Price Virginia B - Out of the Loop : Chicago : Vernacular Architecture Forum

Every conference of the Vernacular Architecture Forum (VAF) is different. Each assumes the characteristics of the place the VAF gathers, and each becomes a synergy of the people who plan the event and the participants who attend. As all VAF conferences do, VAF Chicago emerged from conversations with friends and colleagues with one significant distinction: the VAF chose Chicago. In the city, there are a multitude of subjects to study; however, no cadre of Chicago-based VAF members existed to propose a conference to the board. Undaunted, I volunteered to investigate vernacular Chicago and find who might guide us.

Little did I know I was following in Catherine Bishirs and Carl Lounsburys footsteps when, years ago, they listened to a talk by Kevin Harrington. At the end of his presentation, both Catherine and Carl fished into their respective pockets to find the nine dollars needed for a VAF membership. They handed it to Kevin, saying, You should join us. Kevin told that story when I discovered him. We soon resumed a conversation started all that time ago, and he has proved invaluable to VAF Chicago.

Before getting too far ahead in my story, let me back up to the winter months that followed the November 2012 VAF board meeting, where Chicago was first suggested as a potential conference location. I returned to the city buoyed by board support and with the advice of those who had successfully led VAF New York 2006, including James M. Buckley, Thomas Carter, Michael Chiarappa, Jeffrey Cohen, Andrew Dolkart, Marta Gutman, Susan Kern, Gabrielle Lanier, Donald Linebaugh, Marcia Miller, Kristin Szylvian, and Carolyn Torma. Momentum built during a planning meeting at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago with Anne Sullivan and Charlie Pipal, and discussion continued in the afternoon with Terry Tatum. Support from Pauline Saliga and the headquarters of the Society of Architectural Historians was immediate. Over the next months, I explored potential tour itineraries, sampled local cuisine, and recruited the vernacularly inclined to join us.

One of the early challenges was the desire for a visible and visual presence to answer the skeptical question, Vernacular Chicago? I needed video. I wanted motion, just like the transitioning city. Aaron Cahan came highly recommended; the films he produces poignantly cover under-told stories. Aaron generously took on the VAF Chicago project, creating a trailer for the conference to pique interest. His short film became the centerpiece of the website, designed by Gretchen Engimann of FRESHCROPS Inc. She transformed my loose descriptions of vernacular Chicago into a graphic identity, and her creativity matched Aarons. Her work is the foundation for vafchicago.org, which gives visual expression to going Out of the Loop.

That tagline came from an off-hand response from the senior editor at the University of Chicago Press, Timothy Mennel, when I looked to him for a creative jolt. I owe him a T-shirt, with the logo on it, and much more besides. Tim was an inexhaustible resource for vernacular Chicago as well as for this guidebook. With his counsel, VAF Chicago found Agate Publishing, where Perrin Davis and Deirdre Kennedy worked with us to craft the VAFs exhaustive text and innumerable images into print and an e-book, a first for the VAF. Perrin and Deirdre are unflappable, and I have been especially fortunate to work with them.

In the production of the conference and its guidebook, I quickly became dependent on others who filled multiple roles for VAF Chicago and, to my utter amazement, continued to answer my e-mails. Several are longtime VAF members whose support from the get-go made this a go. Sarah Lopez shared her knowledge of Chicago and introduced me to Logan Square, where our Thursday afternoon will conclude. Andrew Sandoval-Strausz endorsed the idea of the VAF in Chicago, contributed his research, conducted fieldwork, and agreed to lead a tour during VAF Chicago. Andrew also undertook the major role of chairing the committee designing the Saturday program of paper presentations and roundtables; joining Andrew in this work were Gretchen Buggeln and Paula Lupkin. Gretchen donated her time (and brought students!) for the fieldwork, contributed to the guidebook, and was an all-around resource for me. Paula jumped into the planning and shared her insider knowledge of the city as well. Similarly, Arijit Sen went above and beyond in developing the Devon Avenue tour and starring in the video. Finally, the thoughtful guidance and probing questions of VAF President Chris Wilson reined me in and tightened the program. His sense of humor matches minean unexpected pleasure when planning an event.