Architectural Restoration Field School

Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest announces its 2015 Architectural Restoration Field School. The intensive two week program will be held from June 1-June 13. The program provides an overview of the philosophy, process, and techniques for museum-quality architectural restoration and conservation. People from any background and discipline may qualify.

The program is limited to 10 participants each year.
Application deadline: April 17.

Components include: the history of Thomas Jefferson and his villa retreat; architectural investigation and documentation, and restoration techniques and materials. Behind-the-scenes visits to other museum properties are included. A key part of the program is investigating and documenting an historic structure and producing an historic structures report.

More detailed information and a typical schedule can be found on the web site: http://www.poplarforest.org/programs/field-school/#.VP9HLhrF9ps or contact Travis McDonald  (434) 534-8123, travis@poplarforest.org. Scholarships are available.

Jefferson Award Goes to Virginia Fellow

Dan Feil, FAIAThis year’s Thomas Jefferson Award for Public Architecture honors Virginia member Daniel Feil, FAIA, an experienced public-sector architect with a long history of enlisting the finest design talents to produce trendsetting public works. Feil and the other two 2012 Thomas Jefferson Award recipients are celebrated for demonstrating a commitment to quality design that recognizes public buildings and places as part of the nation’s cultural heritage.

The Thomas Jefferson Awards for Public Architecture recognize achievements in three categories: private-sector architects with a record of excellence in the design of public facilities, public-sector architects who promote design excellence within their agencies, and public officials or other individuals who have furthered public awareness of design excellence.  More >>

McDonald Honored with Architecture Medal

Thomas Jefferson's Poplar Forest
Thomas Jefferson's Poplar Forest. Photo by Warfieldian.

Travis Cleveland McDonald, Jr., Director of Architectural Restoration at Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest has been selected to receive the Architecture Medal for Virginia Service. It is the Society’s most prestigious public award, honoring an individual or organization that has made an unusually significant contribution to Virginia’s built environment or to the public’s understanding and awareness of the built environment.  This year, the Society presents this award jointly with the Virginia Center for Architecture at the Visions for Architecture gala on Nov. 4 at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

Since 1989, McDonald has guided the restoration of Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest. His careful stewardship of this Jeffersonian treasure has assured that this work be instructive to the public and true to the original designer’s intent. As a result, sophisticated historians and children alike have benefitted from seeing how a project carefully restored can provide insight into the lives of those who lived and worked there. Awarded the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Honor Award, this restoration in progress is regarded in the professional preservation community as one of the most important projects in the country.

McDonald is also frequently sought after as a speaker for historical, civic, and academic gatherings and has authored or been featured in a number of scholarly journals and professional publications. In making this award, the Society acknowledges his dedicated and ongoing work at Poplar Forest,  which truly took the idea of restoration as a private event and turned it into a very public phenomenon — creating a wonderful public education opportunity.