Tulane Preservation Alumni Group Tulane Master’s of Preservation Studies Alumni Newsletter • Winter 2012
Alumni News • Brooke Malec (’11) has been hired by Cain Construction & Designs to work with clients on home and restaurant renovations such as the new Satsuma on Maple Street and the upcoming restaurant at the Rice Mill. • Evie Burguieres (’10) was elected President of the Student Bar Association for her class at the New England Law | Boston. • James Wade (‘10) has joined the Board of Trustees of the Louisiana Landmarks Society and is currently editor of their newsletter. • Nick Albrecht (‘10) is working at Destrehan Plantation on restoration and preservation work. He recently completed restorations of the two rooms that comprise the upriver garconairre, which had never been restored and were sitting unused since 2005. The rooms are now a hanging gallery displaying several original documents relating to the Destrehan family. • Beth Jacobs (‘12) presented a paper, “From St. Mary to Suburban: Neighborhood Public Markets in New Orleans, 1836-1946,” at the annual Vernacular Architecture Forum conference, Madison, Wisconsin, June 6-10, 2012. •Gabrielle Begue (‘12) has recently been hired as a a consulting architectural historian at R.C. Goodwin & Associates. • Danielle Del Sol (‘11) and current MPS student Antonio Pacheco were recently named Diversity Scholars of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
MPS awarded Grant to Research Madame John’s Legacy On November 27, 2012, the Tulane’s Master of Preservation Studies program was awarded a grant from the Louisiana Division of Historic Preservation to conduct specialty architectural conservation technical analyses at Madame John’s Legacy historic house in the Vieux Carre. The grant, in the amount of $37,000, is made possible through matching funding from the US National Park Service that supports such initiatives through the Louisiana State Office of Historic Preservation and the Louisiana Museum Foundation and the Louisiana State Museum that owns the property. MPS students taking measurements at Madame John’s Legacy.
The research grant will allow for state-of-the art technical analyses of the moisture intrusion problems and masonry conservation issues in the ground level spaces of the building, a review and recommendations for remediation of problems associated with the building’s air conditioning system, and a new paint analysis of the exterior of the structure. The project team will be led by MPS Director John Stubbs, in close cooperation with architectural conservator and MPS Adjunct Assistant Professor Dorothy Krotzer. Research on the building’s HVAC system will be conducted by Michael Henry Associates, Engineers and survey and documentation will be conducted by MPS students in a separate training exercise to Ms. Krotzer’s course in Preservation Technology slated for this Spring. Professor Krotzer said: “To address the conservation challenges of famous Madame John’s house museum during my first semester teaching at Tulane is all I could hope for as a research project as a visiting professor in my home city of New Orleans.” The project that will end in June 2013 will be result in recommendations for the improved conservation and presentation of the exhibition spaces at the ground entrance level of the building and a maintenance guide for custodians of the museum.
Dear MPS Alumni and Friends,
FROM THE DIRECTOR
It is a pleasure to see this second Newsletter of Tulane University’s Master of Preservation Studies Alumni Group issued in our efforts to share news and progress of this graduate program more widely. Kudos to Danielle Del Sol for producing the TPAG Newsletter and thank you to its contributors and to YOU for you interest and help in expanding this initiative. The Fall ’12 semester has seen several positive developments in the MPS program. Three new faculty members were appointed: Dorothy Krotzer who teaches Preservation Technology, Daniel Hammer who teaches History of North American Architecture, and Robert Cangelosi who teaches the long-established and acclaimed New Orleans Architecture course as a MPS offering. Preservation Law under Lloyd Shields continues to be the best of its kind in the country, and I am pleased to be teaching Studio II: Urban Conservation and my favorite of all courses, Intro to Preservation. Last but not least, we are privileged that MPS program founder and director emeritus Eugene Cizek now teaches Studio I: Building Conservation in the Fall. The course offerings of this distinguished faculty speak well to the program’s primary aim: Offer our students the richest content and experiences possible during their course of study. A number of smaller improvements have been also been made this semester. If you have not noticed MPS’s recently enhanced website, please check it out. And more is planned, such as survey results from our alumni and an index of past student work, especially theses. New program brochures are in hand, the course evaluation system has been improved, and we recently received our first major (and prestigious!) funded research project: Specialty Conservation Technical Analyses at Madame John’s Legacy Historic House in the French Quarter. (See story p. 1). Another improvement has been our new method of guiding thesis and practicum work. Students now declare their intentions for these key courses well in advance, report on a consistent schedule, and present an interim progress report at a day-long session involving all MPS faculty, graduating students, advisors and observers. All in attendance at the first General Thesis and Practicum Review session on September 20th were pleased with the results, with an unexpected benefit being the especially close-knit graduating class of 2012 having the opportunity to meet again after conducting research and fieldwork all over the country during the summer months. My attendance at the annual conferences of US/ICOMOS in San Antonio in July, the Association for Preservation Technology in Charleston in October, the National Trust in Spokane in November, and the first International Conference of Preservation Educators in Providence, Rhode Island in September was most helpful to me for gaining the latest on the state of American preservation education and professional practice. These conferences proved useful in another way: Helping me realize even more so how distinctive and well-positioned Tulane’s MPS program really is. Indeed New Orleans, Louisiana and the greater region has a wealth of extraordinary cultural heritage as well as some particularly innovative ways of addressing it! Participation at these conferences plus lectures and site visits elsewhere over the past half year has emboldened me to promote the program even more vigorously. In this respect I am grateful to Dean Kenneth Schwartz and Associate Dean for Academics Wendeline Redfield for their support of my researches and promotional efforts, and again to Danielle Del Sol for assisting me at Tulane in our various efforts toward recent program development initiatives. An important new School-wide initiative was launched in July with the announcement of Professor Maurice Cox, TSA’s new Associate Dean for Community Engagement, whose mission is to take the School’s esteemed Tulane City Center to yet new heights. I was encouraged by Maurice’s vision for the Center from our first meeting when he stated that one of his major aims was for architectural preservation to be a central part of TCC’s agenda. So far, this has been the case. In Studio II: Urban Preservation, our field projects have been carefully selected for their applicability and usefulness to the New Orleans community. Well into my second year of leading the MPS program I feel we are on track enriching and expanding the program in ways that also fulfill my main personal motive for signing on as Director 16 months ago….It promised to be a ‘growth experience’. That it certainly has been, for me and the MPS students alike. I invite you to enjoy our progress, join our efforts, and stay in touch! Yours,
John H. Stubbs Director, MPS
students visit charleston and savannah for annual apt conference By Sarahgrace Godwin, current MPS student This October, my classmates and I traveled to Charleston, South Carolina for the Association for Preservation Technology annual conference. We had the opportunity to listen to sessions on various topics, including the preservation of Gingerbread homes in Port-a-Prince, Haiti and the benefits of creating searchable archive databases to keep track of files. In a park outside the conference hotel, professionals conducted demonstrations ranging from repairs to window sashes, to historic plaster and masonry. Away from the conference, the class took advantage of our location in the historic city with walking tours and tours of historic homes like the Aiken-Rhett House. Other experiences included a drive down the Battery to look at the homes in the area and a short trip out to Drayton Hall. I personally always enjoy go through historic house museums to see the different ways the MPS students on a walking tour in Charleston this past October. history of a home and its owners, and the architectural features of the home, are presented. Aiken-Rhett and Drayton Hall provided a great comparison, with the former having many of its original furnishings and the latter encompassing, really, just the architecture. After our visit to Charleston most the class drove down to Savannah for a brief walking tour of the historic city which covered the architectural styles of the city in a near chronological order as we walked through the unique grid and square pattern that makes up the city. Many of us had never been to Savannah and only a few had been to Charleston, and our field trip to these two cities gave us excellent examples to compare with New Orleans, allowing us to engage in discussion on the differences in how these cities encourage preservation in their communities and manage the situations particular to preservation in each city.
tulane preservation advisory group meets The Tulane Master of Preservation Studies Preservation Advisory Group met for the second time in late October to advise on the contined development of the MPS program. The group offered bold ideas for how the program can evolve to meet the needs of students while in the program and after and the community as a whole. The Tulane Preservation Advisory Group is comprised of: Phil Boggan (Louisiana Department of Culture Recreation and Tourism), Robert Cangelosi (Koch and Wilson Architects), Mary Lou Christovich, Jack Davis, Lake Douglas (LSU Landscape Architecture), Nicole Hobson (Louisiana Department of Culture Recreation and Tourism), Ned Kaufman (Pratt University), Ann Masson, Grover Mouton (Tulane School of Architecture), Elliott Perkins (City of New Orleans Historic Districts Landmarks Commission), and Camille Strachan (Conner and Strachan Attorneys). The group’s suggestions largely focused on fostering more opportunities for the MPS program’s students and faculty to connect with, and impact, the community at large in tangible ways as learning experiences. While the MPS program has traditionally focused its studio projects on real neighborhoods and corridors, working with community stakeholders to develop urban planning and preservation strategies to address the particular challenges those areas face, there is even more opportunity for that, said the group, and opportunities to work directly with officials in City Hall should be actively sought. The Department of Transportation’s recent initiative to study the impacts of removing the Claiborne Overpass offers a host of possible projects students could undertake in the coming months, for example. The group also advised Director John Stubbs and Associate Dean Wendy Redfield, who was also in attendance, that the program needs to work on the development of a stronger public relations identity, making it clear to prospective students why the program is special and why they should choose Tulane over other graduate programs. Recent efforts to renew focus on preparing students for entry into the workforce was a step they encouraged.
CONGRATS TO THE MOST RECENT MPS GRADUATES Spring 2012 Graduates are: Ella Camburnbeck, Ian Crawford, Margaret Dallosta, Beth Jacob, Erika Koenig, Jennifer Mui, Swayze Neyland, Jennifer Nolan, Kaylee Smith and James Wade. Congratulations to you all!
last notes • Did you see our ad in the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Preservation magazine? Check us out!
Master of Preservation Studies Earn a Master of Preservation Studies degree at Tulane University in the extraordinarily rich and varied cultural environment of New Orleans, Louisiana in three semesters. This crossdisciplinary program within Tulane’s prestigious School of Architecture stresses actual preservation work in the field and prepares students for entry into the profession.
architecture.tulane.edu
• The co-creator of the documentary Unfinished Spaces, the story of the National Art Schools of Havana, Cuba, visited Tulane this fall as part of a special screening of the film, sponsored by the School of Architecture and the Center for Cuban and Caribbean Studies. Benjamin Murray spoke about the creation of the film and the significance of the structures. MPS Director John Stubbs also offered introductory words to the audience, having toured the site with MPS students this past March. • Spread the word about MPS! We are in the midst of a campaign and would like to share new promotional materials with any alumns who will help us reach potential new preservationists.
notes from the field Karen Armagost, currently completing her practicum for graduation in December 2012, reports on her exciting summer internship with the National Park Service. The summer of a lifetime—The Grand Canyon, the Painted Dessert, Mesa Verde, Chaco Canyon, Canyon de Chelley, Taos, Arches, Canyonlands, the Grand Tetons, Yellowstone—and that was just on my free time. This summer, as my practicum for the Master of Preservation Studies program, I worked in the Cultural Resources Division in the Intermountain Region of This log cabin was acquired by the Pecos the National Park Service. In Santa Fe, National Park in New Mexico in 1992. My New Mexico, I prepared a National Reg- research found it to be part of an Angloister Nomination for an early 20th century American homestead in the early 1900s. homestead in the Pecos National Park and worked closely with the Coordinator of the Region’s List of Contributing Structures, Bonnie Houston. In Glacier National Park, I worked with historical architect Lon Johnson to conduct current condition surveys of the Park’s historic structures. The Parks are required to assess the condition of all historic structures they own that are either listed on the National Register of Historic Places or are eligible to be listed. The results of the survey, along with treatment recommendations and photographs, are loaded into the LCS database. I scrambled down hillsides, hoping I wasn’t setting a bad example for the tourists, to examine bridges and culverts. I climbed over corral fences and dodged piles of horse manure to survey historic barns that are still in use. I pondered the wisdom of placing bat boxes over dormitory windows—doesn’t seem like a good idea to me. I updated records for windmills, outhouses, tourist cabins, and collapsing homesteads. Because I worked in both a NPS regional office and in a park, I saw firsthand the tensions and conflicting priorities at work between administrative offices and park staff. And I was fortunate enough to work with people who had decades of experience in the preservation field. The summer of a lifetime, indeed.
job and internship news • Louisiana Landmarks Society is searching for a new executive director. The ideal candidate has a bachelor’s in a related field and preservation or museum experience. Duties include management and operation of the Pitot House museum, working with the LLS Board of Trustees, and fund-raising, financial, educational and outreach activity oversight. For more information, contact Pamela Pipes at pamelapipes@earthlink.net. • Pamela H. Simpson Presenter’s Fellowships: The Vernacular Architecture Forum is offering financial assistance to individuals who have been accepted to present at their annual conference, up to $1,000. Submit applications to Paula A. Mohr at archhistorian@ yahoo.com by January 11, 2013. • Our favorite preservation job sites: Preservation Directory, HistPres, PreserveNet, National Conference of SHPOs, USA Jobs (for positions with the National Park Service and other governmental organizations) and the National Trust for Historic Preservation Career Center.
Keep your fellow tulane preservation alumni in the loop!
To submit your news items, job or internship announcements or just to keep in touch, email Danielle Del Sol (‘11) at danielle.delsol@gmail.com. Please help us build the Tulane Preservation Alumni Group into an active, helpful resource for all graduates in Preservation Studies!