1290 Studio and Residence, Amherst MA Architect: Sigrid Miller Pollin, 2007 Peter Mauss, ESTO Photography

Greening The Valley: Sustainable Architecture in the Pioneer Valley
Thursday, February 11 - Sunday, May 9, 2010  
University Museum of Contemporary Art

For the first time in our region, a landmark exhibition on sustainable contemporary architecture and environmentally sensitive building practices will take place at The University Museum of Contemporary Art, Fine Arts Center, UMass Amherst. This three-month long project will run from February 11 through May 9, 2010. The exhibition, its related lecture series, and the Green Lounge* are designed to deepen the public's understanding and use of ‘green" design, while demonstrating that the key elements of sustainability can be accessible to all.

Sustainability has become an accepted concept that applies to people from a wide range of social and economic backgrounds. It requires broad systemic thinking around critical economic, social, as well as environmental issues. The exhibition will address these issues, providing a springboard for thought-provoking questions, discussions, and commentaries. The specific focus on the Pioneer Valley will highlight our region and its forward looking communities

The Pioneer Valley is rich in sustainable buildings that mirror national green trends in architecture and design. Through models, photographs, and virtual tours, the exhibition unites diverse works from large scale science buildings to private residences, low-income housing, and intimate gardens of natural inspiration - all of which illustrates the many ways that green design can help solve our environmental crisis. Greening the Valley includes works by nationally and internationally reknowned figures such as Michael Singer, Sigrid Miller Pollin and Charles Rose, as well as prominent architects from our region such as Coldham & Hartman, Kuhn Riddle, Austin Design, Juster Pope Frazier, Dietz & Co., and landscape architects such as Frank Sleegers of UMass. The goal of the exhibition is to bring together examples of green design, highlight their aesthetic and sustainable attributes, and impress upon our audience the visual and material accessibility of those features.

The exhibition is guest-curated by architectural historian Margaret Birney Vickery, Ph.D.

*The Green Lounge* is a meeting space, designed by local interior designers, within the University Museum of Contemporary Art. It is furnished with eco-friendly furniture and offers a comprehensive interactive database as well as a display of locally available green resources and materials from architects, builders, and suppliers. Visitors are invited to actively use this space to plan changes in their own built environment.

We gratefully acknowledge the following sponsors for their generous support of this exhibition: PeoplesBank; The Ramsey McCluskey Family Foundation; InteliCoat Technologies; Teagno Construction, Inc.; Stiebel Eltron; Bassette Company; Renaissance Builders; National Fiber; Whole Foods Market; Western Massachusetts AIA; and the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency, including support from the following local cultural councils: Amherst, Deerfield, Hadley, Longmeadow, Northfield, Pelham, Shutesbury, South Hadley, Sunderland, and Whately .

Special thanks to Thayer Street Associates, Inc.; Sasaki Associates, Inc.; Energy Federation Incorporated (EFI); Rural Development, Inc.; Beyond Green Construction; Oudens Ello Architecture; Summerlin Floors; Whetstone Engineering; New England Environmental, Inc.; Jon Thompson, Carpenter/Builder; Haydenville Woodworking & Design, Inc.; Benjamin Moore Paint Co.; and Cowls Building Supply, Inc.

at UMass Amherst: Creative Services, The Environmental Institute, Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning, Department of Art, Architecture, and Art History, and the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Engagement.

Green Lounge donors: Alpha Stone Concrete; Ashfield Stone; Barclay Furniture Associates, Inc./Furnature; Martin Brattrud; Designtex; Forbo Flooring Systems; Format Design Elements; Kalwall Corporation; KlipTech; Leader Home Center; Leeds Associates; The Lexington Group; Massachusetts Woodland Cooperative; Mercier Carpet; Herman Miller; Parksite Surfaces; J. Persing; Summerlin Floors; Westek Architectural Woodwork; and Wicanders Cork

Our deepest gratitude to guest curator Meg Vickery for her vision, scholarship, and personal dedication to the project; Joseph Krupczynski/Studio Projects for exhibition installation design; to Lisa Lukas and Lorin Starr of Lukas Design Interiors for the concept and design of the Green Lounge; to Don Teagno and Rob Christiansen for installation assistance; and to Jackie Hai of UVC-TV19 and Kari Njiiri for the garden video production.

Media Sponsors: Daily Hampshire Gazette, CSRwire, and WGBY.

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