Award for Advocacy
The Vernacular Architecture Forum encourages and supports citizen efforts to protect our vernacular built heritage. The protection and preservation of our vernacular built heritage depends on good stewardship by property owners supported by sound government land use policies. However, the long-term preservation of our cultural heritage is rarely achieved without the support of a well informed, involved citizenry.
The VAF seeks to encourage citizen-based advocacy by recognizing exemplary efforts and achievements on behalf of our vernacular built heritage. The VAF Award for Advocacy honors individuals and groups for exceptional contribution toward the appreciation and protection of vernacular buildings and landscapes. The award recognizes outstanding initiative, commitment, and action to promote and protect vernacular resources. The award may be made in recognition of a specific advocacy effort, or on the basis of the nominee's long-term record of advocacy.
2008 Award
Screen shot, California Japantowns Website
The VAF made its inaugural Award for Advocacy at the recent Fresno Conference. The award was presented to Donna Graves and Jill Shiraki on behalf of the Preserving California’s Japantowns project.
Preserving California’s Japantowns is the first statewide effort to identify, research and document historic resources located in Japantowns throughout California. The project embodies all the qualities the Award for Advocacy was created to recognize. The Advocacy Committee was especially impressed by how the project has fulfilled the award criterion to "advance preservation and awareness of vernacular buildings and landscapes through education, publications, media, technology, and/or public outreach." The effort was consciously designed not only to document resources associated with California's Japantowns but also to lay the groundwork for stewardship, preservation and interpretation of these sites, whose histories have been hidden due to the violent disruption of WWII incarceration of all people of Japanese ancestry on the West Coast.
Click here for a pdf of award criteria and how to submit a nomination.
The application deadline for the 2009 Award for Advocacy is March 1, 2009.
For more information, please contact: Anthony Veerkamp, at 415-947-0692, x 38228 or anthony_veerkamp@nthp.org.
Click here for our Tools for Advocacy page, including links to websites that offer information and advice to help you in your own advocacy efforts.