Christina E. Crawford, PhD, MArch, is Masse-Martin NEH Professor of Art History and Associate Professor of Architectural History in the Art History Department, Emory University. Her recent courses and current research project focus on Atlanta architecture and urbanism in the twentieth century. She has offered critical guidance on resources in and on Atlanta’s built environment. She delivered the first lecture, “Interior Architecture,” on John Portman and postwar urbanism in Atlanta.

Allison Ericson, Allison Ericson studied Environmental Science at Georgia Tech. As Decatur’s Urban Naturalist, she works on invasive removal and native planting, stream monitoring, greenspace connectivity, and nature programming in the City of Decatur’s 22 parks and greenspaces, totaling 196.96 acres.

Kay Evanovich ​​is currently the Arborist for the City of Decatur and has held an International Society of Arboriculture Certification (I.S.A.) since 2002. Kay also holds a Tree Risk Assessment Qualification and a Wildfire Risk Reduction Qualification. Kay has taken numerous courses of study in environmental issues and tree/forest health through the University of Georgia’s Center for Continuing Education and the Warnell School of Forestry.

As a municipal and consulting Arborist, Kay has been performing tree health assessments, tree valuations, reviewing plans and permits for the public since 2005. Kay is on the Executive Board of Directors of the Georgia Arborists Association (GAA), serves as Treasurer, and teaches the Certified Arborists training course for the GAA. Kay received the Community Impact Award in 2020 and the Arborist of the Year Award for 2023.

Kay is an avid soccer fan and enjoys watching games with family and friends.

DJ Saasha Foo is a vinyl-only DJ who communicates “Love is The Message.”

Peter Helfrich is president of the Metro Atlanta Beekeepers Association. A backyard beekeeper for 13 years and a native bee enthusiast, he currently chairs City of Decatur’s Bee City USA® committee, helping to ensure his community continues to meet numerous criteria related to pollinator conservation. In 2023, he was named a City of Decatur Hometown Hero for his work on behalf of pollinators, and in 2024 he was honored as the Georgia Beekeepers Association’s Beekeeper of the Year.

Jess Jones, Associate Professor of Textiles, Welch School of Art and Design, Georgia State University and Affiliate Faculty with the Institute of Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies. Jones’ work in textiles includes topoquilts, windquilts, graffiti quilts and weeping quilts. She is co-author (with Susan Richmond) of Lost Weavings Atlanta: a Report which explores the history of corporate weaving commissions in Atlanta, including textiles commissioned for John Portman’s Marriot Marquis, Atlanta

Mary Jane Leach currently spends her days as the operations manager at the Scottdale retail location of Beech Hollow Wildflower Farm, facilitating the movement of as many native species of plants and trees into yards, parks and green spaces as she can.  Mary Jane is motivated by the belief that we can build ecological resilience through native plant species and cultivating local partnerships.

An Atlanta native with an educational background in business and public policy, Mary Jane has worked to enhance community sustainability through public-private partnerships in nonprofit and municipal roles in Davidson NC, with Sustainable Jersey in Ewing, NJ and most recently in Decatur, GA.

Heather Ligler, PhD, AIA is an architect, design researcher, and faculty of the School of Architecture at Florida Atlantic University, where she is an Assistant Professor & Foundations Coordinator. Her work engages discourses in shape grammars, rule-based design, and history/theory to question how computational methods reframe our capacity to formalize design logic, theorize design narratives of the present-past, and catalyze design futures. Her ongoing research investigates the evolution of John Portman’s architectural language from his 1964 Atlanta residence, Entelechy I, to his emblematic mega-projects for atrium hotels and mixed-use urban developments all over the world. She delivered a guest lecture “On Space Within Space: The Language of Entelechy I” for fall courses.

Susan Meyers is a Monarch Watch Conservation Specialist, Master Gardener, Master Naturalist, certified Environmental Educator, and a certified Pollinator Steward with the Pollinator Partnership. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Microbiology from Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge and Master’s in Environmental Science from Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne.

Daniel Parson has been Farmer/Educator at the campus farm at Oxford College of Emory University since 2014, producing food for the dining halls, CSA, and Emory and Oxford Farmers Market while serving as a resource for student education and research. Before his move to Oxford, GA, he managed Gaia Gardens in Decatur and a student organic farm at Clemson University from which he holds a BS in Biological Sciences and an MS in Plant and Environmental Sceince. In addition to growing produce, Daniel has presented workshops on various organic topics to many state and regional groups, including the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association, Southern SAWG and Georgia Organics. Daniel received the 2009 Georgia Organics Land Steward of the Year Award and in 2008 was listed on Mother Nature Network’s 40 farmers under 40. Also, he served on the Georgia Organics board from 2006-2008 and the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association board from 2012-2014.

Susan Richmond is Associate Professor of Art History and  Interim Associate Dean of the College of the Arts at Georgia State University. Her research focuses on the modern and contemporary era, with a specific emphasis on feminist practices and the social and material histories of US art, craft, and visual culture since 1945. She is the author of Lynda Benglis: Beyond Process (London: I.B. Tauris Press, 2013) and has published in Art History, American Art, Arts, Journal of Modern Craft, Feminist Studies, Art Journal, and Camera Obscura. With Jess Jones, associate professor of textiles at GSU, she is working on a digital mapping project entitled “Lost Weavings of Atlanta.”

Leslie Sharp is Dean of Libraries, Georgia Institute of Technology. She teaches historic preservation in the College of Design, where she formerly served as the assistant dean of Academic Affairs and Outreach. Leslie led a project with Georgia Tech students (2015) to develop an application for including Dana in the current National Register of Historic Places district for the campus and adjacent neighborhood.  Their research and writing about, and her ongoing involvement with our building, including guidance on this project, provide critical context and support for the current project.

Paige Adair, Portman Archives

Paige Adair is the Senior Archivist and Fine Arts Specialist at The Portman Archives in Atlanta, GA, where she has worked since 2013 to provide access to the extensive archival collections of architect and artist, John C. Portman, Jr. In her role, Paige oversees visual materials-based collections, managing both digital records and physical works of art created and collected by Portman.

Paige holds an MFA from the University of Pennsylvania and a BFA from Georgia State University, with a focus on Painting and Time-Based Media. She began her career in archives through a work-study program at the Penn Museum Archives in Philadelphia. Before joining the Portman Archives, she worked with visual materials collections at the Kenan Research Center Library of the Atlanta History Center.

Outside of her archival work, Paige remains passionate about painting and printmaking, and enjoys hiking with her hound dog, Louise.

Becca Brown, Portman Archives

Rebecca (Becca) Brown has been an archivist at the Portman Archives since 2018 and has a dual degree in English and Anthropology and a Master’s in Archival Studies. At Portman, Becca works closely with the digital catalog and paper media found in the archives. Prior to joining Portman, she was in cultural resources management (CRM) where she worked in both archaeology and historic preservation for over 10 years. She is a Lilburn-Stone Mountain native and still lives there with her spouse and various pets, hunched over a sewing or crochet project.

Katie Twomey, Portman Archives

Katie has been an Archivist at the Portman Archives since 2017. She specializes in processing and cataloguing architectural drawings and organizing outreach activities for the Archive. Katie is passionate about preserving the past and making it searchable and usable for current and future researchers. She has degrees in Landscape Architecture and Historic Preservation and loves to chat about all things related to cultural landscapes and historic buildings. On her off hours you can find her cooking new recipes, and attempting to knit and crochet, though the results tend to look more like a ball of knots.

Portman Architects has been involved in advising and envisioning current and future needs for the Dana Fine Arts Building. Their approach is based on sharing and preserving the integrity of Portman’s original designs while accommodating current needs, honoring the architect’s belief that his projects are living buildings.