North Carolina

North Carolina Modernist Houses Announces 2015 Advisory Council

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To support the non-profit’s ongoing programming and initiatives.ncmhlogo-1

North Carolina Modernist Houses (NCMH), the award-winning non-profit organization dedicated to documenting, preserving, and promoting Modernist residential design across the state, has announced the members of the 2015 NCMH Advisory Council.

Advisory Council members serve for one year as support for NCMH’s ongoing programming, including trips and homes tours, the architectural movie series, and the Thirst4Architecture networking events. The Council also advises on special initiatives, such as the NCMH Legal Defense Fund, which protects endangered Modernist houses; Project BauHow, which provides CAD systems ninth and tenth graders in architectural drafting classes across rural North Carolina; and the annual George Matsumoto Prize for excellence in recent North Carolina Modernist residential design.

“The Advisory Council is a multi-talented and diverse cross-section of the Modernist community: architecture, real estate, construction, law, financing, historic preservation, and other disciplines,” said NCMH founder and director George Smart. “The 2015 Council is a superb team, one of our best yet.”

The 2015 NCMH Advisory Council members are:

  • Chandra Hester, VMZINC
  • Emilie Huin, 501 Realty
  • Leon Meyers, LE Meyers Builders
  • Dr. Marsha Gordon, NCSU
  • Jeremy Farber, Maplewood Building Company
  • Kim Weiss, Blueplate PR
  • Laura Frushone, First Citizens Investor Services
  • Tim Simmons, NC State Historic Preservation Office
  • Craig Kerins, The Raleigh Architecture Company
  • Laurent de Comarmond, Little Diversified Architectural
  • William Dodge, Eco-Ficient, MBCI
  • Mack Paul, Morningstar Law Group
  • Mary Frances Wilson, Preservation North Carolina
  • Marty Martin, Martin Law Firm
  • Judy Colditz, HandLab
  • Frank Konhaus, KONTEK Systems
  • Adam Carrington, Carrington Electric
  • Ivy Simon, Palette and Parlor
  • Angela Roehl, Keller Williams Realty
  • Charlotte Brown Wainwright, Architectural Historian
  • Gwynn Thayer, NCSU Libraries Special Collections
  • Eric Davis, Surface 678 Landscape Architects

Service on the Advisory Council is for the calendar year 2015. For more information on NCMH, visit www.ncmodernist.org.

redchair smAbout North Carolina Modernist Houses:

North Carolina Modernist Houses (NCMH) is an award-winning, 501C3 nonprofit organizations established in 2007 and dedicated to documenting, preserving, and promoting Modernist residential design. The website is now the largest open digital archive for Modernist residential design in America. NCMH also hosts popular architecture events every month and frequent home tours, giving the public access to the most exciting residential architecture, past and present. Founder and director George Smart presents his signature talk, “Mayberry Modernism: North Carolina Modernist Legacy,” to preservation and architectural groups, realtors, engineers, and other associations across the state. These talks, tours, and events raise awareness and help preserve these “livable works of art” for future generations. For more information: www.ncmodernist.org.

 

Bridges CAP/C Program and Hilltop Home Collaborate with “Money Follows The Person” To Make A Child’s Dream Come True

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November 29, 2011 (Raleigh NC) — A child living with complex medical needs will be moving from her

L-R: Maria and her twin sister Nicole.

current residential placement back to her family’s home due to the collaborative efforts of RHA Howell’s Bridges Community Alternative Program for Children (CAP-C), Hilltop Home (a private, nonprofit residential center), and the North Carolina “Money Follows the Person” project.

Money Follows the Person (MFP) is a state demonstration project that assists people who live in inpatient facilities to move into their own communities with supports. The project’s intent is to allow North Carolinians to have greater choice about where they receive their long-term supports.

This marks the first time that MFP has assisted in transitioning a child with complex medical needs back to her home through CAP-C. Much of the credit goes to Holly Lemieux, Executive Director of Hilltop Home, for recognizing that this particular child was ready to return home, and for getting CAP-C to assist in helping the family re-unite.

“This 18-month partnership with Hilltop Home and RHA Howell CAP/C has been a true labor of love,” Lemieux said. “After nine years, this family is realizing their dream of having Maria at home where she belongs. Many thanks to Lena Robertson, RHA Howell CAP/C case manager, for her advocacy in making this happen.”

The RHA Bridges staff has been working closely for months with Trish Farnham, Project Director, and Christy Blevins, Assistant Director for the MFP project, to make this family’s dream a reality.

“Our CAP-C professional team has been working diligently to identify the needs this child will have upon her discharge to ensure a seamless and successful transition back to home,” said John Gibbons, Director of Bridges CAP-C Case Management. “Our case managers also helped to organize home and vehicle modifications to make the environment ready for the child’s return home.”

The modifications included widening doorways, installing a ceiling lift to move Maria safely about the home, building an entry ramp, and modifying the family van to accommodate her wheelchair.

“It has been quite an undertaking for our case managers,” said Gibbons, “but one that has also been rewarding for all of us.”

MFP provided funding of $23,000 to help make this dream a reality. The funds were approved in advance to ensure that the needed modifications could be in working order prior to Maria’s discharge from Hilltop Home and before the effective date for her CAP-C services to begin.

For more information on North Carolina’s Money Follows The Person program: http://www.ncdhhs.gov/dma/medicaid/MFP.htm.

About RHA Bridges:

RHA Bridges, a program within RHA Howell, Inc., serves as a “bridge” between families, needed services, the Department of Social Services, the Division of Medical Assistance, physicians, and therapists. CAP-C Bridges helps to coordinate the work of home health professionals who provide care for children with medically complex needs through age 21. For more information on the Bridges CAP-C Case Management program, visit www.rhabridges.com or call 919-803-2960.

About RHA Howell, Inc.:

RHA Howell is a not-for-profit 501 (c) (3) organization that has been helping people with disabilities and special needs, and their families, make choices to live more independently for nearly 40 years. Integrity, high standards for quality and hard work are at the core of every RHA Howell disability assistance program. Proven leaders in caring for people, RHA Howell, Inc. is a pioneering force in the field of human services, particularly supporting infants and children. For more information, go to www.rhahowell.org.

Shoot Magazine Praises PSA for Raleigh,NC, Holocaust Commemoration

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March 3, 2008 (RALEIGH, NC) – “Remember,” a 30-section public service announcement (PSA) to support the annual Holocaust Commemoration in Raleigh, North Carolina, is featured this week in SHOOT, a national magazine, under the headline: “The Best Work You May Never See.”

Film director Allen Weiss of Raleigh wrote, directed and executive produced the PSA, for the North Carolina Council on the Holocaust. Weiss is the son of a 78-year-old Survivor who has carried the number the Nazis tattooed on his arm for 65 years. His father’s numbers inspired the concept behind “Remember,” Weiss said:

“The central concept of this piece is this: There is no better way to assert the fact that people are individuals and not numbers, than to assign numbers to people,” he said. “That’s exactly what the Nazi machine did. So this concept is simple — have Survivors, and their progeny, appear on camera and simply, bluntly, state their number.”

Trailblazers Studio in Raleigh donated time, equipment and a crew to produce the spot, which should air throughout the Triangle area (Raleigh, Durham Chapel Hill) area of North Carolina.

“In the wake of such a global catastrophe, this project is nothing more than a pebble tossed in the ocean,” Weiss said. “But the ripples that those pebbles create can be huge — as long as people keep tossing the pebbles, nobody will forget what they mean or where they came from.”

Shoot Magazine has been a leading national weekly publication for creative and production decision-makers at advertising agencies and in the television and film production industry for 46 years. Its contents are also available online to registered viewers at http://www.shootonline.com.

For more information on Remember, contact Allen Weiss at allwss@earthlink.net or call 919-272-8834.

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Official Salon Announced for High-End Fashion Show in Downtown Raleigh

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February 5, 2008 (RALEIGH, NC) – Samuel Cole Salon, an award-winning hair salon in North Raleigh, and its sister salon, Salon Moxie, will serve together as the Official Salon for STRUT a gala fashion show to be held in downtown Raleigh on Saturday, May 3, 2008, beginning at 9 p.m.

According to producer Brian Williams of Brian Williams Television (www.brianwilliamstv.com) STRUT will spotlight new collections by top designers with Raleigh roots, including Miranda Laughlin (dresses), Amy Stephenson (jeans), Guy Marshall (boots), Elizabeth Yarborough (jewelry) and Holly Aiken (bags), plus fashions from several local designers and boutiques.

And when the models strut down the catwalk in the designers’ couture, they’ll also be wearing hair and make up created by the stylists of Samuel Cole Salon (www.samuelcole.com).

“The behind the scenes action of a fashion show has more electricity than any other type of live production,” said Jack Ray, senior stylist and co-owner of both North Raleigh salons with his wife, Joelle. “All the creative energy and effort coming together to create a vision that will walk down the runway – it’s quite a rush. We are excited to be chosen for this amazing opportunity.”

Besides the cameras capturing the show itself, which will be televised on CW22 (Channel 2), more cameras will capture the excitement and frenzy backstage as the stylists prepare each model for his or her turn on the catwalk.

“Our stylists from both salons are very excited,” Ray said. “This is a fantastic opportunity for our team to showcase their talents and really be involved with fashion in the full context of hair, clothing and makeup.”

STRUT will feature live musical and dance performances along with the fashion show, Williams said. The specific venue will be announced soon, along with advanced ticket information. Social The Magazine is a partner in the venture.

Samuel Cole Salon, located at 240 Newton Road, was featured this summer in both Salon Today and American Salon magazines and will be featured in an upcoming edition of Estatica, an Italian style magazine. It was named one of the Top Ten Hair Salons and It has been voted as one of the top salon’s in Citysearch’s Best of the Triangle readers’ poll for several years. In 2006, it received Metro magazine’s “Metro Bravo” award for Best Salon in the Triangle.

For more information on Samuel Cole Salon, visit http://www.samuelcole.com. For more information on Salon Moxie, go to http://www.salon-moxie.com.

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Filmmaker, Holocaust Survivors at Work on “Remember”

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weiss%20family.jpg
February 5, 2008 (RALEIGH, NC) — Each year, in cities across the nation, special services are held to remember the Holocaust, honor its survivors, and raise awareness so that this atrocity will never happen again.

In Raleigh, North Carolina, a film director and the son of a 78-year-old survivor who has carried the number the Nazis tattooed on his arm for 65 years, has conceived of a way to support the effort through a public service announcement (PSA) that focuses on those haunting numbers.

Allen Weiss, whose father Harry managed to survive the Nazi death camps in Landesberg, Dachau and Aucshwitz, is working with Trailblazers production company in Raleigh to create “Remember,” a 30-second PSA that features survivors and their progeny – children, grandchildren – including his own father and his two daughters, Emily and Natalie Weiss. Trailblazers is donating time, equipment and crew to produce the spot, which should air throughout North Carolina (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill) if local television stations pick it up.

Coming up with the concept of “Remember” was just a matter of time, Weiss said.

“Being the child of a survivor, doing something to keep the Holocaust in the mind of the public was, to me, a given.

“The central concept of this piece is this: There is no better way to assert the fact that people are individuals and not numbers, than to assign numbers to people. That’s exactly what the Nazi machine did. So this concept is simple — have Survivors, and their progeny, appear on camera and simply, bluntly, state their number.”

After putting the idea on paper, he sought the approval of the person most responsible for it — his father.

“After he gave it his blessing, I brought it before the North Carolina Council on the Holocaust,” Weiss said. “They fully endorsed and approved the idea, but there is no money for production. So I called upon everyone I knew in the production community, and the support was overwhelming. The biggest endorsement and commitment came from Trailblazer Studios/Red Truck Films, right here in Raleigh. I have had an excellent relationship with them for many years, and their commitment was immediate and comprehensive.”

With the Council’s help, Weiss sought out other survivors. “This is at once the toughest and easiest casting job I’ve ever had,” Weiss said. “Easy because, well, they are who they are. And tough for the same reason.”

Two other survivors – Robert Spitz and Peter Leonard, both of Raleigh – agreed and showed up at Trailblazers’ studios recently to commit their faces and stories to film.

Three children of survivors also made themselves available to the production — Anya Gordon (of Irregardless restaurant), Mike Abramson (chairman of the NC Council on he Holocaust) and Maureen Werthheimer. Weithheimer’s two daughters — Kaylyn & Ariana Siporin – joined Harry Weiss’ granddaughters on film as grandchildren of survivors.

Allen Weiss and Trailblazers are editing the PSA now and hope to have it ready to present to area television stations within the month.

“In the wake of such a global catastrophe, this project is nothing more than a pebble tossed in the ocean,” Weiss said. “But the ripples that those pebbles create can be huge — as long as people keep tossing the pebbles, nobody will forget what they mean or where they came from.”

For more information on Remember, contact Allen Weiss at allwss@earthlink.net or call 919-272-8834.

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Candidates Quizzed on Coastal Issues

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media contact:
Kim Weiss, blueplate pr
919-272-8615; kjw27612@yahoo.com

CANDIDATES QUIZZED ON COASTAL ISSUES

February 4, 2008 (RALEIGH, NC) — How do the candidates for governor of North Carolina feel about coastal issues?

Dr. James Leutze, former chancellor of UNC-Wilmington and a columnist for Raleigh Metro Magazine – with coverage from the Triangle region to the coastal areas of North Carolina – offers a series of interviews in the March, April and May 2008 issues of the magazine featuring interviews with Republican and Democrat candidates on their views on beach renourishment; opening clogged barrier island inlets; protecting the coastal environment; and how to manage growth in the Inner and Outer Banks.

Leutze hosted two public television documentaries on coastal and waterway issues. His monthly column in Metro Magazine addresses the critical issues facing the coastal region. Go to http://www.metronc.com and enter the key words “Jim Leutze” or “Editor At Large”.

ALSO IN THE MARCH EDITION: Metro music editor Philip Van Vleck presents an exclusive interview with Raleigh-born singer/songwriter Tift Merritt about her new CD. Known for her intelligent lyrics and strong stage presence, Merritt offers new songs in her alt/country style. Metro was the first publication to cover Merritt a the beginning of her career. Go to http://www.metronc.com and enter the key words “Tift Merritt”.

“Southern Style,” Metro Magazine’s quarterly coverage of the latest trends in architecture, fashion, art and style, makes its 2008 debut in the March issue.

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Artist Creates Cool Interior For Hip New Boutique in Raleigh’s Trendy Glenwood South District

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Catch 22 interior
January 30, 2008 (RALEIGH, NC) — Clark Hipolito, the Raleigh artist who originally honed his skills at MTV, has created a hip ambience for Catch 22, a new clothing boutique on Raleigh’s trendy Glenwood South district, through his signature specialty painting effects.

Located at 322 Glenwood Avenue, Catch 22 features a turquoise wall emblazoned with gold script and eggplant walls where Hipolito free-handed scrollwork that pops behind the store’s collection of hand-picked collections from up-and-coming designers around the world.

The boutique is owned and operated by Heather Long who sees Catch 22 as “bridging the gap between Raleighwood and Hollywood.” The store carries some of her favorite styles for men and women as well as her own line of “super glam cocktail dresses.”

“I had some great inspiration working with Heather,” Hipolito said. “She has incredible design sense, so it was easy to bounce ideas back and forth and make things happen on the fly. She was so much fun to work with, and extremely easy going throughout the entire process.“

Catch 22 is also displaying some of Hipolito’s hand-painted woodgrain surfboards from his “Against The Grain” and “Surf du Jour” collections, which he creates through his new company ArtCo Surf.

Clark Hipolito is the principal of The Art Company, an interdisciplinary design firm specializing in various phases of interior design. The company has been consulting with private and commercial clients since 1994, and has both designed and decorated some of the trendiest destinations in Raleigh, including The Rat Pack, Ess Lounge at the Depot, Mosaic, and Five Star, Evoo and Margeaux’s. For more information, visit http://www.art-company.com.

For more information on Catch 22, visit http://www.shopcatch22.com.

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“Floating” House On A Raleigh Hillside Featured in Architectural Record

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January 26, 2007 (RALEIGH, NC) – A modern house perched on a steep hillside in Raleigh’s established Laurel Hills neighborhood is featured this month in Architectural Record, one of the profession’s most respected journal.

Raleigh architect Frank Harmon, FAIA, designed the 1800-square-foot house for Lynda Strickland when she relocated here from Washington, D.C. Her property is located within a 150-year-old beech and oak forest above Crabtree Creek.

“We knew we had to raise the house off the ground and let the water flow under it,” Harmon told Architectural Record’s Clifford Pearson, so he propped it on nine wood trusses sitting on concrete columns. “The strategy not only preserved the site’s hydrological patterns,” writes Pearson, “but allowed the architect to build without cutting down any major trees…”

In the article, entitled “Frank Harmon raised the Strickland-Ferris Residence off the ground, then let its roof take flight,” Pearson addresses the innovative “butterfly roof….floating above a band of windows wrapping around the top of the building,” which also helps collect rainwater for irrigating the forest floor.

Noting that Strickland told Harmon she wanted “to feel as if I were living in the trees,” Pearson writes: “A glass-and-steel wall running the length of the building and reaching as high as 27 feet creates an ethereal boundary between inside and out, between modern living and the great outdoors.”

Completed in 2004, the Strickland-Ferris residence has received design awards from the North Carolina Chapter of the American Institute of Architect (AIA/NC), and the AIA/NC Triangle section. It was also featured in Dwell magazine’s December edition.

A portion of the feature in Architectural Record is available online at http://www.archrecord.construction.com/residential/quarterly/0801strickland-1.asp. Photographs and a description of the house are also available at http://www.frankharmon.com under “projects.”

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Strickland-Ferris residence

Center City Church Commissions “Green” Architect Frank Harmon For New Master Plan

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December 14, 2007 (RALEIGH, NC) – First Presbyterian Church in Raleigh has commissioned Frank Harmon Architect to design a master plan for the entire church campus, which is located on the corner of Morgan and Salisbury streets in the downtown district, on the southeast corner of Capitol Square.

According to Frank Harmon, FAIA, his firm is working on a plan that will unite the different elements of the campus, provide open green space within the campus, introduce principles of environmentally sustainability, and improve the property’s accessibility, which features a five-foot grade change.

If the congregation approves Harmon’s plan, it will also involve replacing the current two-story educational building with a three-story structure (including basement), The new building will feature such “green” elements as a vegetated roof, an abundance of natural light and ventilation through atria and window placement, a geothermal heating/cooling system (or ground source heat pumps), and rainwater collection cisterns. Materials used will be locally available and, wherever possible, recycled.

The sanctuary also will be renovated to uncover original detailing that a previous remodeling obscured.

First Presbyterian Church was founded in 1861 and met in a small brick building on the same corner in downtown Raleigh until a sanctuary was erected in 1900. That sanctuary was remodeled in 1956. The current educational facility was built in 2001.

Frank Harmon Architect is an award-winning firm based in Raleigh. The firm recently completed a thoroughly “green” addition to the oldest church in Charleston, SC, the Circular Congregational Church on Meeting Street, which was praised at the Duke Endowment’s October conference “Trends in Modern Church Architecture: The Artistry and Greening of Our Churches.”

For more information on Frank Harmon, visit http://www.frankharmon.com.

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