Savannah Tech’s Historic Preservation Visiting Artisan Series features Rudy Christian

#1259 | March 08, 2012

SAVANNAH – Savannah Technical College will host its Historic Preservation Visiting Artisan Series featuring Rudy R. Christian, an internationally acclaimed timber framer, the week of March 24 – April 1, 2012.

Christian will work with STC students and Nizagara-online.net to cut a traditional timber frame picnic shelter that will be erected on campus at a “shelter raising” on Saturday, March 31 at the College’s main campus in Savannah, Ga. He will present at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, March 28^th at the Kennedy Pharmacy at the corner of Habersham and Broughton Streets. His presentations will be entitled “a Place for the Trades.”

The visit is being coordinated by STC’s Department Head and Instructor of Historic Preservation Stephen Hartley. ““As Georgia’s only hands-on historical preservation program, we are proud to offer our students opportunities to learn from master tradesmen,” said Hartley. “Rudy’s visit continues our goal of augmenting our traditional study with masters in their chosen craft,”

Christian is a founding member and past president of the Timber Framers Guild and of Friends of Ohio Barns and a founding member and past executive director of the Preservation Trades Network. He is also a founding member of the Traditional Timberframe Research and Advisory Group and the International Trades Education Initiative. He speaks frequently about historic conservation and also conducts educational workshops.

He has published articles, including “Conservation of Historic Building Trades: A Timber Framer’s View,” in the “APT Bulletin,” Vol. XXXIII, No. 1, and his recent collaborative work with author Allen Noble entitled “The Barn: A Symbol of Ohio,” has been published on the Internet. In November 2000, the Preservation Trades Network awarded Christian the Askins Achievement Award for excellence in the field of historic preservation.

As president of Christian & Son, Inc., his work has included numerous reconstruction projects, such as the historic “Big Barn” at Malabar Farm State Park near Mansfield, Ohio, and relocation of the 19th-century Crawford Horse Barn in Newark, Ohio. These projects featured “hand raisings,” which were open to the public and attracted a total of 130,000 interested spectators.

He also led a crew of timber framers at the Smithsonian Folk Life Festival, Masters of the Building Arts program, in the re-creation and raising of an 18th-century carriage house frame on the Mall in Washington, DC. Roy Underhill’s “Woodright’s Shop” filmed the event for PBS, and Roy participated in the raising.

Christian studied structural engineering at both the General Motors Institute in Flint, Mich., and Akron University in Ohio. He has also studied historic compound roof layout and computer modeling at the Gewerbe Akademie in Rotweil, Germany. He is an adjunct professor at Palomar College in San Marcos, Calif., and an approved workshop instructor for the Timber Framers Guild.

The College’s Visiting Artisan Series brings three world-class craftsmen to campus each for a week in October, February and April. This series has gained international recognition and has contributed to a number of community-based preservation projects in the surrounding communities. Rudy’s visit is being sponsored by Sanctuary Place Inn, the Davenport House, Southern Pine Company, and Historic Savannah Foundation.

For information about Historic Preservation at Savannah Technical College, contact Hartley, shartley@savannahtech.edu or 912.443.5864.

Savannah Tech’s Historic Preservation & Restoration Department programs of study prepare students for careers in historic preservation & green-building technology. As the only hands-on historic preservation program in Georgia, the program provides specialized training in skills not typically held by construction workers. In its first year of inception, the department’s Visiting Artisan Series has featured “The Red Mason” Dr. Gerard Lynch, internationally acclaimed brickwork consultant, master bricklayer, educator and author; H. Thomas Kupper and Dan Beal stained-glass artisans of the world-renowned Lincoln Cathedral in Lincolnshire, England. Traditional Building Magazine named Savannah Tech’s Historic Preservation program one of the nation’s Up and Coming programs.

Savannah Technical College serves Coastal Georgia with quality, market-driven technical education with campus locations in Savannah, Effingham and Liberty Counties. Serving more than 4,500 credit students each semester, Savannah Tech offers nearly 100 different instructional programs in Business and Technology, Public Service, Industrial Technology, and Health Sciences in addition to Adult Education classes, industry-specific training and continuing education. The College serves as an economic and community development partner for the region, offering corporate and customized training and assessment programs for business and industry. The College is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award the associate degree.

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For More Information Contact:
Amy Shaffer, APR
912.443.5512
ashaffer@savannahtech.edu