Photos on AAF's webpage by M. Lewis Kennedy. View his website at www.mlewiskennedy.com. Black and white photos of the Rosenbaum House by Kidder Smith.
The Alabama Architectural Foundation exists to enhance the public perception of the value of architecture and by extension of architects. We have accomplished this in the past through sponsorship of a Speaker's Program; though helping underwrite Public Television Programs on architecture; by helping to underwrite exhibits on architects and their work at museums throughout the State; and through programs and seminars aimed at engaging and educating the public.
The Foundation has a Scholarship Program to assist Alabama students in the arts, and has awarded four scholarships to students from three different institutions. The Foundation oversees and administers both the Biggin Loan Fund at Auburn and the Taylor Loan Fund at Tuskegee. The Scholarship Program has been inactive during the last few years while we have sought ways to increase the funds available for scholarships.
The largest undertaking for the Foundation to date has been the publication of "Alabama Architecture, Looking at Building and Place." The Foundation retained Alice Bowsher as author and Lewis Kennedy as photographer and underwrote the publication through the University of Alabama Press. The resulting book has been very well received and highly praised.
The Book is currently being placed in all public High School and Middle School libraries in the State. This effort has been funded by generous grants from several Foundations. The Foundation annually considers, and awards when appropriate, the Alabama Distinguished Architect Award. The Board of Directors also recognizes significant architecture in the state, not as a design award, but for the building's impact on and contribution to its community.
The Foundation exists on and through the contributions from the architects in the state. It is a 501 (c) Non Profit Corporation, which means that contributions are generally tax deductible. The Foundation is seeking donors who may want to endow a lasting memorial to their work or love of Architecture. It has a volunteer Board of Directors and officers who direct its programs and oversee its operations. The Directors are both architects and non-architects who share a love for the State and its built environment.
It was only through the generous support of the Alabama Council, architectural firms, individual architects, members of the construction industry and generous grants from many organizations and foundations that the Foundation was able to accomplish the publication of the book. It is only with continued support, both financial and moral, that the Foundation can continue to move forward.