AWA+D formally kicked off the lead up to its 2022 centennial this Fall with a gathering of Past Presidents. Nearly three dozen leaders who represent over 60 decades of stewardship were in attendance for a virtual tea held over Zoom. Attendees received customized tea and macarons for the occasion.
AWA+D formally kicked off the lead up to its 2022 centennial this Fall with a gathering of Past Presidents. Nearly three dozen leaders who represent over 60 decades of stewardship were in attendance for a virtual tea held over Zoom. Attendees received customized tea and macarons for the occasion.
Audrey Sato, President of AWA+D, welcomed attendees and Christina Monti, 100th Committee Co-Chair, gave an overview of proposed and planned celebrations. Highlights included:
· A goal to celebrate not just with our members and local community, but with similar minded organizations and the global design community as a way to build awareness.
· Introduction to the centennial theme of “Celebrating the Past, Envisioning the Future.”
· A partnership with AWAF in securing funding via grants for education, events and a catalogue.
· An outline of proposed events, including a Tree Planting at Washington University St Louis to commemorate the origin of the organization, a mid-year signature event that will be a larger version of AWA+D’s recent Symposiums, and a year-end gala to cap off the anniversary.
· A digital catalogue that can be printed on-demand. Envisioned not only as a compendium of the events and history of the organization, the catalogue is intended to capture essays and thought leadership pieces about this moment in women’s history and even what lies ahead.
· Partnership with the International Archive of Women in Architecture at Virginia Tech, including the continued digitization of records, possible loan of materials for an exhibit in LA, and hosting of an Archival event.
· A potential design competition. This component has been proposed as a cross-disciplinary call for designs with potential global reach to spark ideas and conversation.
In addition to informing this important group of advocates of the current efforts underway, the afternoon included requests for volunteer and sponsorship participation, and a 30-minute break-out session for small group discussion. Two topics were explored: the future of AWA+D and how the group might get there, and the single most important hurdle facing women working in the built environment and how to overcome that. Notes and takeaways from those conversations have been memorialized by the 100th committee and are being used as inspiration and information as committees continue to finalize details and determine the best ways to celebrate this important milestone.
The afternoon was concluded by Sona Gevorkyan, Vice President of AWA+D, as she introduced her background and shared her excitement of serving as President during the centennial year.
