Sarah Cullins at First Night 2012

TruexCullins is proud once again to be a sponsor of First Night Burlington.  This year, we are sponsoring a performance by soloist Sarah Cullins, daughter of TruexCullins Principal Emeritus Tom Cullins.

From the First Night program:

Burlington-native soprano Sarah Cullins is joined by Colombian guitarist Daniel Gaviria and Dutch pianist Annemieke Spoelstra for a program of songs by Colombian composer Jaime León. León’s songs combine Broadway-style melodies, virtuosic accompaniment and Colombian folkloric rhythms, and in this concert audiences of all ages will enjoy spirited songs written for children and arranged for voice and guitar, as well as beautiful works for voice and piano frequently performed in concert halls throughout Latin America.

After graduating from New England Conservatory of Music and doing post-graduate work at Mannes College of Music, Sarah Cullins moved to Bogotá, Colombia where she designed and currently heads the voice department at the Universidad Central. She is a frequent soloist with the Colombian National Symphony Orchestra as well as the Bogotá and Medellín Philharmonic Orchestras.

Daniel Gaviria is an up-an-coming classical and latin guitarist who has won several important competitions in Colombia and has participated in the Mannes Guitar Festival. He is also a member of the Vitart Guitar Trio. Pianist Annemieke Spoelstra is well-known to Vermont audiences for her many solo and chamber music concerts (more information about Annemieke can be found in her solo First Night concert listing).

 

Sarah will be performing at 6:00 at the First Baptist Church, site #10 on your First Night map.  Be sure to check out this and many of the other performances during First Night, a festival of wonderful arts events for all ages.  Happy New Year!

David Epstein Elected as VBSR Board Member

Congratulations to our own David Epstein, AIA, who was recently elected to the Board of Directors of the VBSR, Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility. A principal at TruexCullins, David is a registered architect with a special focus on sustainable workplace and education planning and design.

The VBSR is a non-profit, statewide business trade organization with a mission to advance business ethics that value multiple bottom lines: economic, social, and environmental.  The organization has a diverse business membership that represents all sectors and geographic regions of Vermont. Collectively VBSR members employ more than 13% of Vermont's workforce and generate more than 4 billion dollars in revenue annually.

TruexCullins has been a long-time member of VBSR and we have always been proud to participate in the organization’s outreach and educational events and conferences.  We know David is honored to be named to the Board of Directors to serve with his fellow professionals advocating for economic, social and environmental justice.

Unassisted Living

One of our residential projects has just been published in a book on homes that support the active lifestyles of the aging Baby Boomers generation. Unassisted Living, Ageless Homes for Later Life is a collection of homes that offer an alternative to traditional senior housing.

The Shelburne residence by TruexCullins is included as one of the examples in the book, and is featured on the book’s cover.

This multi-generational residence was the recipient of the 2009 Award for Excellence in Architecture by the Vermont chapter of the AIA.  It is a home for three generations, with a common entry that provides separate access to private living spaces for the grandparents and children.

From the publisher:

Unassisted Living documents the shift away from the senior housing that promoted disengagement toward architecture and design that promote active aging. The book is organized in six sections, corresponding to the concerns and special interests of Boomers—those who intend to remain in an urban setting, those concerned with sustainability, those with complex families and non-traditional households, and those who seek a community based on spirituality or shared interests.

Boomers are perhaps the largest generational cohort the United States has ever seen. Numbering some 78 million people born between 1946 and 1964, Boomers are not accepting traditional retirement or “senior housing” and are instead determined to remain active and engaged professionally and socially.

The 240-page hardcover book is written by Jeffrey Rosenfeld and Wid Chapman, and published by Monacelli Press.  You can purchase it online thru amazon.com or at your favorite local bookseller!

Jericho Fieldhouse

On Thursday night we attended the 2011 AIA VT Design Awards ceremony and were pleased to receive a Merit Award for one of our new residential projects.  This is a home in Jericho that sits on the edge of a small meadow.

The house is a three-part composition of garage, studio and home placed about a parterre garden and edged to the south by a garden wall and linear orchard. In the tradition of Frank Lloyd Wright, the house is a grid-formed composition striving to generate economy from the beautiful elegance of formed geometry. The structures utilize modest exterior materials to shape a traditional but elemental form in the landscape.

We worked with H. Keith Wagner Partnership on the site plan and landscape design.  The photos below are by Jim Westphalen.