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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 4, 2008

UF to stage public workshop on preserving the recent past in Florida

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The University of Florida College of Design, Construction and Planning’s Historic Preservation Program and the Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art are partnering with the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation and the Florida Historical Commission to conduct a statewide public workshop on “Preserving the Recent Past in Florida” at the University of Florida on Nov. 6 - 9, 2008.

The three-day program will include discussions, lectures and events with the goal of producing a document that will be specific to Florida and outline the criteria for the designation of historic sites for official national and state recognition.

“Like them or not, there's no question that modern buildings of the recent past and other testaments to postwar-era design have transformed cities, towns, suburbs and landscapes throughout Florida,” said Roy Eugene Graham, FAIA Director of Historic Preservation Studies at the University of Florida’s College of Design, Construction and Planning. “This workshop will provide tools for identifying and preserving the most exceptional modern historical sites in Florida. These tools could help prevent the destruction of modern classics, such as Paul Rudolph’s Riverview High School and Alfred Browning Parker’s Manus House. Both these exceptional sites are presently slated for demolition, in part because of their lack of official designation.”

The workshop coincides with the exhibition of Promises of Paradise: Staging Mid-Century Miami, on view at the Harn Museum of Art from Oct. 11, 2008 to Jan. 25, 2009. Promises is a groundbreaking exhibition devoted to the architects, designers and urban planners of mid-20th-century Miami and their contributions to American modernism. The exhibition is organized by the Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach, with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The exhibition is made possible locally by ERA Trend Realty. Other partners of the workshop are DoCoMoMo/US and Florida, the Alachua County School Board and several central Florida chapters of the AIA.

The events also include a lecture, dinner and blues performance honoring recent African-American history on Nov. 7. In addition, the workshop features tours of outstanding modern buildings and landscapes that were designed for the University of Florida by architects, such as Paul Rudolph, Russell T. Pancoast, Gene Leedy, William Morgan and Taylor Hardwick.

Registration is required for participation and packets are now available. Admission is free for students enrolled at any educational institution. Architects and other professionals can earn CEUs for the three days of the workshop.

Additional information and reservations can be obtained from Leanna Varner at the University of Florida, lvarner@dcp.ufl.edu or by visiting http://conferences.dce.ufl.edu/CRRP. A block of rooms at the convention rate have been reserved at the Holiday Inn and Hilton Hotels in Gainesville.

Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art
The Harn Museum of Art at SW 34th St. and Hull Rd. is one of the largest university art museums in the country with nearly 7,000 works in its collection focusing on African, Asian, modern and contemporary art and photography. The museum enhances the activities of the University of Florida and serves a culturally diverse audience through educational programming. Admission is free. Museum hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday. Parking is free on weekends. The Camellia Court Café is open seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The museum and café are open until 9 p.m. Thursdays for Museum Nights during the UF Academic calendar due to the generous support of UF Student Government. For more information call 352-392-9826 or visit www.harn.ufl.edu.

University of Florida College of Design, Construction and Planning
Interdisciplinary and internationally recognized Historic Preservation Programs at the University of Florida are located in the College of Design, Construction and Planning which offers a Master of Historic Preservation, an Interdisciplinary Concentration and Certificate in Historic Preservation and a college Ph.D. The School of Architecture offers a Master of Science in Architectural Studies with a concentration in historic preservation. Research opportunities may be pursued through the Center for World Heritage Research and Stewardship, and partners throughout the university. The center was authorized by the Florida Legislature and established by the State University System in 1978. More information can be obtained from http://worldheritage.dcp.ufl.edu/

Writer:
Richard Shieldhouse

Media contacts:
Roy Eugene Graham, FAIA
Director Historic Preservation Programs
UF College of Design, Construction and Planning
352.392.4386 x233

Tami Wroath, Interim Director of Marketing and Public Relations
352.392.9826 x116
twroath@harn.ufl.edu