Speakers

Conference Keynotes


Maxwell L. Anderson

Visionary cultural leader: on finding the pulse of your audience
Director, Dallas Museum of Art

Anderson has built a reputation for pioneering new ideas in museum communications. From inventing the first art-world public dashboard of real time performance measures to his recent campaign rethinking the value of free museum membership through “DMA Friends.” Tap into Anderson’s unfailing optimism and knack for thinking big.

Max Anderson's Full Bio

Maxwell L. Anderson is the Eugene McDermott Director of the Dallas Museum of Art. After graduating from Dartmouth College and receiving a Ph.D. in art history from Harvard University in 1981, he worked as a curator at The Metropolitan Museum of Art for six years. Since 1987 he has directed a total of five museums, including the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Indianapolis Museum of Art. He has served on the faculties of Princeton University and the University of Rome, and is the author of dozens of publications, including The Quality Instinct: Seeing Art Through a Museum Director's Eye (2012) published by the American Alliance of Museums and distributed by the University of Chicago Press.

 

Craig Edward Dykers

Contemplative architect: on creating meaningful public spaces
Founding Partner, Snøhetta

Snøhetta practices "the architecture of engagement," writes the late Ada Louise Huxtable, buildings are “conceived as a social and environmental act instead of a static, formal object.” Want evidence? Locals, sunbathers, tourists, lovers, families, and everyone else can’t resist the sloping roof of the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet building on the Oslo harborfront. Among its many current projects, Snøhetta is aiming to transform Times Square into place a that locals and tourists will enjoy by improving and expanding the pedestrian spaces of NYC’s most famous crossroads. Be inspired by Snøhetta’s mastery for bringing people together through design.

Craig Dykers' Full Bio

Partner, Director, Architect
Registered Architect: New York
AIA, siv. ark MNAL, NCARB, FRIBA, FRSA, LEED AP

Since 1989, Craig Dykers has established offices in Norway, Egypt, England, and in the United States. His interest in design as a promoter of social and physical well-being is supported by ongoing observation and development of an innovative design process.

As one of the Founding Partners of Snøhetta, Craig has led many of the office’s prominent projects internationally, including the Alexandria Library in Egypt and the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet in Oslo, Norway. He is currently overseeing Snøhetta’s two New York City projects, both under construction: the National September 11 Memorial Museum Pavilion at the World Trade Center and the new Times Square Reconstruction. Craig is also leading the design of two new projects in San Francisco, the expansion of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the waterfront Golden State Warriors Arena. Other recent projects include the James B. Hunt Jr. Library at North Carolina State University completed this year, the Albright- Knox Art Gallery Expansion Masterplan in Buffalo, New York, the Wolfe Center for the Arts at Bowling Green State University, and the Museum for Environmental Sciences in Guadalajara, Mexico which is currently in development. In 2011, Craig and Snøhetta collaborated with the Guggenheim Museum on immersive installations for their series titled “Stillspotting.”

Craig’s work has led to numerous international awards and recognitions including the Mies van der Rohe European Union Prize for Architecture, the World Architecture Award, and the Aga Kahn Award for Architecture, among many others.

Published internationally for over 25 years, Craig has most recently been the subject of an exposé in the January 2013 New Yorker magazine, while the practice has also been nominated in 2013 by Fast Company Magazine as one of the ten most innovative architecture companies in the world. Craig has served as a Diploma Adjudicator at the Architectural College in Oslo and in recent years has been a Visiting Professor at Syracuse University, Cornell University, Parsons and Washington University in St. Louis. He has lectured extensively throughout Europe, Asia, and the Americas. He is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and Manufacturers, a LEED accredited professional, and a member of the American and Norwegian Institutes of Architects.

 

Stephanie D. H. Evergreen

Experienced evaluator: on nimble data collection for your organization
Principal, Evergreen Evaluation

A self-described "data geek," Evergreen is an expert on collecting meaningful data and presenting it compellingly. As a sought-after consultant, she has guided nonprofits through evaluation design under various limitations. With her help, organization leaders can learn about the impact of their efforts through inexpensive data collection and analysis techniques.

Stephanie Evergreen's Full Bio

Stephanie D. H. Evergreen is a sought-after designer and evaluator, who brings a fresh and creative approach to data collection and reporting. She holds a PhD in interdisciplinary evaluation, which included a dissertation on the extent of graphic design use in written research reports. For five years, Dr. Evergreen was employed at the world-renowned Evaluation Center at Western Michigan University, where she published on a wide range of evaluation topics. Her evaluation clients have focused on nonprofits on tight budgets, from local neighborhood associations to large international charitable organizations. Also an expert in effective reporting and presentation, she is co-editor and co-author of two volumes of New Directions for Evaluation on data visualization. She regularly blogs on data presentation at stephanieevergreen.com/blog. Her book, Presenting Data Effectively, was published by Sage in October 2013.

 

Kent Martinussen

Seasoned architecture center director: on envisioning the potential of our field
CEO, Danish Architecture Centre

The Danish Architecture Centre seeks to expand its scope as it relocates from an 18th-century building to a new facility designed by Rem Koolhaas/OMA, which will open in 2017. To inform the Centre's development, Kent brought together leaders of architecture centers from around the world to discuss how these organizations can be drivers of change. Learn about the Centre's plans and what Kent learned from fellow directors about the impact, conditions, and methods of our field.

Kent Martinussen's Full Bio

Kent was educated at international architecture schools and universities, including the Beaux Arts School in Paris and The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Art in Copenhagen from where he holds an MA in Architecture. As a CEO he is connected to The Wharton Executive Business Program.

Kent heads the Danish Architecture Centre (DAC), the national center for architecture and urban planning in Denmark, which is organized as a private-public partnership between the philanthropic fund Realdania and the Danish government. The DAC is a non-profit project organization that delivers public service, B2B development and international promotion within the field of architecture and urban planning.

Kent serves as a member of a number of national and international committees, juries and boards, including the international jury panel of the Architecture Biennale in Venice, the steering committee of the Mies Van der Rohe Award and competition juries.

Kent is an advisor to governments, municipalities and corporations on policy making, strategic development and city governance.
 



Conference Panelists and Speakers

 

Christopher James Alexander

Assistant Curator of Architecture and Design, Getty Research Institute

Since arriving at the Getty in 2004, Christopher James Alexander has co-curated the exhibitions Overdrive: L.A. Constructs the Future, 1940–1990 (2013); Julius Shulman’s Los Angeles (2007); Julius Shulman, Modernity and the Metropolis (2005); Bernard Rudofsky: What Would Intrigue Him Now? (2007); and the Getty’s installation of Lessons from Bernard Rudofsky (2008). He is the co-editor of Overdrive: L.A. Constructs the Future, 1940–1990 (2013) and the author of Julius Shulman’s Los Angeles (2011). Alexander earned his M.Arch degree from the University of California at Los Angeles and B.A. in Fine Arts and Art History from The George Washington University.

 

Liz Barry

Co-Founder, Public Laboratory for Open Technology and Science

Liz Barry develops geographic tools and civic science methods for collaborative cities. She is the co-founder of the Public Laboratory for Open Technology and Science, a community which develops open-source tools for environmental exploration, and co-founder of TreeKit. Among her current work projects, she is serving as a Outreach Fellow for Phase II of the Design Trust for Public Space’s Five Borough Farm initiative studying and promoting urban farming opportunities across New York City. Liz received her MSc in Architecture and Urban Design from Columbia University and a BLA in Landscape Architecture from North Carolina State University.

 

Rick Bell

Executive Director, AIA New York/Center for Architecture

Rick Bell serves as Executive Director of the American Institute of Architects’ New York Chapter, which is committed to design excellence, professional development, and public policy. At the AIANY, Mr. Bell has helped create and animate the storefront Center for Architecture at 536 LaGuardia Place. The Center has hosted over 1,000 public events each year and over 140 exhibitions since opening its doors in October of 2003. Exhibitions on public projects throughout New York City have been pedagogic tools to explain the importance of design and construction excellence to a variety of professional and non-professional audiences. Prior to starting work with the AIA, Mr. Bell served as Chief Architect and Assistant Commissioner for Architecture & Engineering at the NYC Department of Design and Construction, where he was responsible for a wide variety of public works projects.

A fellow of the AIA since 2000, Rick Bell is a registered architect in New York, New Jersey, and California. He is the recipient of numerous honors and design awards, including the Barrier Free America Award from the Paralyzed Veterans of America for his advocacy of Universal Design principles in the redevelopment of Lower Manhattan and was named a “Newsmaker of the Year” by Engineering News Record for his involvement in the World Trade Center rebuilding effort.

 

Scott Burnham

Strategist, Consultant, Design Director

Scott Burnham specializes in devising new ideas and approaches towards design and the city. He has created and directed design and urban initiatives in 11 cities worldwide, ranging from short-term engagements and advisories to implementing the $32 million cultural regeneration project Urbis, The Centre for Urban Culture in Manchester, UK, and leading the Trust Design project for the Netherlands Institute for Design in Amsterdam. In addition to delivering numerous talks on design and urban topics, Scott is the author of various publications and articles, including Finding the Truth in Systems: In Praise of Design Hacking. In recognition of his work and research in resourceful design strategies, Scott was named a Fellow of the Royal Society for Arts, Manufacturers and Commerce (RSA) in London.

 

Polly Carpenter

Program Director, Learning by Design: Massachusetts

Polly Carpenter is the Program Director of and a design educator for LBD:MA. A licensed architect, Polly has done residential, educational, commercial, and institutional architectural design work. She holds a BS in Architecture from the University of Virginia and a Masters of Architecture from Rice University. In 1997, she opened her own firm while developing her interest in children’s design education. As a master teacher with LBD:NY, Polly took part in the City of Neighborhoods youth design program and conducted teacher workshops at the Lincoln Center Institute. Polly joined LBD:MA in its inaugural year of 1999 and has since taught hundreds of children’s design workshops, teacher workshops and Architects workshops, as well as creating curriculum for cultural and educational organizations. Polly has presented at numerous symposia, conferences, and conventions, including the AIA National Convention, the Greenbuild Convention, the Association of Architecture Organizations’ conference, and the Build Boston convention.

 

Mary Fichtner

Director of Programs and Exhibits, Boston Society of Architects

Mary came to the Boston Society of Architects with a passion for Boston’s art scene and a love of exhibit design, as well as more than 10 years of experience in arts and nonprofit management. Mary has a master’s degree in art history from UMass/Amherst, and currently serves as chairman of the board for Gallery 263, a nonprofit community art space in Cambridgeport. When she leaves the BSA at the end of the day, she heads home to Beacon Hill where she enjoys cooking, crafting, bluegrass music, and playing with her pit bull, Bella.

 

Rosamond Fletcher

Director of Programs, Design Trust for Public Space

Rosamond Fletcher joined the Design Trust staff in November 2012 after spending six years at the Center for Architecture/AIA New York Chapter producing exhibitions and programs, including: Glimpses of New York and Amsterdam in 2040, Jugaad Urbanism: Resourceful Strategies for Indian Cities and Our Cities Ourselves: The Future of Transportation in Urban Life. Rosamond brings extensive experience managing multidisciplinary project teams, as well as securing grant funding and building strategic partnerships. She holds a Master of Environmental Design from the Yale School of Architecture and a BArch from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). She is also an avid urban gardener.

 

Nadine Gerdts

Senior Lecturer and Critic, Rhode Island School of Design (Department of Landscape Architecture and Department of Teaching + Learning in Art + Design)
Manager, High School & Youth Design Programs, Boston Architectural College

Nadine Gerdts has worked on nonprofit community-based design and planning projects in Rhode Island and Massachusetts for over 20 years. After serving as Director of Community Design with the pioneering advocacy group, Boston Urban Gardeners, Nadine was a Fulbright Scholar at the Institutt for Landskapsarkitektur in Aas, Norway, where she conducted research on the public landscapes of social housing in the Scandinavian countries. A lecturer and critic at the Rhode Island School of Design since 1995, Nadine addresses contemporary practices in landscape and urbanism through interdisciplinary studios and seminars that link social, cultural, and environmental issues to design. In 2004, she initiated InsideOut Studio, offering RISD students opportunities to work directly with children and teenagers in urban public schools on site-specific design-build projects. In addition to her RISD appointments, Gerdts also directs TiLA Group, her design, planning, and research practice as well as the Boston Architectural College’s teen and youth design programs, including Summer Academy, the BAC’s pre-college design exploration program for high school students.

 

Ian Harris

Co-Founder, Arbuckle Industries

Ian Harris runs the business side of Arbuckle Industries while also producing/managing the firm’s creative projects. A die hard urbanist who is obsessed with cities, Ian also loves getting dirty, be it gardening with students on the High Line or laying in the dirt to get that perfect shot angle. His love for the built environment led him to a degree in architecture but has since decided to pick up the camera rather than a pencil to help envision others' dreams. He currently balances time between Arbuckle's various projects while occasionally daylighting as a design education teacher at local art organizations and schools.

 

Sarah Herda

Director, Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts

For the past seven years, Sarah Herda has served as Executive Director of the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts. Founded in 1956, the Graham Foundation makes project-based grants to individuals and organizations and produces public programs to foster the development and exchange of diverse and challenging ideas about architecture and its role in the arts, culture, and society. Herda oversees the foundation’s national grantmaking program as well as the exhibitions, lectures, and events presented at the foundation's headquarters in the historic Madlener House, a turn-of-the-century Prairie style mansion located in the Gold Coast of Chicago. From 1998-2006, Herda was the Director and Curator of the Storefront for Art and Architecture, a non-profit exhibition space in New York City. Herda is active in the design community and serves on numerous advisory boards and review panels related to architecture, art, and design.

 

Kenneth Jones

Executive Director, Salvadori Center

Kenn Jones started his career as a licensed architect working in New Jersey and New York City.  His career as an educator paralleled his career in architecture where he taught undergraduate courses in studio art, design, and the history of art and design as well as graduate courses in non-profit management.  Kenn has substantial experience with developing project-based curricula, interdisciplinary programs, and adult education/professional development.  He has served as a U.S. Diplomat in the Middle East and as the Executive Director of Peters Valley Craft Education Center and the New York Foundation for Architecture; most recently he was the Curator of Education for the New Jersey State Museum.  Kenn holds a M.Arch. degree from the University of Maryland and post-graduate studies in historic preservation and design as a Rotary Foundation Fellow at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.  Using strategic planning and creative problem solving to achieve organizational goals and objectives, Kenn ties together his experiences in education, executive management, and philanthropy ~ an approach he brings to the Salvadori Center.

 

Ted Landsmark

President & CEO, Boston Architectural College

Dr. Landsmark is President and CEO of the Boston Architectural College, an independent, accredited college of special design offering degrees in Architecture, Interior Design, Landscape Architecture, and Design Studies.

He currently serves as President-Elect of the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB), a Trustee of the American Architectural Foundation, a Fellow of the Design Future's Council, and has facilitated sessions of the Mayor's Institute on City Design in New York, Los Angeles, and Charleston. He has served as a Trustee of the American Society of Interior Designers Foundation, on the AIA Long Range Planning Advisory Group, on the Real Estate Advisory Committee at MIT, and the Mayor of Boston's Climate Action Leadership Committee. Ted is a Trustee Emeritus of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston and serves as a member of the Boards of Historic New England and of Historic Boston, the Boston Fund for the Arts, and the New England Foundation for the Arts. He serves on the Mayor of Boston's Green Ribbon Commission and on the Advisory Committee for the National Trust for Historic Preservation Partner's in Preservation Advisory Committee, the Boston Society of Architects (1997-present), and served as National Chair for the AIA Committee on Diversity (2003-2006). He received the AIA Whitney Young, Jr. Award (2006) and served as the American Collegiate Schools of Architecture President (2006-2007).

 

David Van der Leer

Executive Director, Van Alen Institute

David van der Leer was named Executive Director of the Van Alen Institute in spring 2012, after four years in a lead curatorial position with the Guggenheim Museum. Together with Maria Nicanor, Van der Leer developed and led the curatorial team of the BMW Guggenheim Lab, a mobile laboratory traveling to nine major cities worldwide over six years. Led by international, interdisciplinary teams of emerging talents, the Lab addresses issues of contemporary urban life through programs and public discourse. In addition, Van der Leer curated stillspotting nyc, a two-year multidisciplinary project that took the Guggenheim’s Architecture and Urban Studies programming out into the streets of the New York City's five boroughs. Every three to five months, “stillspots” were identified, created, or transformed by architects, artists, designers, composers, and philosophers into public tours, events, or installations.

Van der Leer was one of the three curators for Spontaneous Interventions at the American Pavilion of the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2012, and for the Shenzhen & Hong Kong Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism/Architecture of 2011, he was curator of the exhibition And Then It Became a City: Six Cities Under 60. He has lectured internationally on architecture and cities and is a regular contributor to publications such as Domus, Mark, The Architect's Newspaper, Azure, and PIN-UP. Prior to the Guggenheim, Van der Leer held editorial and curatorial positions at 010 Publishers in Rotterdam; the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA), in Rotterdam; and Steven Holl Architects in New York. He received his master's with a focus on urban and architectural theory from the Department of Art and Cultural Sciences at Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

 

Kelly Lyons

Curator of Education, Cranbrook Art Museum

In summer 2013. Kelly Lyons joined the Cranbrook Educational Communities to serve as Curator of Education for the Cranbrook Art Museum, including outreach efforts for engaging both young and adult learners. Prior to joining the Cranbrook team, Kelly held the position of Coordinator of K-12 Outreach and Program Director of Architecture Explorations, the K-12 outreach program of the School of Architecture at Carnegie Mellon University. There she oversaw the development and execution of curricular materials, teacher training, and programs related to K-12 architecture education, and taught collegiate courses on architectural pedagogy. She established successful partnerships with other education focused organizations to expand architecture programming to a greater number of the region’s children, including the Carnegie Museum of Art, the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, and Fallingwater, as well as Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation where she served on the Board of Trustees. Kelly was also the Program Coordinator for UDream, an 18-week urban design residency program targeting recent college graduates in architecture, urban design, planning, and landscape architecture from underrepresented ethnic backgrounds. Kelly holds a Bachelor of Architecture from Carnegie Mellon University, where she double majored in Philosophy and minored in Design; she also holds a M.S. in Education from Duquesne University. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Architecture at Carnegie Mellon, focusing on architectural education. Kelly serves as a Director for the Association of Architecture Organizations.

 

Kate Marciniec

Director of Exhibits, Boston Children's Museum

Kate Marciniec joined the exhibit staff of Boston Children’s Museum in 2002. As current Director of Exhibits, she is responsible for the strategic and operational oversight of exhibition spaces at Boston Children’s Museum. She translates input from prospective visitors, curators and other stakeholders into design direction and leads exhibit development projects from conceptual design through final design and ultimately installation. Recent exhibition projects include Countdown to Kindergarten, Native Voices: New England Tribal Families and The Worcester Historical Museum family gallery.

 

Benjamin Prosky

Assistant Dean for Communications, Harvard Graduate School of Design

In 2009, Benjamin Prosky co-founded ARCHITIZER, the first professional and social networking website for architecture. Until May 2011, he was the Director of Special Events and External Affairs at Columbia University, Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation. From 2002 to 2005, he served as Head of Public and University Programs at the Canadian Centre for Architecture in Montreal, Canada, and, from 1999 to 2002, as an Exhibitions Coordinator for the Institut Francais d’architecture in Paris, France.

Prosky started his career in the culture of architecture as an editorial intern at ANY Project in 1997-98 and to whose founders and participants he is truly indebted.

 

Jason Schupbach

Director of Design, National Endowment for the Arts

Jason Schupbach currently manages the NEA’s design initiatives as Director of Design at the National Endowment for the Arts. Prior to coming to the NEA, Mr. Schupbach held the first-in-the-nation position of Creative Economy Industry Director for the Massachusetts Office of Business Development where his accomplishments include coordinating the growth of new industry cluster groups, and launching a Design Excellence initiative, an effort to improve procurement processes in Massachusetts in order to build more sustainable and longer-lasting buildings and communities, and increase the number of designers being offered contracts.

Schupbach was director of ArtistLink, where among other duties he managed a statewide artist space development technical assistance initiative. In addition, he managed the first ever artist housing predevelopment grant program.

Mr. Schupbach's experience also includes serving as National Artist Space Initiative Consultant for Leveraging Investments in Creativity, where he was key editor for two reports from the Urban Institute on developing artist space. During his time at NYC’s Department of Cultural Affairs Schupbach managed capital projects for cultural institutions in coordination with other NYC agencies and assisted in the development of guidelines to involve artists in streetscape design and planning processes.

 

Katherine Stalker

Program Coordinator, Association of Architecture Organizations and Chicago Architecture Foundation

Katherine has a dual role as program coordinator for both the Association of Architecture Organizations (AAO) and the Chicago Architecture Foundation (CAF). For AAO, she edits the Association's monthly e-newsletter, maintains its website, and works with the director in organizing the annual conference. For CAF, she manages digital learning content, including www.architecture.org/LunchTalksOnline, a collection of multi-media resources related to the Foundation's free weekly lecture series. Prior to joining AAO and CAF in 2010, Katherine practiced architecture at a residential firm in Minneapolis.

 

Alice Stryker

Development Manager, Center for Architecture Foundation

Alice joined the Center for Architecture Foundation (CFAF) staff in 2012. She was part of the team planning the inaugural Guess-A-Sketch in May 2012 and led the efforts for 2013’s annual drawing completion and benefit. Alice plans and manages all fundraising campaigns and donor cultivation events for CFAF and works with the Executive Director to advance the strategic direction of CFAF’s fundraising initiatives. Alice grew up outside of Atlantic City, NJ and graduated in 2009 from Fordham University as a double major in History and American Studies. She went on to earn an MA in Museum Studies from The George Washington University, where she studied best practices for museum management and exhibitions. Before coming to CFAF, she worked at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture as an Exhibition Assistant on Musical Crossroads, where she got her first taste of fundraising. She then went on to work as the Director of Development at the Absecon Lighthouse.

 

Eric White

Executive Director, Boston Society of Architects

A Denison University graduate, Eric was selected in 2000 as one of 30 nonprofit leaders from around the world to participate in the Getty Leadership Institute, focusing on financial, marketing, team-building and strategic planning management. In 2012, Governor Patrick appointed Eric to the Massachusetts Creative Economy Council. In his spare time, he enjoys kayaking, woodturning, gardening, and learning about American and world history.

 

Esther Yang

Associate Director, The J. Max Bond Center on Design for the Just City

Esther Yang brings over a decade of professional experiences that intertwine design and social justice efforts. Her background focuses primarily on affordable housing and community development, but the passion that fuels all of her work and research is to promote integrated approaches and improvements that will empower individuals, communities, and cities. Working alongside the Bond Center’s Director, Toni L. Griffin, and many academic and industry partners, Esther advocates design practices, policies, and research to address unresolved challenges facing urban American cities. The Bond Center (opened May 2012) is currently exploring effective design strategies within cities with respect to issues of excessive vacancy, population disbursement, and aging infrastructure; affordable housing design research that examines design code barriers and cost burdens to reveal specific challenges that hinder NYC from overcoming its housing shortages; and implementing research and youth engagement programs to increase the diversity of people and perspectives representing the architecture discipline. The J. Max Bond Center opened in May 2012.

 

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