This collection contains an oral history interview with Phil Freelon that was conducted by Gwynn Thayer in 2017. Included is a full transcription of the interview. In the interview, Freelon discusses: his family and growing up in Philadelphia during the civil rights movement; the influence of the arts by his grandfather, a painter in ...
MoreThis collection contains an oral history interview with Phil Freelon that was conducted by Gwynn Thayer in 2017. Included is a full transcription of the interview. In the interview, Freelon discusses: his family and growing up in Philadelphia during the civil rights movement; the influence of the arts by his grandfather, a painter in the Harlem Renaissance; his education at Central High School; the mentorship of both John Spencer at Hampton University and Roger Clark at North Carolina State University; discrimination and diversity in the field of architectural education; the architectural profession on the national stage; acquiring projects within the public arena; his work on museums, specifically the National African American Association of Museums; and cultivating talent in a design firm and his management philosophy. Phil Freelon (1953-2019), was an African American architect who was founder and president of The Freelon Group, Inc., and then managing director and director of design of Perkins + Will, located in Durham, North Carolina. Freelon specialized in public architecture and was best known for his design of cultural museums and educational buildings in Washington, D.C.; Baltimore, Maryland; Chicago, Illinois; San Francisco, California; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Atlanta and Augusta, Georgia; and Durham, Greensboro and Charlotte, North Carolina. Freelon led the design team that gave shape to the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. He was a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, won the 2012 Design Guild Award, and the same year was appointed to the United States Commission of Fine Arts by President Obama.
Less