Cornerstones has established a professor-in-residence at UTC. Andrew Smith, a local educator, architect and preservationist, is the organization’s first professor to take the role.
“This is a huge step forward for Cornerstones,” says Ann Gray, executive director of Cornerstones. “We are now teaching the where’s and what for’s of preservation and the philosophical reasoning behind saving our past.”
Smith has directed a local architectural firm for the past 35 years and has served as an educator at the secondary and university levels for more than 25 years.
“The future of historic preservation requires a commitment to an inclusive, national agenda for change,” Smith says. “Preservation professionals must acknowledge that in our rich, diverse national culture, the responsibility for identifying our future national treasures must rely on a consensus of many, not solely on the rules of a few.”
Cornerstones has had a community partnership with UTC’s interior design department for several years. Over the years, Cornerstones has assisted with the senior theses course in which students prepare a historic structure report. Through this partnership, the ability to reach a younger audience with the benefits of historic preservation now exists.
Dana M. Moody Hellwig, PhD, says the success of these programs is contingent on strong community partnerships.
“When we entered into a partnership with Cornerstones in 2009, we never dreamed that our partnership would grow to this level,” she says. “The UTC Cornerstones professor-in-residence will have a profound impact in creating what I hope will be a collection of design professionals armed with a passion for historic preservation and the skills to positively impact the urban fabric of our country.”
The second semester of this course is underway now.
Source: Cornerstones