Newsletter | May 2016

Dear Colleagues,

I am very excited to inform you that AIA National recently accredited our Chapter for 3 years! It was a tedious process to collect the information that was requested, but it was so worth it, to receive confirmation that our Chapter provides its members the required core services. It is very gratifying to have a certificate that accredits our Chapter until May 1st of 2019.

If any of you have any ideas on how we can further improve our Chapter, please contact me or the members of the Executive Committee. We are open to listening to your suggestions and look forward to working together to keep this momentum going.

Due to my recent back surgery, I am unable to travel to Philadelphia for the National Convention. We will have great representation with Rene Melendez and Renee Jimenez. If there are other members attending please let Rene or Renee know. Our Chapter needs delegates to vote for the National Officers.

My apologies for missing this month’s meeting; due to the recovery period after the surgery I am unable to attend. I look forward to seeing you at our June meeting.

Best Regards,

Mary Stills, AIA, CNU-A

AIA El Paso Chapter President

Newsletter | April 2016

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Colleagues,

I was pleased to see a lot of architects and students at the Thom Mayne lecture. His words were very inspiring, his projects utterly eccentric, and his message about architecture was authentic. Thanks to Emmanuel Moreno and the EPCC Architectural Society from hosting such a dynamic architect.

I am very happy to announce that our Chapter has a new Associates Director and a new Executive Director. Marcella Attolini will serve as Associates Director and Madeleine Sara will be the Executive Director. Both ladies met the qualifications for these positions, they are both Associate Members of the Chapter and are eager to assist in the Chapters endeavors. In case you weren’t aware, the Executive Director position had been vacant for 3 years, so we are elated to have Madeline fill that role. Welcome Marcella and Madeleine to the Executive Committee!

We are pleased to announce a new program: “Donuts and Design”, intended to provide additional CEU’s for you, our Chapter members. Rene Melendez has been hard at work coordinating the programs and locations. He will soon give us details on proposed dates and morning times for these continuing education opportunities.

Our Chapter Committees are busy at work! There is still opportunity for you to join in and make a difference on our: Awareness & Advocacy, Fellowship, El Paso Chapter History, Golf Tournament, Archtober, Design Awards & Banquet, and Membership committees. Armando Jimarez and Eugenio Mesta from our Awareness & Advocacy Committee, represented our Chapter at the 2 day City’s Civic Design Lab workshop. We appreciate your time and commitment.

Next month on May 19th-21st is the National AIA Convention in Philadelphia. Voting for new candidates for National office will take place at the Convention. Please let me know if you will be attending the convention, we need 6 delegates to vote on behalf of our Chapter.

A quick update on our Chapter Accreditation. National AIA provided some comments regarding our application submittal from February. They required some additional information and documents were submitted by the new deadline, which was April 12th.

Because of all the hard work that many of our members are doing, we were able to fulfill many of the core service requirements. We will find out soon if our Chapter gets accredited for 1 year or 3 years, stay tuned.

Please continue to promote our profession by keeping your work inspiring and authentic.   

Best Regards,

Mary Stills, AIA, CNU-A

AIA El Paso Chapter President

Newsletter | March 2016

Colleagues,

Springing forward reminds me how fast this year is moving. Did you know that the practice of daylight savings time came about in the early 1900’s to make better use of daylight by adding one hour of standard time to the day and therefore conserve energy? This reduces the need for artificial lighting during evening hours and positively affects our built environment.

Our appreciation goes out to Coronado Stone & Tile for their generosity in sponsoring our February Chapter meeting. It’s my understanding that many chapter members were present and the presentation was very informative.

Rene Melendez and I unfortunately missed the Chapter meeting due to our attendance at AIA Grassroots. Despite the 30 degree weather, snow, and 2 hour difference of Detroit to El Paso, we both agreed that having the event in such an interesting city was a good move from the usual Washington scene. Detroit is a city that has been faced with many challenges. Recently, architects were inspired by the rich history, they met meeting urban challenges and made positive changes that have transformed the City.

Although there was so much to this event, of particular interest were the keynote speakers that enlightened us with talks of what 21st century cities need from architects, how to design waterfront cities (something atypical for us!), how to invent and innovate, and how to work with communities to create positive change with our built environment.

During the event, we received a list of the 2016 Declared Candidates for National office. Many were present during the wrap-up session to state their viewpoints. A person for each position will be elected at the 2016 AIA National Convention, we will have the opportunity to vote at the Convention.

    2017-2018 Secretary

    Julia A. Donoho, Esq., AIA, LEED AP (AIA Redwood Empire)

    Burton L. Roslyn, FAIA Emeritus (AIA New York)

    Bruce W. Sekanick, AIA (AIA Eastern Ohio)

    2017-2019 At Large Directors (one will be elected)

    Peter J. Exley, FAIA (AIA Chicago)

    2017 First Vice President/ 2018 President-Elect

    Brian P. Dougherty, FAIA (AIA Orange County)

    Carl Elefante, FAIA (AIA Potomac Valley)

    Ellis L. “Lanny” McIntosh, AIA (AIA Eastern Oklahoma)

The AIA National Convention will be held in Philadelphia on May 19-21. Also mark your calendars for the TxA Convention which will be held in San Antonio on November 3-5.

I hope you make great use of your ‘extra hour’, conserve energy and continue to March forward. I Look forward to seeing you at the March Chapter meeting. Please continue to promote our profession by forwarding #ilookup to all your contacts and let them know that architects are creating a better world.

Best Regards,

Mary J Stills, AIA, CNU-A

2016 AIA El Paso Chapter President

Newsletter | February 2016

PRESIDENT'S LETTER

It was a pleasure seeing you at the January Chapter Meeting. What a terrific turnout! Thank you to John Ziegler for a great presentation and to Mitsubishi Electric for sponsoring our meeting. It is always challenging to find a Sponsor for the January meeting, and John really came through when we called on him just a week prior to the meeting. Our first CEU of the year, more to come.

The Executive Committee is also very grateful to all of you who signed up to be a part of the Chapter Committees. Please see page 3 of the newsletter for a list of the Committees. It is early in the year and there is still opportunity for you to sign up.  Please contact me or the committee chair. A few Chair positons are still vacant, we welcome your leadership for these roles. I’m excited about the launching of these committees and look forward to the benefits that will arise from your efforts.

Please remember that a Chapter is only as strong as the individual commitment that we contribute to. We currently seek two individuals to fill the important positions of Executive Director and Associates Director. The descriptions for these positions are included on pages 6 and 7 of the newsletter. If you know somebody that would be ideal for either of these positions, please inform them of how indispensable their role will be to our Chapter and encourage them to apply.

Special recognition to BPSI, DWS Building Supply, Facilities Connection, and New Era Foam Spray for becoming the first Professional Affiliates of the year! We reach out to all our product representatives, experts that we call on daily, we hope that you too will join our Chapter as Professional Affiliates.

Next week Rene Melendez and I will travel to Detroit to attend Grassroots 2016, the AIA’s 42nd annual leadership event. Unfortunately we’ll miss the February Chapter meeting but we’ll report on the Grassroots event upon our return. We look forward to collaborating with fellow architects from around the Nation and share with them details about the Chapter we have the privilege to lead.

Best Regards,

Mary J Stills, AIA, CNU-A

2016 AIA El Paso Chapter President

Newsletter | January 2016

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PRESIDENT'S LETTER

Dear Colleagues,

With a new year comes new hope, new challenges and new promises.

We're off to a great start with a terrific Executive Committee.  Our Chapter leadership will continue to work hard to make our AIA El Paso Chapter even stronger.  With their assistance, the planning process has begun for this coming year.  This year we hope to; increase membership, collaborate with the student chapter and the Associates, assist the El Paso Architectural Foundation in scholarship fundraising, plan educational events, increase the number of CEU's offered, and update the strategic plan which was last updated in 2008.

The first step undertaken as your Chapter President is the application for the Accreditation of our Chapter.  AIA National has requested that all state and local components focus on seven core member services; membership communications, education, advocacy, elevate public awareness, governance, finance and general operations, and membership.  After AIA National reviews our application, they will offer assistance in areas that require improvement.  While in the process of preparing the required documentation for the application, I am reminded of what a strong Chapter we are and how much work has been done by so many architects to make it what it is today.  My appreciation goes out to all of you who have made that commitment to our profession and our community.

With that said, let's take aim to support our fellow architects, to take advantage of our Chapter resources and to become better advocates for our profession.  My request to each of you is to engage; volunteer, attend programs and support events, your participation will become its own reward!

Wishing you a successful year in your personal and professional lives.  Onward and upward!

Mary J Stills, AIA, CNU-A

2016 AIA El Paso Chapter President

Newsletter | November 2015

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PRESIDENT'S LETTER

Wow, we made it through another Archtober, and what a fabulous month it was for the El Paso Chapter AIA!  We celebrated throughoutthis time with all things Architecture, from the wildly successful “Chalk the Block” eventthrough the 2015 AIA Design Awards. Kudos to the several of youwho gave of their time and effort for providing for these events, especially Bruno Vasquez (Chalk the Block) and Rene Melendez (Design Awards).  We are working toward continuing this momentum by having our Design Award recipients featured on an upcoming“State of the Arts” radio segment; Stay tuned for that!

Although I regret to inform you that personal issues prevented my attendance, our Chapter continued to be well represented at the recent TxA Convention & Design Expo.  I’m looking forwarding to hearing about ongoings during this time from those who attended, who need to share their new found knowledge (and maybe some CEUs?) with our members.

Please be advised that, during our next slated meeting, on November 19th, we will be voting for a new TxA Director, to succeed Mr. Carl Daniel, who has performed superbly in that important capacity.  The following architects to be considered for this crucial position representing AIAEl Paso are:  Mr. Tommy Razloznik and Mr. Nestor Infanzon.

Have you checked the website, www. aiaelpaso.org lately?  We continue to develop this important portal with new content and migrating critical information relevant to our profession, and it’s looking good!

As always, I’m humbled by the great support afforded to me through the great leadership in your AIA Executive Committee; they are truly committed in making our organization shine.  Thanks.

It’s a great time to be an architect!

Jim Booher, AIA

Newsletter | September 2015

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PRESIDENT'S LETTER

September was a great month for our El Paso Chapter AIA.  We have successfully hosted another great AIA Golf Tourney; one which has garnered over $19,000 in dividends for the El Paso Architectural Foundation to use for local scholarships.  Earlier this month, chapter representatives (too many to list)  met with outsourced city consultants to discuss areas of Improvements relative to he City Engineering Department, and the Capital Programs they oversee.  The dialogue, hopefully, should enable the city to understand that, which the myriad of issues facing municipal projects, qualified design professionals are ideally suited to facilitate such important functions.  On Saturday, KTEP hosted myself, Rene Melendez, and Bruno Vazquez on their weekly “State of the Arts” Program.  Emphasis during this radio show was on “Archtober” and the positive impact architecture plays in our society.  The program was viewed so positively by the radio staff, that we were invited back , after our Design Awards Ceremony, to discuss the winners and further our discussion on the value of Architecture.

 Please participate by volunteering during the many scheduled events during “Archtober”.  Refer to the attachment in the newsletter which highlights the many events which are in need of our support through participation during the month in which we embrace all things architecture!

 Have you checked our newly rebooted website, www. aiaelpaso.org, yet?  Global changes to this important site have been implemented, resulting in a dynamic forum to laud our achievements and provide our chapter, as well as the public,  with information vital to our profession.  Your officers continue to cultivate content and will keep the website fresh and updated; strong kudos to all of them who have contributed greatly to this to this important effort. I am humbled to have such a dedicated team to work with!

Lastly, I continue to encourage our membership to attend the this year’s upcoming TxA Convention on November 5-7 in Dallas, Texas.  It’s a great opportunity to network with colleagues, obtain some coveted CEUs, and partake in the many slated events.

It’s a great time to be an architect!

Jim Booher, AIA

Newsletter | August 2015

Newsletter | August 2015

PRESIDENT'S LETTER

As we emerge from the Dog Days of Summer, our upcoming Chapter activities are many:

With only a few weeks left from tee-time, our AIA Golf Tournament is rapidly approaching. As the major fundraiser for the El Paso Architectural Foundation, this premier golf outing provides scholarship money and great fellowship for ourselves and our building partners. I can readily attest to the formidable efforts expended by the Golf Committee through the Leadership of its chair, Mr. Bruno Vasquez; they have performed admirably in facilitating this event. 

President’s Message | JUNE 2015

PRESIDENT'S LETTER

As the temperatures continue to rise, so does the progress of your Executive Committee in facilitating the upcoming events which benefit the El Paso Chapter AIA. Bruno Vasquez continues to do a stellar job in providing for the upcoming AIA Golf Tourney (refer to details in the newsletter); please assist by spreading the word to your business partners to support this effort which fuels our EPAF Scholarships.