AIA Vermont is pleased to announce the winner of the first round of the 2019 Carol Miklos Community Outreach Grant.

Devin Colman, Vermont's State Architectural Historian, applied for the $500 grant to help record and share the life experiences of architects who shaped the built environment of Vermont; the project is named the Vermont Architects Oral History Project. 

The Vermont Architects Oral History Project is anticipated to be an ongoing project, and this grant funding will enable the recording of the first two interviews: one with Robert Burley, FAIA Emeritus, and one with David Sellers, FAIA. Both of these individuals have maintained architectural practices in the Mad River Valley since the 1960s and undertaken projects around the state and nation.

The project's primary partner will be the Vermont Folklife Center, which will provide staff and equipment to conduct the interviews. Founded in 1984, the Vermont Folklife Center's mission is to broaden, strengthen, and deepen our understanding of Vermont; to assure a repository for our collective cultural memory; and to strengthen communities by building connections among the diverse peoples of Vermont. These oral history recordings will become part of the Vermont Folklife Center’s permanent collection. They will complement existing oral history interviews with Vermont architects, including William W. Freeman, FAIA (recorded in 1991).

In addition to Colman, the project team includes two current AIAVT members, Andrea Murray and Ryan Edwards, who will help with coordinating the interviews and identifying individuals for documentation in the future.

The final recordings will be available on the Vermont Folklife Center website, and AIAVT. The information contained in the interviews will be of use to architects and designers, students, historians, and building owners who want to know more about the history of Vermont’s built environment.

AIA Vermont's Scholarship and Awards Committee reviewed the applications, and committee members were impressed with this project's vision and appreciated the ways in which the Vermont Architects Oral History Project aligns with the grant's intention of fostering engagement with architecture and design in Vermont's communities.

The second round of this year's Carol Miklos Community Outreach grant is now open. The deadline to submit applications is September 1, 2019. Details on the grant and application requirements can be found here.