Architectural Historian Richard Guy Wilson to Deliver Presentation at Belknap Mill

LACONIA — Architectural historian, television commentator and author, Richard Guy Wilson, will present 'Wild and Colorful: Victorian Architecture in Laconia and New Hampshire' on Thursday, August 14 at 6 pm. The presentation will be held on the 3rd floor of the Belknap Mill in Laconia.

Wilson will speak about the architectural heritage of New Hampshire's Victorian buildings--houses, mills, court houses, rail road stations, libraries, and stores created between the 1830s and early 1900s. This presentation will examine these unique buildings with a focus upon Laconia and the Lakes Region. During the lecture, Wilson will provide a slide show that explores elements of visual literacy and point out how architecture can reflect the cultural and civic values of its time and place.

Wilson holds the Commonwealth Professor's Chair in Architectural History at the University of Virginia, where he also serves as chair of the Department of Architectural History. A graduate of the University of Colorado and the University of Michigan, Wilson has received a number of academic honors, among them a Guggenheim fellow, prizes for distinguished writing, and in 1986 he was made an honorary member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA). He received the outstanding professor award at the University of Virginia in 2001. He has directed the Victorian Society's Nineteenth Century Summer School since 1979 that has been located in Boston, Philadelphia and currently Newport, RI. He has served as an advisor and commentator for a number of television programs on PBS, C-Span, History Channel and A&E; he appeared on most sixty-seven segments of America's Castles.

A frequent lecturer for universities, museums and professional groups, he has also published widely with articles and reviews to his credit. He is the author, joint author and/or editor of 16 books that deal with American and modern architecture. Among the most recent publications include Edith Wharton at Home: Life at the Mount (2012), Harbor Hill: Portrait of a House (2008) and a reissued new edition of Thomas Jefferson's Academical Village (2009).

Tickets for the presentation are $5.00 per person. To reserve a space for the presentation, visit www.belknapmill.org or call (603) 524 - 8813.

The Belknap Mill is the oldest, unaltered brick textile mill in the country. It has a permanent exhibit that interprets the history of the textile industry in Laconia, and has changing monthly exhibits focusing on the arts and history, as well as educational programs for all ages. For further information on the mill and its events, email programs@belknapmill.org, visit www.belknapmill.org, or call 603-524-8813.

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Richard Guy Wilson (Courtesy photo)