IAWA Board of Advisors Executive Meeting: February 11, 2003

IAWA

CAUS

IAWA Board of Advisors Executive Meeting

February 11, 2003

Present: Donna Dunay, Kay Edge, Marcia Feuerstein, Jennifer Gunter, and Mitzi Vernon

Absent: Terry Clements, Paul Knox, Eileen Hitchingham, and Frank Weiner

Invited Guests: Heather Ball, Milka Bliznakov, and Gail McMillan

Call to Order:

Chair Marcia Feuerstein called the meeting to order at 4:18 P.M. Chair Feuerstein noted that the minutes had been approved electronically. Professor Vernon noted that she would bring a hard copy of the minutes to each Executive meeting in the future.

Professor McMillan announced that she was awarded a $20,000 ASPIRES grant for "Women with T-Squares", which is a proposal for identifying women architects in the south Atlantic region of Virginia.
She also announced that she could scan materials at no cost through this fiscal year.

Chair Feuerstein asked for a motion to approve the agenda. Professor Dunay so moved and Professor Vernon seconded. The motion was approved unanimously.

Chair Feuerstein shared a draft of the IAWA Charter, which is required for all University Centers. She used the university template and added materials from the IAWA By-Laws and stakeholders' information. She asked for review and comments from the Executive Board Advisors.

Chair Feuerstein introduced a guest, our new graduate assistant Niada Hoxha who is taking over for Laura de Castro.

Report from the Treasurer:

Professor Terry Clements was absent. Chair Feuerstein mentioned that our state account has an available balance of $276.82. In the Foundation account, the earnings of the restricted account total $1,210. The unrestricted balance is $7,520 plus a $484.85 donation from the Vermont Women in Design organization. We will inquire about receiving their archives . Professor Vernon suggested we use the remaining balance in the state account to cover some of the annual meeting costs.

The following patrons and friends made donations since our last Board meeting: Virginia Currie, Inge Horton, Eva Zimbler Huebscher, Robert Reuter, Robert Stephenson, Vermont Women in Design, Beverly Willis.

Archivist Report

Additional Materials from 18 different architects have come to the archive. Gae Aulenti in sending in materials for the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco. Tony Wrenn purchased a collection at an auction and donated this to the archive. Despina Stratigakos donated Lily Scala's portfolio. There will be a guide in the web site soon.

Milka donated a publication of "Texas Women: A Celebration of History". (women artists and architects). Three books were donated to the archive. One was from Mr. Shoji Hayashi of his wife, Hayashi Masako's work, Hayashi Masako Architect, 1928-2001.

The finding aid has been completed for the Beverly Willis Collection. An article was written in the Roanoke Times in January 2003 on Willis as founder of Architecture Research Institute.

Zelma Wilson Collection: A work-study architecture student has processed over half of the Wilson collection.

Lois Gottleib sent in additional material over the summer, which has now been processed.

A couple of collections have been digitized including the watercolors exhibited this fall and the Lily Scala Collection. In addition many drawings of Leonard Currie's pagoda have been digitized.

The IAWA web site was chosen as an aecportico Site of the Week (aecportico is one of UK's leading directories for architecture, engineering, and construction.

Please see the archivist's report on the IAWA web site for specific donation information: http://spec.lib.vt.edu/iawa/Archivist/ArchAnRe.html

Newsletter

Heather Ball noted that there have been no submissions to date. Professor Dunay suggested that we prompt other Advisors to write articles, such as Tony Wrenn about the collection he donated, or Despina Stratigakos about the Scala Collection. We need a "calls for articles". Professor Dunay suggested an interview with Virginia Currie.

Chair Feuerstein noted that we still do not have funding resolved for the newsletter. This may be a year that we can only offer it online, unless we can find donors specifically for this endeavor. Chair Feuerstein will speak with the Dean about charging the development officer with seeking a corporate or organization donor.

20^th Year Celebration

Professor Dunay suggested that a small poster ad for the 20th year celebration be one page of the newsletter--something that could be posted by recipients.

Chair Feuerstein suggested that we compose an article or letter about the upcoming event. Professor Dunay and Jennifer Gunter will make contacts on campus to organize assistance for publicity using the current draft of the prospectus (attached with these minutes).

Professors Dunay and McMillan passed around a current draft of the Call for Collections (attached with these minutes). They will distribute the call to the past and present Advisors. Chair Feuerstein suggested that we should proceed with the Call for Collections. We will send out the Call by mail and email. The Call will be sent out by March 1.

Professor McMillan has created a web page for the Celebration. She requests assistance with material and design. See the following address for this initial posting:
http://spec.lib.vt.edu/IAWA/Twentieth/IAWA20th.html

Chair Feuerstein suggested that we continue the meeting at a later date and called for a motion for adjournment. Professor Vernon so moved and Professor Dunay seconded the motion. The meeting was adjourned at 5:30 P.M.

Professor Mitzi Vernon respectfully submits these minutes 21 Feb 2003.

International Archive of Women in Architecture (IAWA)
A Celebration of 20 years of Collecting
Draft 11 Feb 2003

In 1985, Professor Milka Bliznakov founded the International Archive of Women in Architecture (IAWA) at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia. She initiated the IAWA to fill a void in the historical record of women's achievements in architecture. In 2005, the International Archive of Women in Architecture will celebrate its 20th anniversary. Preliminary planning is underway for an event, which celebrates IAWA's 20 years of life. The heart of the Celebration will be an international conference on International Architecture of Women. A travelling exhibit will begin at this conference and will live beyond the celebratory event, traveling throughout the country and world. The projected date for the conference and start of the travelling exhibition is during the autumn 2005 or spring 2006.

The IAWA is located in Special Collections of the Library of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia. Both the Library and the Department of Architecture, College of Architecture and Urban Studies of Virginia Tech support the IAWA. Recognized as a national and international treasure, the Board of Advisors of the IAWA is targeting the nation's capitol for this exciting celebration. Washington, D.C.: not only our Nation's capitol but also the home for many of our nations most important and impressive museums -- museums that themselves celebrate the extraordinary power of the diverse peoples who have made the designed world. Some of these include the Women's Museum, the Building Museum, and the National Gallery.

The IAWA 20th Anniversary Celebration conference and exhibition offers an opportunity to reveal the historic wealth and beauty of the archive's collections to the nation, the world, and to society at large. The International Conference will include lectures by well-known designers and scholars as well as provide plenary sessions for presentations of current research and design. The Conference will augment the exhibition through historical, theoretical, and practical discussions on Women in Architecture. The exhibit catalogue will include essays by scholars and designers who appear at the conference. Conceived as a traveling show, the 20th Anniversary Exhibition will primarily focus on women pioneers in the field of architecture (broadly defined), whose work makes up the core of the archive. The exhibition will also include contemporary architects whose presence in the exhibit will act as a counterpoint to the work of pioneering women.

In preparing for the 20th Anniversary Celebration and Exhibition, the Executive Board of the IAWA has made a general call for collections. At the same time, with support of the Department of Architecture of Virginia Tech and the Archive the IAWA launched a smaller-scale interactive traveling exhibit, entitled "Work in Progress." This initial exhibit identifies some of the early architects whose collections comprise the core of the Archive. We have already received requests from universities for this smaller exhibition, which bodes well for the popularity of the larger show to open in 2005.

Original materials from the archive will be displayed at the first (opening) exhibition site. Specific themes will expand from the content of "Work in Progress." Themes for the conference, exhibition, and catalog are briefly explored in the appendix below. The exhibition will be complemented by a catalog with essays by prominent scholars in the field, who will also participate in the conference. This scholarship will serve to expand in-depth development of the exhibition's context and themes as well as engage the audience of the exhibition and conference with primary source materials used by the scholars.

The conference will have a variety of events, which will attract a mixed audience and participants. and for the gala opening of the exhibit. The exhibition itself will interest professionals active in architecture and related fields (including practitioners and academics), and those with a casual interest in design. Those curious about women's history or social history will also find much to interest them. Young women considering careers in the field may find inspiration in the achievements of an earlier generation. Even children could be included with our plans for the interactive-based displays. We anticipate that it will travel to Universities, Museums, and academic, trade-related, and student conferences throughout the world.

The International Conference on Women in Architecture, held in conjunction with the opening of the 20th Anniversary Exhibition, will be a three-day event. The site of the conference will greatly impact its success. We hope to mount the exhibit and host the conference in Washington, DC. The Nation's Capitol is home to such institutions as the Women's Museum and the National Building Museum. It is our intention to hold the conference sessions at these institutions. The conference will be open to the public, students, scholars, and practitioners. The conference will provide a forum for discussion on various issues relating to women and architecture, viewed from a historical and contemporary perspective. The conference will open with a keynote address by a prominent woman architect or planner, thereafter. Invited speakers will deliver papers in panels focused on specific themes.

To realize the 20th Anniversary Celebration, the IAWA seeks the support of public and private organizations interested in supporting the mission of the IAWA. This is a tremendous opportunity to celebrate not only the archive, but also a century of achievement by women in the field of design.