Announcing the BAA Class of 2014

A message from our President, Paul Gunther

I am pleased to announce the Beaux-Arts Atelier Class of 2014, whose student members will enliven the third annual offering of our full-time, year-long classical design atelier. As you know, it unfolds beginning just after Labor Day here in the Henry Hope Reed Classroom amidst its illuminating teaching collections. To date there are 12 students from eight states enrolled: nine immersed in the first-year curriculum; and three others returning for a second year of intensive studio engagement. Two have experience at the ICAA’s Grand Central Academy of Art, revealing as their acceptance does the cross-disciplinary approach that drives our mission thanks to the generous support from those like you.

In alphabetical order they are:

1) James Baird, Salt Lake City, Utah: a recent graduate in history from the University of Utah presently working as marketing associate for Historical Arts & Casting, whose president Robert Baird is James’s father and founding president of the Utah Chapter.

2) James Diaz, Bronx, New York: a graduate in experimental theater from NYU returning for a second year of intensive study as he continues as landscape designer and groundskeeper of the historic Morris-Jumel Mansion in upper Manhattan.

3) Mark Hendricks, Kempton, Pennsylvania: also returning for a second design studio year encouraged as he is by the work he has done in recent months for Les Métalliers Champenois, after demonstrating exceptional aptitude and motivation descending from the example of his father Steve at his renowned Historic Doors workshop.

4) Stephen Kivimaki, Boston, Massachusetts: entering the Atelier fortified by his current work as student teacher at Boston’s Academy of Realist Art, he studied architecture at the Boston Architecture Center and engineering at Northeastern University and participated in the last ICAA Winterim Intensive program.

5) Joseph Loomis, Woodside, New York: currently enrolled at our Grand Central Academy of Art he pursues his interest in architecture as integral to all the fine arts towards a goal of better understanding the structural and technical systems underlying the Western tradition at its essential core.

6) Chris McKenna, Red Bank, New Jersey: an independent preservation consultant and graphic designer seeking to extend his art degree from Monmouth University with a fuller appreciation of the structure and history underlying classical design as a cornerstone of future excellence across disciplines and mutually-reliant applications.

7) Emily Neyman, Goshen, Kentucky: a degree in interior design from the University of Cincinnati has fostered her career as decorator, including presently for the Hearts for Kenya medical clinic near Nairobi, and spawned a keen impulse to create fine classical interiors in a New York-based career.

8) Aldo Paino, Miami, Florida: the promise of greater manual skills and practice principles builds upon his 2013 B. Arch degree from the University of Miami towards the applied classical concentration he favors at this formative stage of rigorous study.

9) Marileny Peralta, New York, New York: the third student returning for the second year studio following an NYU degree in urban design and architectural studies in a quest to design contextual work for affordable communities characterized by classical integrity.

10) Jose Quezada, Delray Beach, Florida: comes from Andrews University following completion of his architecture degree with an eagerness to supplement his studies and world travels as an enlisted Army soldier with a fuller mastering of the classical vocabulary in both theory and practice.

11) Mason Sullivan, Jersey City, New Jersey: as instructor in the sculpture studio of the Grand Central Academy of Art, including courses for the Atelier itself in ornament, relief and form, inspires a desire for a deeper understanding of the essential relationship of sculpture and classical design in a career as artist.

12) Christopher Weeks, South Euclid, Ohio: inspired by the Institute’s Winterim and the example of his notable Beaux-Arts trained grandfather, architect Harry E. Weeks, he extends his recent architecture degree from Kent State University to feed his appetite and aptitude for the classical language as career cornerstone.

Again for this new Class, precious scholarship support comes from the Richard H. Driehaus Charitable Lead Trust, Les Métalliers Champenois, Newington-Cropsey Cultural Studies Center, Røros Foundation, and Taconic Builders. Recipients are matched accordingly and in each case bear the namesake scholar moniker with according pride. We salute all who make this subsidy possible on behalf of the students and the overall momentum for contemporary classical education which the Atelier, like the Grand Central Academy of Art, has helped us build. The second annual National Curriculum Conference in Newport, Rhode Island upcoming this weekend (watch for blog posting) with nearly every chapter on hand is a fine case in point as is the new classical design studio offered in the Masters Degree program of the School of Architecture at the University of Colorado, Denver.

When you are next nearby please plan to stop by to meet them in the course of their rigorous program. Their progress is palpable throughout the year.

In the intervening interval, enjoy the summer. As this monthly greeting hints, the fall upcoming will be a dense and rich one across the country.

P.S. The deadline for the 2014 Rieger Graham Prize our architectural and design arts affiliated fellowship at the American Academy in Rome will fall on November 1, 2013. Details will follow but information is posted on the website now. Plan ahead and spread the word. We are pleased that trustee Suzanne Tucker will serve as chair of the jury for this unique 2014 travel study opportunity, which ranks high among the Institute’s many unique programs.
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