VCU architectural history symposium will explore 'classics'

By J. Suzanne Horsley

Richmond, Va. — Virginia Commonwealth University graduate students from the School of the Arts will present fresh interpretations of conventional subjects during "Classics and Classicism," VCU’s ninth annual Symposium on Architectural History. The presentations will focus on new approaches to researching classical motifs and the architects who implemented them.

Symposium topics include: research on the origin of the so-called Palladian window, one of the most basic classical architectural motifs; a review of rare architectural books in the Library of Virginia, a treasure trove for architectural history students; the untold story of Richmond’s Cole Digges House, currently the home of the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities; the international phenomenon of interior decoration influenced by John Flaxman, the sculptor who illustrated Homer’s poetry; and research on Virginia architects John Clarke, George Winston and D. Wiley Anderson, as well as the previously unknown ancestral connection among John Ariss, the Callis family and Albert L. West, who designed several of VCU’s Victorian mansions.

"VCU has the only art history program in the country that hosts an annual architectural history symposium showcasing its own graduate students’ work," said Charles Brownell, Ph.D., VCU professor of art history and conference organizer.

The conference is co-sponsored by the Virginia Historical Society; the Center for Palladian Studies in America, which has underwritten the papers; the Maymont Foundation; the Valentine Museum/Richmond History Center; the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities; and the Library of Virginia.

The symposium will take place Friday, Sept. 28 from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Virginia Historical Society, 428 N. Boulevard, in Richmond. Registration is $10, $8.00 for members of sponsoring institutions and free for students. A post-conference reception is an additional $5.00. Registration by Sept. 21 is recommended. For registration information, call (804) 828-2784.