Athens, Ga. – The College of Environment and Design’s Graduate Historic Preservation program will celebrate National Historic Preservation Month in April with campus activities including exhibitions, a barbeque, lectures and a historic landscape tour. The events will involve faculty, students, staff, the Student Historic Preservation Organization and the Honor Society of Sigma Pi Kappa.
The April observance aims to raise awareness of preservation within the larger university community and the Athens-Clarke County area and recognize the significance of the historic resources located both on and off campus. The entire university community and the greater Athens community are invited to participate in the different events.
The exhibition “Sustainable Preservation and Historic Landscapes” will be on display in the Main Library lobby, April 1-30. Two exhibitions will be on display in Caldwell Hall, April 3-30. “If Walls Could Talk: Then and Now at UGA,” will be at the Owens Library and “Orr 2: Interpreting the Legacy,” an artistic interpretation of Fred J. Orr’s architecture by Rene Shoemaker, will be at Circle Gallery located in G14 Caldwell Hall. The public is invited to an opening reception for the Orr 2 exhibition, April 3 from 4-7 p.m.
Suzanne Turner will present a lecture on “The Value of Historic Landscapes,” April 17 at 2:30 p.m. in the UGA Chapel. The event is free and open to the public. The SHPO also will host a preservation month speaker in April. See the master calendar for speaker time, and location. In conjunction with the college’s annual alumni meeting, April 17-18, activities on April 17 include:
– The annual Sigma Pi Kappa Preservation Month BBQ will be held at noon in Founders Memorial Garden. Tickets are $7.00 and reservations can be made via email at donnag@uga.edu.
– Sigma Pi Kappa will hold its induction ceremony at 11 a.m. in the Lumpkin House.
– Lindsey Kerr and Janine Duncan will conduct a historic landscape tour at 4 p.m. beginning in the Founders Memorial Garden and crossing North Campus to Old Athens Cemetery. This tour is limited to 20 participants. Reservations can be made via email at lkerr@uga.edu.
– Moving Midway, a documentary of plantation house relocation, will be shown at 8 p.m. in the garden.
In a cooperative effort with Athens-Clarke Heritage Foundation, Hands-on-Athens, April 3-5, is included as part of the college’s Preservation Month activities. SHPO will be one of the house sponsors, providing volunteers for repair and rehabilitation.
While the national observance of Historic Preservation began in 1971, under the sponsorship of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, UGA’s participation in this annual observance began in 1983 with 2009 being the 26th year of participation.
For more information, contact John Waters at 706/542-4706 or jcwaters@uga.edu.