THE REVIEWERS
CLAIRE ANDRADE-WATKINS | PhD
www.spiamedia.com
Claire Andrade-Watkins, PhD, a second generation born Cape Verdean Fox Point native, is a Professor of Africana and Postcolonial Media Studies, Institute for Liberal Arts & Interdisciplinary Studies, Emerson College, and founder and President of SPIA Media Productions, Inc., a production and distribution company specializing in media from the African Diaspora.
She is a 2016 Visiting Scholar, Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice, and a Fellow, Swearer Center for Public Service at Brown University. She is a scholar of francophone and lusophone African cinema, a 1995-1996 Fulbright Scholar in Cape Verde, and a recipient of an American Philosophical Society grant in 1997. Grants received for filmmaking and other projects include: LEF Foundation; Emerson College Faculty Advancement Grants; multiple grants from both the Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities and the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities; and a 2009 Massachusetts Cultural Council Artist Fellow in Film.
She is the director of the Fox Point Cape Verdean Project, a community based research initiative created in 2007 by descendants of the founding Cape Verdean families of Fox Point to document, preserve and commemorate the legacy of the former Cape Verdean community in Fox Point. In 2014 they formed a non-profit to build the Fox Point Cape Verdean Heritage Place at India Point Park, designed by internationally acclaimed landscape architect, Carol R. Johnson of CRJA Landscape Architects.
A 30 year retrospective of her work, entitled, "Our Rhode: Thirty years of Cinema by and about Cape Verdean Rhode Islanders," was shown at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, June l8 & l9th.
MARISA ANGELL BROWN | PhD
www.genieloci.com
Marisa Angell Brown is the founder and principal of Genie Loci, creating unique exhibitions, installations and multi-media experiences that engage the public with architecture, landscape, preservation and place; her work has been covered by Metropolis and Architectural Record. Brown is also the Assistant Director of Programs at the John Nicholas Brown Center for Public Humanities at Brown University. She has a PhD in architectural history from Yale, tweets @genieloci and has been accused by David Brussat of having a “steak for me, burger for thee” attitude because she lives in a historic house off of Benefit Street but also loves modernist – yes, even Brutalist – architecture.
DAVID BRUSSAT
architecturehereandthere.com
David Brussat is an architecture critic whose blog Architecture Here and There has a global following. As a member of the editorial board of the Providence Journal he wrote about architecture and the wide range of other subjects in the news for 30 years. His weekly Thursday oped column began in 1991 and his Journal blog began in 2009. It became independent in 2014, and continues to express his love for historic architecture, his support for new traditional architecture, and his suspicion of modern architecture. He was born in Chicago, grew up in Washington, D.C., and moved to Providence in 1984. Now a freelance writer and editor, he lives on the East Side with his wife, Victoria, and their son, Billy, age 7.
IAN BALDWIN & JONATHAN BELL | AIA, LEED-AP
www.thedualstudio.com
Ian is Principal and Cofounder of DUAL Architecture Studio in Providence, RI. Ian worked on public infrastructure, K-12 and university projects at two of the largest firms in New York before moving to Rhode Island in 2009. Prior to returning to architecture school, Ian was a reporter and writer for magazines including Kiplinger's, Travel + Leisure, and US News & World Report. Recently, he has written on design and urbanism for such outlets as Architecture Boston, The Architectural Review and Metropolis Online.
Ian has a B.A. from New York University and an M.Arch. from the University of Pennsylvania, and has taught at RISD and several universities including Brown, Northeastern, and NYU.
Ian lives with his family in Providence in a loft in a former furniture factory, and feels fortunate to survive his weekly over-30 soccer game.
Jonathan Bell is Principal and Cofounder of DUAL Architecture Studio in Providence, RI. Jonathan has over 18 years of experience as an architect and educator in New York and Rhode Island, where his professional interests have been shaped by a range of projects with individuals, universities and mission-oriented nonprofits.
Jonathan holds a B.A. from Wesleyan University and an M.Arch. from Princeton University, and has taught at the Rhode Island School of Design (since 2011) and Roger Williams University (2001-2015). He is a registered architect in Rhode Island, a member of the American Institute of Architects, a LEED Accredited Professional, and holds a certificate from the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB).
Jonathan lives with his family in Providence, in a 200-year old house that always needs some attention.
COLLETTE CREPPELL | AIA, LEED AP
Collette Creppell, AIA, LEED AP, was recently appointed university architect for Brown University. Previously Collette served for ten years as university architect and director of campus planning for Tulane University and for two years as a principal and director of urban strategies in the nationally recognized firm of Eskew+Dumez+Ripple. Having trained in the architecture offices of Rafael Moneo, Ben Thompson & Associates, and Moshe Safdie in the U.S. and abroad, Ms. Creppell established a design and planning firm in New Orleans, Design for Public Spaces, while teaching as a clinical assistant professor at Tulane School of Architecture. A former city planner in New York City, Ms. Creppell served as Executive Director of the New Orleans City Planning Commission.
Ms. Creppell has served as a national awards jury member and chair for the Society of College and University Planning, as vice chair of the Board of the New Orleans Building Corporation, and on numerous non-profit, civic and educational boards. Collette holds a Bachelor of Arts degree, cum laude, from Harvard College and a Master of Architecture degree with distinction from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, on whose Alumni Council she serves.
C. MORGAN GREFE | PhD
C. Morgan Grefe is the Executive Director of the Rhode Island Historical Society. She has been at the RIHS for more than eleven years, serving as the Director of the Goff Center for Education and Public Programs for 6.5 of those. In the summer of 2011 she took the helm of the RIHS. Her work as a historian focuses on U.S. social, cultural and public history, with special attention on R.I. She holds a Ph.D. in American Civilization from Brown and a B.A. and M.A. from the University of Pennsylvania in the same. Her recent publications include, “‘Jews, Turks, and Infidels:’ How Rhode Island’s Lively Experiment Helped Chart the American Way” and “Sourcing a Rhode Island Legend: The Story of Kady Brownell.” She lectures widely on topics relating to Rhode Island’s social and cultural history, as well as the history education crisis in our state and nation. She has lived in Rhode Island for more than seventeen years and makes her home in Pawtucket with her spouse, artist Gage Prentiss.
BRIAN GROSS | Creative Director
www.nail.cc
Brian founded Nail in 1998 and never looked back. Largely because of a pulled muscle in his neck. But even back then on the borrowed computers in the unheated office, Brian’s single-minded focus was on great ideas (as well as finding adequate food and shelter).
The result has been 10-fold growth and fifteen straight years as Rhode Island’s leading agency at the Hatch Awards for Creative Excellence. He’s also won Webbys, Cannes, One Show, Clio, Communications Arts, FWA and a whole bunch of other awards (can you believe how many awards this stupid industry gives itself?).
An SVA graduate, Brian joined Grey and learned how great ideas could be destroyed by a monolithic bureaucracy. He then moved to a boutique in Boston where he learned how great ideas could be destroyed by huge egos and an enthusiasm for vodka. He vowed these were issues Nail would never deal with.
And if you’re one of those people who loves to see the names of big brands a person has worked on, this will be your favorite part of Brian’s bio: Domino’s Pizza, Kool-Aid, Vail Resort, BMW, Salomon, Ray-Ban. We could go on but we don’t want you to get too worked up.
J. HOGUE
Highchairdesign.com
J. Hogue is the Director of Design and User Experience at Oomph, a web solutions firm based in Providence. He has been a designer for 20 years and a web developer for over 10. I am involved at the beginnings of new projects, helping to lead discovery sessions, information architecture, wireframing and initial design explorations. He is also the creator of ArtInRuins, a website dedicated to documenting and reporting on abandoned and underutilized buildings in Providence. J. offers his UI talents to a variety of organizations that he believes in, including PPS.
COLGATE M. SEARLE, JR. | MLA, FASLA
Colgate M. Searle, Jr., FASLA is widely recognized for his long-term, continuous commitment to the profession of Landscape Architecture through teaching and community-based, participatory environmental and ecological design projects. A symbiosis among academic service, professional practice, and community service aptly characterizes his career. He is a Professor of Landscape Architecture at the Rhode Island School of Design. He has been teaching a wide range of courses for over forty years, within the Departments of Landscape, Architecture, and the Freshman Foundation. He is the originator and teacher of the interdisciplinary course, “Field Ecology/Design Foundations.” He is the ongoing professor for the RISD/EARTH University wet/dry tropics research collaborative studios.
Colgate is a registered Landscape Architect and Principal in the landscape architectural design and planning firm of Searle Design Group, founded in 1975. The firm has earned its reputation for award-winning work, especially in the areas of planning and restoration of environmentally sensitive lands, and historic landscape rehabilitation. Colgate has had over 40 years experience working on numerous scaled projects along the Blackstone River from Worcester to Providence.
JOHN R. TSCHIRCH | MA
www.johnstories.com
John Tschirch is an award winning architectural historian. He received his M.A. (1986) in Architectural History and Historic Preservation from the School of Architecture at the University of Virginia. His thirty year career in the preservation and study of historic landmarks across the globe brought him on treks to French chateaux, English castles, Italian villas, Austrian palaces, Croatian fortresses, Argentinian mansions and the Gilded Age houses of America. His roving eye continually seeks out all things interesting and evocative in the world of design, from the domes of ancient emperors to industrial sites, gravestones, decaying iron fences and the occasional mid-century Modern ice cream sign.
Working with great buildings has led to John’s present adventures as a writer. The people and places of times past inspire his historical fiction, including the Beauty Tales Trilogy, based on the classic fairy tales of Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella and Little Red Riding Hood, and Gods and Girls: Short Stories on Art, Seduction and Obsession.
John’s work in preserving and interpreting historic sites has been featured in the Magazine Antiques, Martha Stewart Living, The New York Times and Conde Nast Traveler and he has appeared on the A&E documentary series, America’s Castles. From 1986 to 2013, he served the Preservation Society of Newport County, first as Director of Education and later as Director of Museum Affairs and Architectural Historian, overseeing the curatorial, conservation, education and research activities at the organization’s eleven historic house museums and gardens. His professional publications include “The New Thing at Newport: The Tiffany Glass Wall at Kingscote” in The Magazine Antiques (January 2013), the essay, “Newport Cottages” for The Encyclopedia of New England Culture (Yale University Press, 2005) and “Newport” in Parisian Palaces of La Belle Epoque (Paris 1992). In recognition of his service to historic preservation, he is an Honorary Member of the Garden Club of America and received the 2013 Frederick C. Williamson Professional Leadership Award from the Rhode Island State Historic Preservation and Heritage Commission.
John is presently an instructor in design history for Rhode Island School of Design CE, which presented him with the 2010 Excellence in Teaching Award, and he is adjunct faculty in art history at Bristol Community College, where his students provide endless inspiration and amusement. He is also the creator and author of a monthly design history blog called John Stories: Confessions of the Globetrekking Architectural Historian, John Tschirch, featuring his photographs and commentary on historic places.
RAYMOND TWO HAWKS WATSON | MA
Raymond Two Hawks Watson is a Providence community activist, artivist and cultural development consultant who was born and raised in Providence, Rhode Island. Two Hawks grew up in the city’s Mt. Hope and Fox Point neighborhoods, and is a product of the Providence Public School system, graduating from Classical High School in 1997. Two Hawks graduated from Union College in Schenectady, New York, with a B.A. in political science in 2002 and from the University of Rhode Island in 2005 with a master’s degree in community planning, concentrating in housing and community development.
Professionally, Two Hawks is not only the CEO and founder of the Providence Cultural Equity Initiative (a cultural development consulting company), but also served as both the executive director of the Mount Hope Neighborhood Association, Inc, and is an adjunct professor for Roger Williams University’s Community Development program. Two Hawks is an executive/founding member of the Eastern Medicine Singers American Indian Drum Group, and also serves as Pomham Sachem of the Mashapaug Nahaganset Tribe, Sunnâdin Sachem of the Nehantick-Nahaganset Nation, and national director of the Federation of Aboriginal Nations of America (FANA).
In April 2016, he was awarded the Rhode Island Foundation's 2016 Rhode Island Innovation Fellowship. Watson will receive $300,000 over three years to launch an initiative designed to expand multi-cultural tourism and improve cultural cohesion.
LAURIE VOLK & TODD ZIMMERMAN
Laurie Volk and Todd Zimmerman are co-managing directors of Zimmerman/Volk Associates, a New Jersey-based residential research and development consulting company. The company is generally acknowledged to be the leading expert on the residential market feasibility of urban, mixed-income, compact, traditional and sustainable neighborhoods and has been working in Providence since the mid-1990s. Laurie and Todd have a loft in the Jewelry District and wish they could spend more time there.