Black Women in Architecture Network
for and by Black women in architecture.
Help us prepare for the 2025 BWA brunch.
Please respond to our participant survey and share the link with others.
The information will assist us as we seek support from sponsors who are interested in knowing our participants so they have an idea of the best way to connect with us.
Responses encouraged by February 25.
Thanks in advance.
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Also, Desiree Cooper ARE Scholarship App will be released soon!
VCUarts Lecture Series: Amber Esseiva
Lecture and Reception
February 4, 5:30p
Presentation from Essiva about her work
researching Amaza Meredith’s life,
as one of the first Black women to practice architecture,
and curating the Dear Mazie exhibit.
Institute for Contemporary Art at VCU
601 West Broad Street
Richmond, VA 23220
Join us to connect and uplift Black Women in Architecture at the 2024 BWA Brunch.
Organized in 13 cities around the US, we will join simultaneously. Then break for in-person networking and brunch.
Participate in a location of your choice or join in the virtual program from wherever you are.
An important component of the Riding the Vortex conference sessions is presenting the data on the demographics of the architecture profession to inform and allow attendees to discuss this information.
The data presented at the 2023 NOMA conference can be downloaded. The raw data is from the Directory or African American Architects and NCARB’s By the Number publication.
Go to the main event page for information.
The NOMA Foundation, the fiscal manager of the Desiree Cooper ARE Scholarship, has launched a new online portal to accept donations. Help support professionals working to complete their licensure exams by donating.
Donate to the scholarship by going to the NOMA FOUNDATION site and selecting 07 Desiree V Cooper Memorial Fund.
The Desiree V. Cooper (DVC) Memorial Scholarship Foundation seeks to honor the life and legacy of Desiree V. Cooper by championing the things she was passionate about in her professional career and personal endeavors: providing continual service to her communities and encouraging minorities and women in the advancement of their careers in architecture. Learn more about the Desiree Cooper ARE Scholarship.
Riding the Vortex for the 2022 NOMA conference was presented at a 180 turn from the usual sessions and focused on highlighting men and their stories. This was largely because we see int he data that the growth of the numbers of Black men in the architecture profession is flattening.
An important component of the Riding the Vortex conference sessions is presenting the data on the demographics of the architecture profession to inform and allow attendees to discuss this information.
The data presented at the 2022 NOMA conference can be downloaded. The raw data is from the Directory or African American Architects and NCARB’s By the Number publication.
Riding the Vortex accepted the Whitney M Young Jr from the American Institute of Architects at A’22, the Conference on Architecture, in Chicago at the end of June.
Our time there involved presenting a panel session on Wednesday, June 22. We shared a brief history of Vortex and invited Sabrina Herrell to share her career path, as we would do in a traditional Vortex panel. Sabrina is local to Chicago. She has an architecture degree and is a practicing attorney. We had great audience questions and heard from attendees on their experiences being in previous Vortex sessions. We even received kudos from attendee and 2022 Edward C. Kemper Award, Bob Berkebile, FAIA, who was in attendance when Young spoke at the AIA conference in 1968.
The collaborators also had a panel on the Expo floor. This session also highlighted the 15 year history of Vortex and allowed the collaborators to do more Q&A with each other and take audience questons.
The WMYJ Award winners from the past three years were invited to receive their medals as part of the Thursday keynote session. This included WMJY 2020 winner Gabrielle Bullock, FAIA and 2021 Winner Pascale Sablan, FAIA. They previously accepted their award virtually since the 2021 and 2020 were not in-person because of COVID. It was a great moment to be recognized by thousands of our peers.
On Friday, Vortex attended the AIA awards reception at the Chicago Architecture Center and had the chance to meet the other 2022 award winners including Mr. Berkebile.
Last, Riding the Vortex had the opportunity to participate in a photo shoot with President Barack Obama, before he participated in the Friday keynote. This was a great way to cap off our time of celebration at A’22.
Save the Date
September 18, 2022
Support the event by becoming a sponsor.
Join our email list.
Contact our team with questions.
Event proceeds benefit the
Desiree Cooper Memorial ARE Scholarship.
CONGRATULATIONS!
The Desiree Cooper ARE Scholarship Committee congratulates our scholarship recipients who have recently earned their architecture license.
THE Desiree Cooper ARE 2022 scholarship applications are due Due April 30, 2022.
http://bit.ly/DVC-ARE-SCHOL