Colonial Architecture: Real, Revival, Survival
Preservation in Collaboration with The Providence Preservation Society The Annual Salve Regina University Conference on Cultural and HistoricOctober 20-23, 2010Since the founding of our nation, Colonial architecture has been used to connote American values. Its revival has been a constant theme in American architectural production and although dismissed by modernists, it continues to be a major force today. In its day, Colonial architecture functioned as the center for social and economic practices, expressing race and gender relationships, gentility, and mercantile standing through its forms. In later periods, it played a role in restating, rebalancing, or even revising such practices, particularly as seen in the present-day Postmodern movement. As such, the flexibility of Colonial architecture seems to capture the best—and worst—of American society.
Salve Regina University’s 14 collaboration with The Providence Preservation Society will explore the history of Colonial architecture and all its versions from the founding era to the present day. Proposals for papers or panels may examine such subjects as: Colonial Architecture in Rhode Island or New England; early preservation efforts in New England; Colonial or Colonial Revival construction methods, iconography, decorative arts, and landscape; social, racial, and gender relationships in Colonial architecture, Colonial Revival (1876 to present) interpretations of the Colonial era, preservation challenges in Colonial or Colonial Revival structures, etc. This conference will be a unique collaboration between Salve Regina University’s Department of Cultural and Historic Preservation and Providence’s leading preservation advocacy organization. Salve Regina University, steward to many significant 19 buildings in Newport, RI, is actively engaged in preserving the splendor of its Gilded Age properties, while also adapting them for educational use. The Providence Preservation Society, a non-profit membership organization, was formed in 1956 to respond to the proposed demolition of a number of 18 celebrating its 54 city-wide preservation organization whose mission is to improve the quality of life in the city of Providence through historic preservation and enhancement of the built environment.
We welcome submissions from practitioners, preservationists, and scholars of all academic disciplines, as well as from younger scholars and graduate students. Proposals should include 250-word abstracts and CVs. Please send proposals by June 15, 2010, to: Catherine Zipf, Salve Regina University, 100 Ochre Point Ave. Newport, RI 02840
