Preservation planners, experts hosting “A Conversation in Preservation”

A panel of experts in the field of preservation, including Richard Guy Wilson, will lead a public discussion on the state of restoration as part of “A Conversation in Preservation,” scheduled for 9-11 a.m. Friday, Oct. 24 in Ochre Court.

Presented by the University’s Noreen Stonor Drexel Cultural and Historic Preservation Program with support from Chancellor M. Therese Antone, RSM, the event is open to the public, although space is limited. To RSVP, call (401) 341-3172.

Richard Guy Wilson, the Commonwealth Professor’s Chair in Architectural History at the University of Virginia and longtime host of “America’s Castles” on A&E, will present remarks to introduce the morning. A Salve Regina honorary degree recipient, he specializes in the architecture, design and art of the 18th to 21st centuries both in America and abroad. Wilson was a visiting fellow at Cambridge University (England) in 2007. Since 1979, he has directed the Victorian Society’s 19th Century Summer School that has been located in Boston, Philadelphia and Newport. Wilson has served as an adviser and commentator for a number of television programs on PBS and A&E, including 67 segments of “America’s Castles.”

Alyssa Lozupone, a Salve Regina graduate who earned her master’s degree at the University of Pennsylvania and is currently a fellow at the Preservation Society of Newport County, will discuss the importance of education for the effective practice of historic preservation in the United States.

Robert Russell, professor and coordinator of the CHP program, will present “Seeing Clearly: Old Houses, New Windows and Real Sustainability,” a talk about the value – both historic and economic – of retaining original fabric in a historic structure.

Wilson, Lozupone and Russell will then be joined on a panel by Diana Sylvaria, chairwoman of Newport’s Historic District Commission, and Justin Martin, preservation planner for the city of Providence, for a discussion. Owners of historic properties will have the opportunity to ask questions about historic district commissions, planning and zoning issues, and other issues as they relate to preservation.