than $1.54 billion. More than $315,700,000 has been awarded to 1,300+ projects. Applications due March 10, 2022!
Promoting Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion:
Recommendations from PA’s Anti-Racism/Equity Initiative
 
The Anti-Racism/Equity Initiative is committed to engaging with DEI issues through discussions, events, and the sharing of information. As a part of this effort and in response to members’ requests that we provide relevant educational resources, check this section each month for recommendations on how to actively engage with current DEI conversations in preservation.
African/American: Making the Nation’s Table
Photo by Timothy Smith for the NYT

The Africa Center is hosting a new exhibition from the Museum of Food and Drink until June 19, 2022! African/American: Making the Nation’s Table celebrates “African American contributions to our nation’s culinary culture are foundational and ongoing. For over 400 years, African Americans have inspired our country’s food through their skill, creativity, and entrepreneurship. Black foodways have shaped much of what we farm, what we cook, what we drink, and where we eat.”

Highlights of the exhibit include the Ebony Test KitchenThe Legacy Quilt, and Mapping the Nation’s Table. Visit today!

Historic Houses of Worship as Advocates for LGBTQ Rights & Inclusion
This article from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, written by MSHP alumna Emily Kahn and prominently featuring quotes from MSHP alum Ken Lustbader, showcases how five participating congregations in the National Fund for Sacred Places have been at the forefront of championing LGBTQ inclusion and rights over the past fifty years. These historic houses of worship are: Arch Street UMC (Philadelphia), Arlington Street Church (Boston), Calvary UMC (Philadelphia), Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church (Brooklyn), and Trinity + St. Peter’s Episcopal Church (San Francisco). Many of these congregations have also championed intersectional human rights causes.
PA Entertainment:
What else we’re reading, listening to, touring, & attending… 

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