Latinos in Architecture - Exhibition

Thank you so very much to everyone who came to the Dallas Center for Architecture to celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month. LiA's event was very well attended and well received!

Please note that this exhibition recognizing local Hispanic architects will stay at the DCFA until October 15th.
Also on display is a photographic show "Hispanic Architectural Traditions in Dallas-
A Photographic Celebration" by Juan A. Navarro.

http://www.dallascfa.com/events/latinos-in-architecture-exhibition.html

LiA Book drive update

On Saturday September 4th, we met at the offices of Perkins+Will and starting working on sorting out the books collected for the "From an Architect's Bookshelf" program.
Jose Martinez (WRA Architects), Georgina Sierra (UTA), Jimmy Castellanos (Perkins+Will), Fred Peña (Perkins+Will), Ashley Peña, Isaac Robinson (BRW), Paola Contreras (HDR), Juan Navarro (Perkins +Will), Yesenia Blandon (Perkins+Will) and Claudia Barron (PBK Architects) volunteered to go over dozens of art, architecture and interior design books and have them ready to be distributed to our three beneficiary schools within the next weeks.
We would like to thank HALFF Associates for sponsoring breakfast for the volunteers. Thank you!
http://www.halff.com/

"From an Architect's Bookshelf" book donation program would provide local educational institutions with these books, journals and monographs that are essential for teaching and research of Architecture but too costly for most schools or scholars to afford. The program was envisioned as a library development project, with all the material donated through the LiA community, to a local high school(s).
LiA's goal was to collect 200 books, and we are pleased to announce that our architectural community did come forward to support education, create awareness of architecture and art and raise exposure of our profession as a career path, and collected 724 books and 330 architectural magazines!

Thank you to the Bookshelf Leaders at the architecture firms, that donated their time and effort to make the program known, and successfully collected so many books, to the group HACER of the City of Dallas and to everyone that participated.
We will be updating you on the distribution of the books.

Skyline Architecture Cluster Orientation

By Martha Beary and Fred Peña

On Sept. 2, several LiA members attended the orientation for the Architecture Cluster at Skyline High School. Martha Beary, Jose Martinez, Selina Hinojosa and Fred Peña had the opportunity to share their experiences of the process of becoming an architect.

The program for the evening consisted of informing the students and their parents about the activities that the cluster is involved in. Within that presentation Martha and Fred spoke briefly about the Architecture field. After the formal presentations, the four LiA members were able to speak with several students and their parents one-on-one to answer questions and give advice for those interested in pursuing architecture.

This is what Martha had to say about the evening:

“This was an unforgettable experience for me. Skyline is not a traditional High School and is the first public school in the country to offer courses in architecture, a model for another 9 which have since sprung across the nation. I am very impressed with the school’s curriculum and involvement with the Architecture community such as the AIA, ACE, El Centro, SEED, UT Arlington, Texas A&M, UT Austin, and Harvard.

The level of work and opportunities the students are exposed to are an enabler to embrace their dreams of becoming the great architects of the future. Having the opportunity to share my experience and challenges as a working mother of two children and how the passion I have for my career helped me overcome all the obstacles. I shared with them that attaining my goal gave a sense of accomplishment because I was representing not only the Latino community but the female Latino architect.

I was able to answer many questions from parents and students who are interested in following this amazing dream of getting to college in the Architecture field, assuring them that with dedication and perseverance all goals are possible. If I only had the opportunity Skyline High School offers to their students, decisions supporting my career path would have been much easier”.-Martha C.Beary