MARY ANNE BEECHER

 

PERSONAL INFORMATION        203 Hawthorne Ave.                                       

Eugene, OR  97404

(541) 689-1546

 

Department of Architecture

1206 Lawrence Hall

University of Oregon

Eugene, OR  97401

(541)346-3690

beecher@darkwing.uoregon.edu

 

EDUCATION                             Doctor of Philosophy degree, American Studies                                                                     (ABD)

The University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa,

1992-present

Dissertation:  “Out of Sight:  Architectures of American Storage” (in-progress)

 

Master of Arts degree, American Studies

University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, 1998

 

Master of Arts degree, Interior Design

Area of Specialization:  Historic Preservation

Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, 1988

Master’s Thesis:  The Influence of the Housing Reform Movement on Proposed Farmhouse Designs (1900-1930)

 

Bachelor of Arts degree with academic honors, Interior Design

Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, 1986

 

ACADEMIC                              Assistant Professor, University of Oregon, 1999-present.

EMPLOYMENT                           Instructor of upper division interior architecture studio                                                          courses.

                                                Instructor of history of interior architecture lecture courses.

                                                Instructor of American Vernacular Interior seminar course.

                                                Instructor of color theory course.

                                                Academic advisor.

 

                                                Assistant Professor, Iowa State University, 1992-1999.

                                                Instructor of history of interiors lecture courses.

Instructor of graduate seminars and studios.

Instructor of interior design studio courses in lower and upper division.

Instructor of university honors seminars.

Academic advisor.

 


Adjunct Assistant Professor, Iowa State University, August, 1989-May, 1992;

Instructor of history of interiors lecture courses.

Instructor of various interior design studio courses in lower and upper division.

 

Temporary Instructor, Iowa State University, August 1988-1989;

Instructor of history of interiors lecture courses.

Instructor of interior design studio.

Provided instructional services to Interior Design Resource library.

 

RELATED WORK                        Independent preservation consultant, 1992-1999;

EXPERIENCES                           Provide services that promote historic preservation.

Work includes “Alonzo J. and Flora Barkley House” nomination for National Register of Historic Places (1994) and analysis of “Seventh Street Viaduct, Fort Dodge, Iowa” for Tallgrass Historians, Iowa City, Iowa (1994).

 

Preservation Consultant, Jennings, Gottfried and Associates, Ames, Iowa, 1988-1992;

Provide services that promote historic preservation.

Work includes development of “Planning for Survey” document for Harrison County, Iowa (1988).

 

Jan Jennings and Herbert Gottfried, Ames, Iowa, May 1986-August 1986;

Research assistant for American Vernacular Interior Architecture (1870-1940).

 

Iowa State Office of Historic Preservation, Des Moines, Iowa, May 1985-August 1985;

Intern conducting research, writing National Register nominations, rehabilitation evaluation.

 

PUBLICATIONS                         “Designing Criticism:  The Potential for Written Criticism to

(JURIED)                                   Contribute to Interior Design Education,” Journal of Interior Design (manuscript in review).

 

“"Promoting the ‘Unit Idea:’ Manufactured Kitchen Cabinets, (1900-1950)" APT Bulletin, 32:2-3(Summer, 2001):  27-37.

 

“The Mythical Making Martha,” American Studies, (Summer, 2001):  113-124.

 

“Integrating History:  The History/Theory/Criticism Course,”                Journal of Interior Design, 25(1), 1999:  37-44.

 

                                                “Building for ‘Mrs. Farmer:’  Published Farmhouse Designs and the Role of the Rural Female Consumer,” Agricultural History 73(2), 1999:  252-262.

 

“Rethinking Chronology:  Thematic Options for History Instruction,” Journal of Interior Design, 24(2), 1998:  4-11

 

“The Language of Beauty and the Modern Interior:  An Approach to Aesthetic Criticism,” Journal of Interior Design, 23(1), 1997: 61-69.

 

“Negotiating the History Frontier:  Perceptions of History in Interior Design Education,” Proceedings, Interior Design Educator’s Council International Conference, Denver, Colorado, March 20-24, 1996.

 

“Discovering Women:  Integrating Gender Issues into Historical Design Research,” Proceedings, Interior Design Educator’s Council International Conference, Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, March 31-April 3, 1993.

 

 “The Motel in Builder’s Literature and Architectural Publications:  An Analysis of Design,” chapter in Roadside America:  The Automobile in Design and Culture, (Ames, Iowa:  Iowa State University Press, 1990):  115-124.

 

“The Interior Systems of Colonial and Dutch Colonial Cottages (1905-1939), as Evidenced by Historic Builder’s Journals and Ten Extant Examples,” Proceedings, Interior Design Educators International Conference, Santa Fe, New Mexico,  1988.

 

PUBLICATIONS                         “The Built Environment of Farming:  Architecture and the

(INVITED)                                 Farm House, Barns,” Encyclopedia of the Midwest, (Columbus, Ohio:  The Institute for Collaborative Research and Public Humanities, 2002):  forth-coming.

 

“Deconstructing Martha,” Oregon Quarterly, 79:3(Spring,

2000):  12-13.

 

“Commercial Archeology,” The Oxford Companion to Archeology, (New York:  The Oxford University Press, 1996).

 

“Autos and Highways:  Conquering Space in Iowa,” Mark P. Leone and Neil Asher Silberman, ed., Invisible America:  Unearthing Our Hidden History, (New York:  Henry Holt and Company, 1995).

 


BOOK REVIEWS                        Sherrill Whiton and Stanley Abercrombie, Interior Design and Decoration, John Pile, A History of Interior Design, Buie Harwood, Bridget May and Curt Sherman, Architecture and Interior Design Through the Eighteenth Century:  An Integrated History, in The Journal of Interior Design, (forthcoming).

 

John Pile, A History of Interior Design, in APT Bulletin, (Spring, 2002) (forthcoming).

 

Ann Cline:  A Hut of One’s Own:  Life Outside the Circle of Architecture, in Vernacular Architecture Forum Newsletter, 83(Spring, 2000):  17-18.

 

Robbie Blakemore:  History of Interior Design & Furniture, in Journal of Interior Design, 25(1), 1999:  60.

 

David Gebhard:  The National Trust Guide to Art Deco in America, in Journal of Interior Design, 23(2), 1997:  54.

 

INTERNATIONAL/NATIONAL    “Shades of Green:  The Philosophical Challenges of

RESEARCH PAPER                     Ecological Responsibility in Interior Design Education and

PRESENTATIONS                       Practice,” INTERIOR DESIGN EDUCATORS COUNCIL

(JURIED)                                   INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE, Sante Fe, New Mexico, March, 2002.  With Brian Davies, Assistant Professor.

 

“Inside the Kitchen Cabinet:  Manufactured Storage (1900-1950),” KITCHENS:  DESIGN, TECHNOLOGIES, AND WORK, Hagley Museum and Library, November, 2000.

 

“Secondhand Windows and Hand-Me-Down Doors:  American Architectural Salvage and Some Issues of Identity,” AMERICAN STUDIES ASSOCIATION INTERNATIONAL MEETING, Detroit, Michigan, October, 2000. 

 

“Hand Made and Home Grown:  The Phenomenology of Martha Stewart,” AMERICAN STUDIES ASSOCIATION INTERNATIONAL MEETING, Montreal, Quebec, October 28-31, 1999.

 

                                                “The Shortest Distance Between Two Points:  Two-way                                                          Interactive Video Conferencing as a Tool for Recruitment,”                                                  INTERIOR DESIGN EDUCATORS COUNCIL INTERNATIONAL                                                            CONFERENCE, Clearwater Beach, Florida, April 14-17, 1999.

                                                With Amy Mikovec, Assistant Professor and Clayton                                                               Cartland, Graduate Student.

 

                                                “‘Tomorrow You Can Live Like This:’  The Magazine and                                                        Design Reform During World War II,” AMERICAN CULTURE                                                      ASSOCIATION ANNUAL CONFERENCE, San Diego,                                                                 California, March 31-April 3, 1999.


“Us and Them:  Redefining the History of Interiors in a Multicultural Context,” INTERIOR DESIGN EDUCATORS COUNCIL INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE, New York, New York, March 31-April 3, 1998.

 

“Building for “Mrs. Farmer:”  Published Farmhouse Designs and the Role of the Rural Female Consumer (1900-1930)” AMERICAN FARM AND RURAL WOMEN’S CONFERENCE, Baylor University, Waco, Texas, September 18-21, 1997.

 

“‘Good Things:’  The Roles of Nostalgia and Ritual in Martha Stewart’s Style of Living,”  THE STYLE CONFERENCE, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio, July 25-28, 1997.

 

“Picturing Paranoia:  A Comparative Analysis of Edwin Howland Blashfield’s Frontier Murals in Iowa and South Dakota,” SOCIETY FOR THE INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDY OF SOCIAL IMAGERY NATIONAL CONFERENCE, Colorado Springs, Colorado, March 13-15, 1997.

 

“Marketing the Modern American Interior:  An Aesthetic Analysis of the Post-War Ranch House,” AMERICAN STUDIES ASSOCIATION INTERNATIONAL MEETING, Kansas City, Missouri, October 31-November 3, 1996.

 

“The History/Theory/Criticism Course:  Bringing Breadth to History in Studio Education,” OBJECT-CONTEXT-DESIGN:  THE STATE OF TEACHING INTERIOR DESIGN HISTORY, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, October 12, 1996.

 

“Assessing the Influence of Housing Reform:  The Design of Farmhouse Interiors (1900-1930),” VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE FORUM ANNUAL MEETING, Lawrence, Kansas, June 6-9, 1996.

 

“Negotiating the History Frontier:  Perceptions of History in Interior Design Education,” INTERIOR DESIGN EDUCATORS COUNCIL INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE, Denver, Colorado, March 20-24, 1996.

 

“Built Around a Mother:  The Role(s) of Women in Everyman’s House,” WOMEN AND SOCIETY CONFERENCE, Marist College, Poughkeepsie, New York, June 9-11, 1995.

 

“Defining Interior Design Through an Inclusive Historical Perspective,” CROSSING BOUNDARIES IN PRACTICE CONFERENCE, Cincinnati, Ohio, October 14-17, 1993.

 


“Discovering Women:  Integrating Gender Issues into Historical Design Research,” INTERIOR DESIGN EDUCATORS COUNCIL INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE, Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, March 31-April 3, 1993.

 

“Harmony and Contradiction:  Communication Technology as Applied within Diverse Cultures,” THE TENTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON TECHNOLOGY AND EDUCATION, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, March 21, 1993.

With Professor Wei Dong, Iowa State University.

 

“Rural Housing Reform in the Early Twentieth Century,” SOUTHEAST SOCIETY OF ARCHITECTURAL HISTORIANS, Mississippi State University, October, 1991.

 

“Roadside Development Along the Lincoln Highway in Central Iowa,” CONGRESS OF HISTORICAL ORGANIZATIONS, Des Moines, Iowa, June 10, 1991.

 

“Selling to Women:  Early Service Stations and the Female Consumer,” HIGHWAYS TO HISTORY:  THE AUTOMOBILE AGE CONFERENCE FOR THE SOCIETY FOR COMMERCIAL ARCHEOLOGY, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, October 5, 1990.

 

“Changes in Perception:  The Late 1920’s Remodeling Boom as Presented by Popular Serials,” BUILT FORM AND CULTURE CONFERENCE, Tempe, Arizona, November 11, 1989.

 

“Tourists and the Automobile:  From Cabin Camp to Motel (1930-1955),” AMERICANS AND THE AUTOMOBILE CONFERENCE, THE SOCIETY FOR COMMERCIAL ARCHEOLOGY AND THE HENRY FORD MUSEUM, Dearborn, Michigan, November 5, 1988.

 

“The Interior Systems of Colonial and Dutch Colonial Cottages (1905-1939), as Evidenced by Historic Builder’s Journals and Ten Extant Examples,” INTERIOR DESIGN EDUCATOR’S INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE, Santa Fe, New Mexico, April 22, 1988.

 

REGIONAL RESEARCH              “Blashfield’s ‘Westward:’  A Picture of the Past and a Sign

PAPER PRESENTATIONS                        of its Time,” JOINT MEETING OF THE MID-AMERICA AND

(JURIED)                                   ROCKY MOUNTAIN REGIONS OF THE AMERICAN STUDIES

ASSOCIATION, Fort Collins, Colorado, April 7-9, 1995.

 

 “Creating “Westward:”  Edwin Howland Blashfield and the Iowa Capitol Improvement Commission,”  THE MIDWEST ART HISTORY ASSOCIATION ANNUAL MEETING, St. Louis, Missouri, March 23-25, 1995.

“Range, Range in the Home:  Spatial Perceptions of the West and the Design of the Post-World War II Ranch House,” THE TENTH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE MID-AMERICA AMERICAN STUDIES ASSOCIATION, Lawrence, Kansas, April 8-10, 1994.

 

INVITED LECTURES                           “Rx Design,” (keynote address),

AND PRESENTATIONS               DESIGNING DOMESTICITY:  DECORATING THE AMERICAN HOME SINCE 1876, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio, March 16, 2002.

 

“Dovetailing,” Interior Architecture Lecture Series

University of North Carolina, Greensboro, Oct. 12, 2001

 

“Writing Design Criticism,” Journal of Interior Design

Workshop, IDEC International Conference, March, 2001.  With Jan Jennings, Associate Professor, Cornell University.

 

                                                “Stories My Chair Told Me,” AAA Faculty Lecture Series,

                                                University of Oregon, April, 2001.

 

“Writing Design Criticism,” Journal of Interior Design

Workshop, IDEC International Conference, March, 2000.  With Jan Jennings, Associate Professor, Cornell University.

 

“Furniture and Meaning,” public lecture for the Big Brain                   Cafe’ series, Brunnier Gallery, Iowa State University,                                    October, 1998.

 

“Comparing Historiographies:  Listening to the Past,

Directions for the Future,” (keynote address) OBJECT-CONTEXT-DESIGN:  THE STATE OF TEACHING INTERIOR DESIGN HISTORY, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, October 12, 1996.

 

“Assessing Preservation along Iowa’s Lincoln Highway,”  Second Annual Meeting of the National Lincoln Highway Association, Ames, Iowa, August, 1994.

 

 “The Lincoln Highway in Boone County and Central Iowa,”  Boone County Historical Society, Boone, Iowa, July 17, 1991.

“Aesthetics of American Vernacular Architecture 1870-1940”  Preservation in Progress Workshop, Ames, Iowa, October 29, 1988, with Jan Jennings.

 

“The Interior Elements of Colonial Cottages,” Farmhouse Museum, Iowa State University, September, 1986.

 


SEMINARS, PANELS                  “Historic Place with a Feminine Face,” IOWA HERITAGE

AND POSTERS                           EXPO, Des Moines, Iowa, June, 1995.

With Rebecca Conard, Wichita State University

         Jan Nash, Tallgrass Historians, L.C.

         Mary Bennett, State Historical Society of Iowa

         Karen Mason, curator of Iowa Women’s Archives

 

“Changing Dynamics in the Creative Learning Experience,” THE TENTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON TECHNOLOGY AND EDUCATION, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, March 23, 1993.

With Professor Wei Dong, Iowa State University.

 

COMPETITIONS AND                “Hamballs for 50,” (reclaimed pine, printed cotton)

EXHIBITIONS                            With essay in Jamie Horwitz and Paulette Singley, ed.  Architecture a la carte:  Parallels between the Preparation of Meals and the Production of Space. (in production, invited submission).

 

Interior Design Educator’s Council Juried  Design Competition, March, 2002, “Hamballs for 50”  BEST OF SHOW Award

 

Interior Design Educator’s Council Juried Design Competition, March, 2002, “Elastic Wine Cabinet”  HONORABLE MENTION Award

 

Interior Design Educator’s Council Juried Design Competition, March, 2002, “Memory Boxes”

 

Interior Design Educator’s Council Juried Design Competition, March, 1999, Work Table Series:  BEST OF SHOW Award

 

College of Design Faculty Exhibition, August-October,

                                                1998:  Work Table Series (Invited submission)

            “Glass Ceiling:”  work table (cherry, graphite, glass, plexiglass)

            “925-529:”  work table (cherry, rubber)

            “Affirmative Action:”  (cherry, cotton)

 

College of Design Faculty Show, January-March, 1996 (Invited submissions)

            “Crossings #1:”  mixed media assemblage

            “Kindred:”  mixed media assemblage

 

“A Land of Counterpane,” for SHEET, an interdisciplinary exhibition of works by women, April 23-May 5, 1995. (Invited submission)

 

“Crossings #1” for an exhibition of works by women faculty of the College of Design, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, June-July, 1994. (Invited submission)

COMPETITIONS AND                Innovations in Housing, February, 1992.

EXHIBITIONS (cont.)    

“East Meets West,” Central Glass International Architectural

Design Competition, July, 1991, with Wei Dong, Assistant Professor, Iowa State University.

 

“End Table,” Iowa College Salon IX, March-April, 1987.

 

COMMISSIONS                        “Lintel Reception Table” and “Lintel Side tables” Martin K. Jiscke Honors Building, Iowa State University, Spring, 2002.

 

CONFERENCES                         “Earth-Wise Design,” IIDA (Washington State chapter) ATTENDED                              January, 2002.

 

Iowa Heritage Expo

Des Moines, Iowa, June, 1994 

 

Congress of Historical Organizations.

Des Moines, Iowa, June, 1992

 

Vernacular Architecture Forum, national conference.

Portsmouth, New Hampshire, May 6-10, 1992.

 

Louis Sullivan and the Architecture of Democracy.

Grinnell College, Grinnell, Iowa, April 20-22, 1989.

 

National Register Training Conference.

Bureau of Historic Preservation, Des Moines, Iowa, January 28, 1988.

 

The Midwestern Farmstead of 1900.

University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, La Crosse, Wisconsin, October 30-31, 1986.

 

PROFESSIONAL                         Stanley B. Greenfield and Faculty Grant Award adding  HONORS/ACTIVITIES                       specially requested historical books to Knight Library

 

University Honors Program Excellence in

                                                Mentoring/Advising Award, 1999

 

                                                Recipient of Faculty Award for Extraordinary Performance,

                                                College of Design, April, 1997

 

Nominee for VEISHEA Professor of the Year Award, April, 1997

 

Recipient of the Carol Price-Shanis Award, Interior Design Educator’s Council, March, 1994 (A national award for professional betterment through continuing education)

 

University Research Award, Iowa State University, for master’s thesis, 1988

 

GRANTS                                   Summer Research Award, 2002, $4500

                                                University of Oregon

New Faculty Summer Research Grant, 2000, $4000

University of Oregon

                        IDRO Research Grant, Spring, 1999, $150

College of Design, Iowa State University

                                                Honors Faculty Professional Development Grant, 1998, $500

                                                Iowa State University

Instructional Development Grant, 1998, $740

Iowa State University

Honors Faculty Professional Development Grant, 1997, $500

Iowa State University

Creative Scholarship Grant, 1996, $1000

Art and Design Department, Iowa State University

IDRO Research Grant, Spring, 1996, $150

College of Design, Iowa State University

Metro Waste Authority Grant Program, Spring, 1995, $2,620

with Assistant Professor Mira Engler

 

PROFESSIONAL                         Interior Design Educators Council (IDEC), corporate

ORGANIZATIONS                     member.

American Studies Association (ASA), member.

Vernacular Architecture Forum (VAF), member.

Beaver State Woodturners’ Association, member

 

UNIVERSITY, PROFESSIONAL,    Departmental committees:

AND SPECIAL SERVICE                         Admissions (2001-2002)

                                                Curriculum (1999-2001)

                                                Graduate Studies (2000-2001)

                                               

School committees:

                                                John Yeon (1999-2002)

                                                Historic Preservation (2000-2000)

                                                Historic Preservation Director Search (2001-2002)

                                               

Community/Professional

JID (Journal of Interior Design) Board of Directors (2002-

2005)

JID (Journal of Interior Design) Editorial Review Board (2000-2002)

                                                Manuscript reviewer, Fairchild Publishers, Inc. (2000-present)

Manuscript reviewer, Prentice Hall (1999-present)

                                                Gordon House Furniture and Furnishings committee,

                                                            Oregon Garden (2001-2002)

                                                Sheldon McMurphey Johnson House, Eugene, Oregon                                                                       consultatant (2000-present)

SMART Reader volunteer, Patterson School, Eugene, Oregon (2002-present)