CORNERSTONE COMMEMORATION

Our featured speaker Leslie Greene Bowman, President of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, celebrated the University’s prestigious heritage with us at our Cornerstone Commemoration. Thomas Jefferson’s dream was for the University of Virginia to be one of the United States’ best institutes of higher education. Two centuries and one UNESCO World Heritage Site later, UVA has exceeded his expectations. The Colonnade Club is proud to call Jefferson’s beloved Lawn, and the first-ever pavilion, our home. The laying of Pavilion VII’s cornerstone was attended by no less than three U.S. presidents: Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe.

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Lecture:“Slaves and Slavery in the Academical Village” by Professor Kirt Von Daacke

The Colonnade Club was honored to host guest lecturer Dr. Kirt von Daacke, co-chair of the UVA President’s Commission on Slavery and the University, as well as published author of Freedom Has a Face: Race, Identity, and Community in Jefferson’s Albemarle. Dr. von Daacke’s research centers upon social constructions of race, community social hierarchies, and identity in eighteenth and nineteenth century America. His lecture covered the complex racial dynamics that were in play during the earliest years of the University.

You can find more information on the President’s Commision on Slavery on their website. A Visitor’s Guide on slavery at the university can be found here.

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NEW CORNERSTONE FOR THE UNIVERSITY

In February, the students of the School of Architecture at UVa presented on the potential of a new cornerstone and ceremony to commemorate the bicentennial of the first cornerstone for the University. Alexander Kitchin and his students presented again on this exciting project and how it has progressed since their last discussion in February. Currently adjunct faculty at the University of Virginia School of Architecture, Alexander teaches a design process that investigates the character inherent in materials and how the process of making informs the spaces we design. His studios are part of the Design Thinking Concentration with an emphasis on community engagement and on the skills inherent in the architect’s critical thinking approach. His research includes a hands-on approach to architecture through the active fabrication shop. He has taught, visited and lectured at schools across the country and abroad in architectural design, fabrication, theory, and photography.

Colonnade Club
THOMAS JEFFERSON IN PARIS: CONCERT & RECEPTION

The evening started with refreshments and hors d’oeuvres Parisian style in company of Bill Barker as Thomas Jefferson, followed by a 60 minute violin and harpsichord performance by David Sariti and Jonathan Schakel. It included works for violin and harpsichord, and harpsichord alone, with all the music either from Jefferson’s collection or what he might have heard while he lived in Paris between 1784-1789. Composers included Viotti, the Italian violin virtuoso who was in Paris at the time, Claude Balbastre, who was Martha’s harpsichord teacher, and others.

Colonnade Club