News

The Jan and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art at UC Davis, CA, broke ground on March 1, 2014 at the Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for Performing Arts. Lord Cultural Resources developed the architectural program and advised on the design-build team selection process.

Read more at shremmuseum.ucdavis.edu or watch UC Davis' video on Art in the Making: 

The first phase of our client's project, the Witte Museum’s B. Naylor Morton Research and Collections Center, opened on March 1 in San Antonio, TX. The new B. Naylor Morton Research and Collections Center now offers permanent storage to 300,000 artifacts collected over 86 years. All objects are maintained under optimum temperature, humidity and light levels to safeguard them for future generations. Except for light-sensitive works on paper and textiles, most collection items are on constant view or in pull-out drawers enabling thousands of artifacts to be accessible to the public for the first time. The new Center includes the Orientation Gallery, San Antonio Express-News Reading Room, Peggy Walker Archives and the Texas Art Storage Gallery. Lord Cultural Resources was the exhibition designer, interpretive planner and space planner for the project.

Gail Lord, Co-President, Lord Cultural Resources, was extensively quoted in an article by YorkRegion.com on development of an Arts District in the City of Vaughan, ON. Gail Lord facilitated the Working Session of the Vaughan City Council, and led the discussion on the development of a vibrant arts and culture scene in Vaughan. Gail stressed the importance of updating the Vaughan cultural plan, which would include consultation with the public to discuss the current trends in cultural planning and the ways and means of moving forward.

Read the article: Vaughan receives expert advice on creating arts, culture hub

Every February, the United States and Canada commemorate Black History Month to honor the legacy of people of African descent, past and present. At Lord Cultural Resources, we honor these legacies every day. Just recently, the firm has been commissioned to complete a Strategic Feasibility Study for the conversion of the apartment and building where Civil Rights leader, Rosa Parks, once resided. From 1951-1957, Mrs. Parks resided at 632 Cleveland Court, a public housing community and during that time, played a pivotal role in the historically significant bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama. To appropriately commemorate and honor Mrs. Parks, the Montgomery Housing Authority, is exploring the creation of a museum or other suitable alternative use for the building.

Simultaneously, our firm is working with museum and heritage staff to commemorate the stories of people of African descent at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC; the National Urban League in New York; Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in New York; Black Loyalist Heritage Society and Africville in Nova Scotia.

Lord Cultural Resources has worked on a team led by Sasaki & Associates to develop a Master Plan for Fort Monroe, a recently decommissioned Army base on a site with 400 years of historical significance, just outside Hampton, Virginia. We have been developing a cultural strategy as part of the Fort Monroe master plan. The outgoing governor of Virginia, Bob McDonnell, has just signed the approval of the plan.

Read the news story here.

Lordculture participated in MAPIC, the International Market for Retail Real Estate conference, on November 14, 2013 in Cannes, France. The event gathered thousands of retailers, investors, city representatives and developers.

Gail Lord, Co-President, was Guest Speaker at the 39th Annual Heritage Toronto Awards & William Kilbourn Memorial Lecture at the Koerner Hall, The Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto, on October 15, 2013. Gail spoke about Building Heritage with Innovation.

Congratulations to the Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CMHR) who will open its doors to the world on September 20, 2014! The CMHR is the first museum in the world solely dedicated to the evolution, celebration and future of human rights. It is the first national museum in Canada to be built outside the National Capital Region. Lord Cultural Resources has been involved in this project from the early stages and we are thrilled about the announcement. Read the press release in English and French.

Barry Lord, Co-President, has been interviewed by Phil Brown, The Courier-Mail newspaper in Australia. Our firm is working in Brisbane together with Cox Rayner Architects and urban planners Urbis to develop the Cultural Precinct Master Plan, a 20 year vision statement for South Bank area. Read the online article entitled "Cultural expert Barry Lord says South Bank needs children's art gallery or museum".

Barry Lord, Co-President, won "Best Paper Award" for his research paper entitled Energy and Cultural Heritage: How Values Change from SCHeMa 2013: International Conference on Sustainable Cultural Heritage Management at the RomaTre University in Rome, Italy on October 11-12, 2013. The Scientific Committee presented Barry with the Award in recognition of the research paper quality, originality and significance in Cultural Heritage Management.