The San Antonio-based Western European Architecture Foundation is hosting a Gabriel Prize Exhibition on February 21 and 22 in the prestigious and renovated Roosevelt Library, now a private venue turned into an upscale location to promote art, architecture and design.
The event hosted by Stone Standard, purveyor of fine hardware and plumbing fixtures, showcases the works created by Gabriel Prize laureates, the prize winners, since the Western European Architecture Foundation started awarding the prize 28 years ago. The two-day grand opening will start on 2/21 with a lecture by Richard Cameron and end on 2/22 with a panel discussion of Gabriel Prize laureates moderated by Ray Gingroz., FAIA
The Gabriel Prize, awarded annually by the nonprofit Western European Architecture Foundation, offers professional architects a chance to spend three months in France pursuing a program of their own devising. Candidates in the national competition undergo a two-phase selection process and interviews with a jury of experts in the field of architecture. Winners receive a $20,000 grant to study classical architecture and landscape in France, and are required to complete three large drawings by the end of their sabbatical. The Gabriel program’s focus on France and on finished drawings reflects the vision of founder George Parker Jr., a Texas businessman with successful oil and gas ventures, who had a deep love for France and passion for classical architecture. The Foundation exists to encourage the practice of hand drawing in architecture, which Parker feared was being lost to computer-aided design software used commonly in modern society.
Patrick Fleming, president of the Western European Architecture Foundation, has decided to use the unique library setting, purchased by visionary Leland Stone, to showcase the exquisite work some of the Gabriel Prize’s winner have produced. The exhibition is also an opportunity for Fleming and his wife Carol, who serves as vice president, to spread George Parker’s message with a larger audience.
Additional info about the prize can be obtained at www.gabrielprize.org
The Grand Exhibition Opening, hosted at the Roosevelt Library on Feb 21 and 22, is by invitation only. Subsequently, the exhibit will be open to the public and will be updated routinely with other Gabriel laureates’ drawings.
