Once upon a time last month, I was at Tokyo Garden talking to Kiel Famellos-Schmidt, the curator of ArcHop. I had the bright idea to videotape him discussing this month's event and post said video here for the wonderful readers of The Beehive to get familiar with ArcHop, an ArtHop spin-off dedicated to architecture.

The batteries in my camera being depleted, I asked my always-kind blogging cohort Ms. Heather McLane to use her video camera, a request to which she obliged. It wasn't until a few weeks later, when I realized I soon needed to post the footage, that I learned a horrible truth: H-Mac deleted my video!

While I place all the blame firmly on Ms. McLearnWhenToDelete, I feel that I owe some Beehive love to Thursday's ArcHop event. So instead of a video, here are a couple of fliers and a post that Famellos-Schmidt wrote on Mindhub this week.

Thursday, July 3rd, 2008
Exhibition opens: 5pm
Cultural Arts Building/Broadway Studios
1416 Broadway St. @ Tuolumne Ave.
Panel Discussion: 7pm
Free to the public

You are invited to the next ArcHop exhibition. The focus is San Joaquin
Valley Student Work. The work 13 local students from 7 different schools of
architecture will be on display. This unique exhibit is taking a regional
look at architecture and design talent.

ArcHop will also host a forum on Architecture Education. The panel is made
up of distinguished educators: Bill Simonian, former academic director for
SCI-Arc; Art Dyson, Dean Emeritus of Frank Lloyd Wright School of
Architecture, Rolando Gonzales, Architecture Dept. Head at College of the
Sequoias; and Ken Zamora, Architecture Dept. Head at Fresno City College.

This quarterly program aims at bringing design professionals, architects,
urban planners, artists and the public together in dialogue on Fresno's
built environment. Our culture, our city, and our architecture stand to
benefit from an open discussion on these topics.

This American Institute of Architects - San Joaquin event is sponsored by
Darden Architects, and Taylor Teter Partnership. Students sponsored by:
Armstrong Architects, Anthony C. Ping & Associates, Lew & Patnaude Inc, and
T Architects

Now for a little justification why you should attend ArcHop the day before
the 4th of July. Thomas Jefferson was one of our key founding fathers and
co-authored the Declaration of Independence. This document was adopted on
July 4th, 1776. The Declaration is considered to be the founding document of
the United States of America, where July 4 is celebrated as Independence Day
and the nation's birthday.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Declaration_of_Independence

Thomas Jefferson also founded the University of Virginia, and:
"In 1817, Thomas Jefferson proposed an idea that he had conceived as early
as 1781 that the study of Architecture and the Fine Arts be included in the
curriculum of the University of Virginia. Architecture as a course of study
was to be placed in the School of Mathematics, and the Lawn, with its
various orders of classical architecture, was to serve as an instructional
model for the student body. It was not until 1919, however, that a School of
Fine Arts was established...Architecture was separated from Art in 1954.
Preservation studies were emphasized, and the Thomas Jefferson Medal in
Architecture and Professorship were co-founded with the Thomas Jefferson
Foundation to bring leading scholars and architects to the School. "
http://www.arch.virginia.edu/theschool/history/

So in conclusion, it is a disservice to Thomas Jefferson, Independence Day,
the United States of America, and democracy as a whole if you do not attend
ArcHop, this Thursday July 3rd.

In my opinion this is the best ArcHop exhibit yet, let's make it the best
turnout as well.

Thanks,

Kiel Famellos-Schmidt
ArcHop Curator
o: (559) 437-0887
c: (510) 269-3473
archop@gmail.com
www.openarchitecturenetwork.org/node/942