March 3, 1999 Contact: Jane Ford (804) 924-4298 jford@virginia.edu THE COMPLEXITY OF BLACK CULTURAL LANDSCAPES IS THE TOPIC OF A SYMPOSIUM AT U.VA.ÕS SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE ÒSites of Memory: Landscapes of Race and Ideology,Ó a multidisciplinary symposium that explores the effects of race on the built environment, will be hosted by the University of VirginiaÕs School of Architecture in Campbell Hall, March 25-27. Architects, landscape architects, planners, historians, and scholars of African-American studies will gather to discuss Òthe historic and contemporary effects of race upon the development of the built environment, examining the realities and myths of AmericaÕs racial landscapes,Ó said Craig Barton, the symposiumÕs organizer and assistant professor at U.Va.Õs School of Architecture. ÒThis is a unique opportunity to look at and begin to understand the dual racial landscapes that exist in America and what that means to us as a nation in terms of culture and environment.Ó Randall Kenan, author of ÒWalking on Water: Black Lives at the Turn of the Twenty-First Century,Ó will be the keynote speaker. He has taught writing at Vassar College, Duke University, Columbia University, Sarah Lawrence College and his alma mater, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Currently, Kenan is a visiting professor of creative writing at the University of Memphis. The symposium will look at the urban fabric that has resulted from the weaving of the politics of slavery, custom and law. Participants will discuss the Òseparate but equalÓ Supreme Court ruling and the ÒJim CrowÓ laws and explore the influence they had on the churches, schools, homes, parks and streets in creating a black landscape that relied on oral traditions. Conference participants include: ¥ Araya Asgedom, Department of Architecture, Hampton University ¥ Nathaniel Q. Belcher, School of Architecture, Florida International University ¥ Kofi M. Boone, landscape architect, JJR Incorporated, Ann Arbor, MI ¥ David P. Brown, School of Architecture, Rice University ¥ Reginald Butler, Carter G. Woodson Institute for Afro-American and African Studies, University of Virginia ¥ Maurice D. Cox, School of Architecture, University of Virginia ¥ Felecia Davis, School of Architecture, Cornell University MORE 2 ¥ Scot French, Carter G. Woodson Institute for Afro-American and African Studies, University of Virginia ¥ Kenrick Ian Grandison, School of Natural Resources and Environment, University of Michigan ¥ Bradford Grant, Department of Architecture, Hampton University ¥ Lesley Naa Norle Lokko, Department of Architecture, University of Illinois at Chicago ¥ Shawn L. Rickenbacker, Knowlton School of Architecture, Ohio State University ¥ William Wesley Taylor, College of Design, Art, Architecture and Planning, University of Cincinnati ¥ Amy Weisser, American Museum of Natural History ¥ LaBarbara J. Wigfall, Department of Landscape Architecture, Kansas State University ¥ William Williams, School of Architecture, Rice University ¥ Mabel O. Wilson, School of Architectural Studies, California College of Arts and Crafts ¥ Craig Barton, School of Architecture, University of Virginia ÒHistory, Memory, Race, and Place in the Jim Crow South, 1900-1925,Ó an exhibit documenting the lives and cultural landscapes of African-Americans in Central Virginia will be on view at the Carter G. Woodson Institute for Afro-American and African Studies, Minor Hall. The exhibit features more than 100 images from the Rufus W. Holsinger Studio Photography Collection at the University of Virginia Library. The exhibition is funded by the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities. Funding for the symposium is provided by grants from the Graham Foundation for Advance Studies in the Fine Arts, the George Gund Foundation, the Dean's Forum of the School of Architecture at the University of Virginia, and the Institute for Sustainable Design. The project is supported by the School of Architecture and the Carter G. Woodson Institute. The symposium is free and open to the public. Advance registration is recommended. To register call (804) 924-6467. Visit the conference website at http://www.arch.virginia.edu/site-mem ### For additional information please contact Craig Barton at (804) 924-6467 or ceb8x@virginia.edu. Television reporters should contact our TV News Office at (804) 924-7550. Landscapes of Race and Ideology Program: March 25 - 27, 1999 Thursday: March 25, 1999 5:30 - 5:45 p.m. Welcome William McDonough Dean, School of Architecture, University of Virginia 5:45 - 7 p.m. Keynote Speaker Randall Kenan, author ÒWalking on Water: Black Lives in the Twenty-First CenturyÓ 5:45 - 7 p.m. Opening Reception Friday: March 26, 1999 8:30 - 9 a.m. Introduction: Craig Barton, Director, Sites of Memory Project Assistant Professor, School of Architecture, University of Virginia Session I Campbell Hall Room #158 9 - 11 a.m. The Politics of Preservation: Community Design, and Memory ÒChallenging Historic Preservation and the Image of Privilege in the Contemporary African-American Landscape: Exploring Change on Eastern Avenue, Grand Rapids, MichiganÓ Kofi M. Boone Landscape Architect, Ann Arbor, MI ÒRebuilding Bayview: Community Design as Catalyst for Social ChangeÓ Maurice D. Cox Assistant Professor, School of Architecture, University of Virginia ÒWaiting on Dawn at Demus: Reflections on Historic Landscape DocumentationÓ LaBarbara J. Wigfall Associate Professor, Department of Landscape Architecture, Kansas State University ÒThe Oakland Church ProjectÓ William Williams Associate Professor, Department of Landscape Architecture, Kansas State University Session II Campbell Hall Room #158 11:15 a.m. - 1:15 p.m. Memory and Amnesia: Alternative Narratives of Place and Race ÒAfrica on Park Street: Interrogating the Boundaries of Race and Place in Jim Crow Virginia, 1900 - 1910Ó Reginald Butler Associate Professor of History, Director Carter G. Woodson Institute for Afro-American and African Studies University of Virginia Scot French Assistant Director Carter G. Woodson Institute for Afro-American and African Studies University of Virginia ÒPlaces of Memory: Walking Tours of ManhattanÓ Felecia Davis Visiting Assistant Professor, School of Architecture Cornell University ÒMarking Brown v. Board of Education: Memorializing Separate and UnequalÓ Amy Weisser American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY ÒEnter Between Rooms 306 and 307 Constructing History at the National Civil Rights MuseumÓ Mabel O.Wilson Assistant Professor, School of Architectural Studies California College of Arts and Crafts Session III Campbell Hall Room #158 2 - 4 p.m. Mnemonic Operations: Theories of Site and Memory ÒArchitecture and the Contamination of MemoriesÓ Araya Asgedom Assistant Professor, Department of Architecture, Hampton University ÒDispersed Development: Musical and Physical Organization of the AACMÓ David P. Brown Assistant Professor, School of Architecture, Rice University ÒBody.Memory.MapÓ Lesley Naa Norle Lokko Assistant Professor, School of Architecture University of Illinois at Chicago ÒWrapping the Curtain: Resistance and Identity in the Permeability of StreetspaceÓ William Wesley Taylor Assistant Professor, College of Design, Art, Architecture and Planning, University of Cincinnati Session IV Campbell Hall Room #158 4:15 - 6:15 p.m. Re-Constructing the Cultural Landscape ÒMiami's Urban Surgery: Re-invigorating the Site Specific Center of Miami's African-American CultureÓ Nathaniel Quincy Belcher Assistant Professor, School of Architecture Florida International University ÒNegotiated Space: The Historically Black College Campus as a Record of the Postbellum SouthÓ Kenrick Ian Grandison Assistant Professor, School of Natural Resources and Environment, University of Michigan ÒAccommodation and Resistance: Cultural Expression in African-American BuildingsÓ Bradford Grant Associate Professor, Chair, Department of Architecture, Hampton University ÒStreet Life/Street CornerÓ Shawn L. Rickenbacker Assistant Professor, Knowlton School of Architecture Ohio State University Closing Remarks Craig Barton Assistant Professor, School of Architecture University of Virginia 6:15 - 6:30 p.m. Reception The Carter G. Woodson Institute for Afro-American and African Studies Minor Hall Exhibition "History, Memory, Race, and Place in the Jim Crow South, 1900-1925" On view at the Carter G. Woodson Institute An exhibition of images and artifacts documenting the lives and cultural landscapes of African Americans in Central Virginia, featuring more than 100 images of African Americans from the Rufus W.Holsinger Studio Photograph Collection at the University of Virginia Library. The exhibition funded by a generous grant from the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, is free and open to the public. 6:45 - 9 p.m.