We understand the dedication and effort required to study for and pass the ARE. Congratulations to the following member for passing their exams and gaining licensure. This is great news that thrills all of us and we are so proud to call you an architect!
Katie MacDonald, AIA (Central Virginia)
Have you recently passed the ARE? Upgrade your membership to Architect using this AIA form. or send an email to your Member Services Director, Cathy Guske, cguske@aiava.org
AIA Virginia | 2022 Board of Directors February 18, 2022 Zoom Virtual Meeting
Motions Made and Approved:
The Board of Directors of AIA Virginia voted as follows:
Approval of the January 29 Meeting Minutes
Appointments to the 2022 Honors Committee
Approval of the FY 2020-2021 Financial Audit
Appointments to the 2022 Secretary’s Advisory Committee
Motions Made and Approved in Closed Session:
The Board of Directors of AIA Virginia voted as follows:
Approval of the FY2020-2021 IRS Form 990
Written reports were provided for the following consent agenda items:
Advisory Council Updates
PAC Update
General Assembly Update
Member Appointments to the Dept of Housing and Community
Development Workgroups
Membership Update
Amber Book Program Update
Emerging Leaders in Architecture Update
Operation Reach, Retain, and Develop Update
AIA Grassroots Conference
HousingX Conference Partnership
Mayor’s Innovation Project – Town of Blacksburg
Advisory Council Rosters
Joint Letter with Preservation Virginia Second Street Baptist Church Demolition
Members may request a copy of these written reports by emailing AIA Virginia Executive Vice President, Corey Clayborne, FAIA at cclayborne@aiava.org.
The next meeting of the AIA Virginia Board of Directors will be held on April 1 at Hampton University. The Board will convene in Warrenton, VA in March for its strategic planning retreat.
Mr. Britt is President / Treasure of Sulton Campbell Britt & Associates (SCB) and the Principal in Charge of Design and Marketing for the firm. He joined the firm of Sulton Campbell, Architects in 1975 as manager of the firm’s Baltimore branch offices, after representing Moshe Safdie in the design and planning of Coldspring Newtown and the Park Heights Urban Renewal Master Plan. He was made a partner at SCB in 1978 and in 1985 he assumed his role as president and treasurer.
Stan Britt, FAIA
In addition to his extensive experience managing and administrating a successful architecture practice, Mr. Britt’s strongest fields of design and planning expertise include housing medical facilities, educational laboratories, recreational facilities, museums, urban design, and community planning. In regards to urban design/planning and revitalization projects, Mr. Britt has participated in nearly all of the planning commissions awarded to the firm. In 2009 He led SCB in a Joint Venture with Moshe Safdie & Associates, his former employer, as one of six national finalists in the Smithsonian Institution’s International design competition for the National Museum of African American History & Culture.
As he steps away from full-time practice to join the faculty at Hampton University School of Architecture, he is leading SCB’s efforts to complete the design of the African American Civil War Museum, in Washington DC. and the Dox Thrash House Restoration, in Philadelphia, his hometown. Mr. Britt was elevated to the American Institute of Architects College of Fellow in 1992 and a 2005 recipient of the AIA Whitney M. Young Jr. award and the 2003 Upjohn Award. From 1983 through 1984 he also served as President of the National Organization of Minority Architects. In 1999 he was honored by Lambda Alpha International for his contributions to Urban Economic Development in the Baltimore / Washington corridor.
Mr. Britt has enjoyed sharing his knowledge of the profession with young people as a visiting Lecturer and Adjunct Professor at the University of the District of Columbia, Morgan State University, Howard University, North Carolina A&T University, Southern University, and Tulane University.
Where did you go to college? Masters of Architecture, Columbia University 1972 Bachelor of Science, Drexel University 1969 Certificate Real Estate Development, Massachusetts Institute of Technology 1989
What does it take to be an architect?Was there an architect that particularly inspired you? I was first introduced to what an architect does by my uncle, at 10 -11 years old while working with him on a construction site. That lead me to go to a technical high school with an architectural drafting program. My best friend’s mother worked in a restaurant where an “architect” frequent for lunch and she invited me to come to the restaurant and she’d introduce me. I had no idea who Louis Kahn was at the time, but I was thrilled at the opportunity to clean his office and put out the trash after school.
What are you currently reading? The Cross and the Lynching Tree by James H. Cone
Why do you volunteer with AIA? As one of the first recipients of an AIA/Ford Foundation Scholarship in 1968, I’ve felt obligated to give back to the organization. I hope I’ve been a good return on that investment on a Black kid from North Philadelphia.
Architecture is for everyone. AIA Virginia commits to making this goal a reality. As an organization, we stand beside the people groups who have been excluded for far too long. We commit to fostering a sense of belonging for Black, Indigenous, and other people of color, LGBTQIA+, women, and people with diverse abilities. We stand with components and chapters across the nation supporting the rights of many, over the privileged few.
We recognize the treacherous history of Virginia. A place where the most prominent rivers brought enslaved Africans in 1619. A place where the mountains uplift the power and privilege of Washington, Jefferson, and Madison. A place where the coastal wetlands support an ecosystem of wildlife once navigated by thousands of Native peoples. A place where the booming agriculture industry reminds us of the prominence of plantations. A place where Loving did not always come without challenge. As Virginians, we cannot be silent.
Our goal is that architecture becomes a discipline that applies an equitable lens to create communities across the state. Said plainly, architecture should strategically design spaces that reallocate resources based on history and systems. Architecture can only be for everyone if we as architects are committed to making it happen.
Created by the AIA Virginia J.E.D.I. Committee and Approved by the AIA Virginia Board of Directors, December 2021.
The partnership with AIAS and AIA Virginia that started in 2020 continues to prove valuable to our architecture school students in Virginia.
With 65 AIA Virginia member mentors and students matched for the 2021-2022 academic year, we are so grateful for your help!
Our recent group sessions on licensing and portfolio/resume reviews were outstanding and you can view the notes and recordings anytime here: https://www.aiava.org/mentoring/
Thank you again for your support of these students and look for our next call for mentors for the 2022-2023 school year in August!
Starting a new year comes with changes and resolutions. If you haven’t already taken the time to set up a few resolutions for 2022, I highly recommend setting up some professional and personal resolutions that relate to improving your mental and physical health.
Here are some resolutions I set for this year:
Take life slower and more consciously by enjoying the little moments as they come along throughout the day.
Be more conscientious in my consumption, specifically what I watch or listen to and acknowledging how that impacts my mental health.
Capture more memories including using photography, journaling, and making art.
Caitlin Morgan, Assoc. AIA
When I made these resolutions, I made them broad enough to be able to adapt to lifestyle changes throughout the year, but also specific enough to drive my daily choices. Each day, I’ve spent the quiet morning making a fresh cup of coffee before work, waved to my neighbors and office mates, and taken the long way to work to enjoy the city, Harrisonburg, I love. I’ve also translated these resolutions to my career by reading articles about the latest trends in architecture and documenting what tasks I accomplish during the day to help retain what I’ve learned on projects. After a few weeks, I’ve felt a difference in my daily routines; I was more motivated and had a clearer head throughout the day.
As we now move through February and closer to March, it’s important to follow through with the resolutions we made at the beginning of the year. Revisiting your list and documenting the progress you’ve made is a good way to stay motivated to reach your intended results. To take it one step further, share your progress with others! You may find shared goals and can work together in following through to reach said results. I’ve shared my 2022 resolutions with you all, so feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn or over email to share your resolutions for the year. As Associate Director, my mission is to help our members grow and succeed in their careers as future architects, so let me know what AIA Virginia and I can do to help you.
As always, I’m here for you.
Caitlin Morgan, Associate AIA Associate Director, AIA Virginia Board of Directors
If you still need to renew your AIA membership for 2022, we are here to help.
Ways to renew your membership • Call (800) AIA 3837, option 2 to pay with a credit card • Login to your AIA profile and pay or reprint your invoice • Mail in the invoice with your check
Need help paying your dues? • Pay your dues in monthly installments with the Dues Installment Program. Learn more> • Request a discount on your 2022 dues due to financial hardship or physical disability. Email Cathy Guske
I have been in the presence of greatness. I have been mentored by some of the most notable, gifted, and celebrated architects of recent generations. Not just in my formative years when I was raised professionally by John Spencer and James Hall; I have sat in the homes of icons like John Chase, Wendell Campbell, and Norma Sklerek. I have been guided in leadership by the likes of Harry Overstreet and William Stanley. I was ushered into a room to witness this greatness by the likes of Andy Heard, Paul Devereaux, and Richard Franklin so that I can now say, “I have seen greatness”. I have sat at the table with Harvey Gantt and Harold Williams; received words of encouragement from Charles McAfee, and Jeh Johnson. I’ve dined with David Lee; I was taken to the home of Mandela by Peter Malafane; and, joined Max Bond and Marshall Purnell at the White House where we met the President. I’ve been toasted by Pierre Goudiaby; I’ve learned about the toils of practice from Paul Ford, Mort Marshall, Leon Bridges, and Stan Britt; and I’ve learned the joys of academia from Barbara Laurie, Richard Dozier, Rodner Wright, Andrew Chinn, and Brad Grant. I’ve learned the greatness of design from Don Stull, David Lee, Curt Moody, and Phil Freelon. I’ve learned to be an advocate for social justice from Michaele Pride and Jack Travis. I might not be their peer, but I am able to call Corey Clayborne, Mike Rogers, Roberta Washington, Roland Wiley, Steve Lewis, Steve Lott, Neil Hall, Cheryl McAfee, Ed Dunson, and James Washington my brothers and sisters. For me, these aren’t stories book characters, or memories handed down through the experiences of others; these are folks who have touched my life and made a tangible difference in the way I live. I have witnessed greatness firsthand. And they taught me to aspire… not to be great, but to do great things. And they taught me that to do great you must have a passion for service, a commitment to excellence, and a deep and abiding hatred for mediocrity. My one hope is that there is a young architect somewhere in the world, who will one day remember something that I did or said, that inspires them to do great things. Not so that they remember my name, but so that they continue the enduring legacy of greatness that is the Black Architect in America.
Robert Easter, FAIA
I wrote these thoughts several years ago, hoping for an opportunity to share them with professionals who might not be familiar with all of the names. In recent times, I also was reminded of other heroes of mine: Maryanne Akers, Ralph Belton, Bell, Hazel Edwards, Ikhlas Sabouni and Rodner Wright. While they might not be familiar to you, they are the academic administrators of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU’) with accredited architecture programs. Four of those campuses received bomb threats that caused their universities to close. Every day our colleagues are inspired to teach architecture to young and gifted minds. They endure the daily grind of underfunded mandates, discriminatory rhetoric, deficient resources, and underappreciated faculties and staff. They teach students who come from varied backgrounds and levels of preparation. They teach students who have to work full-time to afford tuition, books, room, and board, while also supporting other critical interests at home. They do all of this because they have a passion for their students, for teaching, and for architecture. They don’t work for medals; there aren’t any being offered. They don’t work for the pay; they would make more in the industry. They do it out of genuine love for the work; for making a difference in the lives of young people who, themselves, will one day achieve greatness. And they do it in spite of the odds.
If the bomb threats had been made on the campuses of SEC or ACC schools, our profession would be up in arms. The PAC-10 or BIG-10 would have armies of alum standing guard at the gates to assure the safety of their alma maters. I can only hope that the family of architects hearing about the challenges that my heroes are addressing understand that every HBCU in America is now on high alert. We are teaching students at a time when they have COVID, social unrest, and, now, the threat of violence hanging over their heads on a daily basis. It is not easy. That’s why my colleagues are my heroes. They continue to demand excellence of their students, while simultaneously helping them navigate through a world that seems to be less kind and more indifferent. Life isn’t fair, equitable or just. But as a community of architects and business leaders, I hope that our profession rises to this occasion and offers compassion to my heroes.
Alina Bogovic, AIA (Northern Virginia) from AIA DC Michael Brady, AIA (Hampton Roads) from AIA North Carolina Stephen Parker, AIA (Northern Virginia) from AIA DC
