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How an Immigrant Russian Artist’s Home Became the Taos Museum of Art  above photo: Courtesy Taos Museum of Art The unique town of Taos, New Mexico has long been known as an artist’s community featuring museums and galleries, southwestern adobe houses, and fine restaurants serving southwestern cuisine. Rod Collman, President of sdg Architecture in Dunedin, Florida, introduces us to a legendary Taos home and museum.
His name was Nicolai Fechin. Born in 1881 in Kazan, Russia, Fechin became a gifted artist at an early age. He attended the Imperial Academy of the Arts in St. Petersburg and supplemented his art by teaching. When he was invited to show his paintings in an international exhibition at the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, his work gained an international reputation in America and Europe. This would serve him well when he, his wife Alexandra, and daughter Eya fled political unrest and deprivation following the Russian Revolution. The family immigrated to the United States, aided by American patrons. His modern impressionistic portrait paintings enjoyed exhibitions and strong sales, and while teaching at the New York Academy of Art, he continued painting, sculpting, and printmaking. Fechin was known as the Tartar Painter; early portrait subjects included Vladimir Lenin and Karl Marx.
above left: Detail of exterior window wood trim above right: Fechin's painting studio with north-light windows "Doctors diagnosed Fechin with tuberculosis and advised him to go to the southwest United States for its dry, warm climate," said Collman. "The family found the burgeoning art colony of Taos and eventually bought a two-story adobe house. The Native Americans and the mountains of northern New Mexico reminded the artist of his home in Siberia. Fechin enthusiastically embraced the people and landscapes of the area as his subjects and painted portraits of celebrities of the time. These included American frontier novelist Willa Cather and Frieda Lawrence, a German literary figure who was the wife of D.H. Lawrence and distant relative of World War I air ace Manfred von Richthofen."
 above: Living area with adobe brick fireplace "He soon decided the house was too small and began a three-year expansion,” said Collman. “His father was a wood carver and gilder who taught the young artist how to use his hands to make beautiful objects. Fechin detailed the home with hand-carved wood elements, blending the Tartar architecture of his native Russia with the pueblo architecture of the southwest United States. What captivated me was the level of detail in the organic architectural features, and the hand-made structural elements, trim, and furniture. This encouraged me to share photographs of the marvels of the Fechin House, which became the Taos Museum of Art.”
above left and right: Interior structure details
Unfortunately, this period of expanding and detailing the house put tremendous stress on the Fechin family, leading to Nicolai's divorce from Alexandra in 1933. Fechin left the house never to return. Alexandra continued living in and caring for the home in Taos while the artist moved to southern California with their daughter, Eya. He traveled internationally and died in 1955.
Nicholai Fechin's easel, painting table, and a collection of his paintings are permanently housed at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The Fechin Center in Kazan, Russia exhibits the largest collection of his work. To see a virtual tour of the Taos Museum of Art and Fechin House, visit their website at www.taosartmuseum.org.
For a description of Fechin's painting technique and samples of his pre-American portraits, go to http://www.ruthiev.com/nicolai-fechin/. A video of 320 of Fechin's impressionist paintings of people and landscapes is available at Nicolai Fechin: A collection of 320 paintings (HD) (youtube.com)
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 above: The Collman cottage soon after its relocation and the beginning of its transformation. photos: courtesy of Rod Collman Rod and Cindy Collman of Dunedin, Florida, purchased a one-acre residential lot in Dunedin in late 2018. The property included a cottage that the couple wanted to move to the back of the property, subdividing the lot and offering the front half-acre for sale. They planned to live in the cottage while they built a new house on the same half-acre. The moving and remodeling project they took on with the old cottage was exhausting but they were surprised with the result. The cottage is a Sears Roebuck mail-order house. According to the Sears Archives website, the company sold more than 70,000 house kits with 450 models, between 1908 and 1940. Models encompassed a variety of architectural styles and tastes - an ad in one of the catalogs described the range of designs and kits as “a modest little home to a mansion” priced from 725 dollars to 4,000 dollars, depending on size and complexity”. Most of the unassembled homes were built by Sears in the mid-west but sold nationwide, including in Florida. The Collman cottage is one of three versions of the Crafton model offered in 1925. The kits contained pre-constructed components and came in three versions up to 988 square feet, priced from 916 dollars to 1,399 dollars. They were well-made and stout by design, with pre-cut lumber and fitted pieces shipped via railroad cars. This made the homes buildable by the owner with help from friends or local workers. Sears ceased production of the customizable kits after 1940.
According to Collman, President of sdg Architecture in Dunedin, they were lucky to discover the little cottage was in such good original condition after so many years. “Plus, we didn’t have to build it," he said. "The crew put on a fascinating demonstration of how to relocate a house across unpaved, soft ground. Lifting the house onto beams, raising the house with jacks, and adding truck wheels took several days, plus two days just to move the house across the property. Trimming limbs from the grand oak trees became necessary to allow room for the brick chimney to clear."
above: The movement and positioning of the cottage were close and done with extreme care for the oak trees.  above: North facing side of cottage in its new location among the oak trees.  above: Living room looking back to kitchen “Once the moving process was complete, new plumbing and electric service was installed and we began remodeling the house. That alone was a big challenge. Despite the many hours of sweat and stress, we enjoyed the same help of friends and family that earlier Sears home builders had enjoyed,” said Collman. "Initial renovations included two bedrooms, two baths, an open kitchen, and a dining and living room area. While the house’s original wood frame windows were in excellent condition, they were replaced with modern, high-impact windows," said Collman. "Initially using the enclosed front porch as a temporary workshop, we installed all new finishes for floors, walls, ceilings, trim, custom tile, and new cabinets. "We moved into the cottage and fell in love with it. The long-range plan to build a larger main house was shelved.” Fast Forward to the Summer of 2024  Other developments on the property, now known by family and friends as the Collman Compound, include a separate garage, and a smaller house containing Collman’s home office and a rental unit. Walkways connect the three structures. All have metal roofs, two with solar electric panels for energy savings. "Recent additions to the Collman Compound include an enclosed three-season deck attached to the master bedroom at the back of the house, a covered front deck with an outdoor kitchen, and an entry ramp at the back door," said Collman. "Outdoor landscaping is an ongoing effort but has resulted in a beautiful assortment of flowering plants and lush green grass. "
Cindy’s choices of finishes and décor reflect the couple's taste for fine art and fine craft from local artists, art nouveau lamps and sculpture, and mid-century modern furniture."  above: Dining area and kitchen.  above: Looking back from the kitchen to the entry and outdoor deck. Art, fine craft and art nouveau decor enrich the cottage interior.
“Having lived out of suitcases with friends and family for the first ten months, Cindy and I became accustomed to extreme downsizing," said Collman. "Plus, working with family and friends on our project was a very satisfying experience, certainly much like that of the people who originally built the house. It has remained an ongoing effort to build the perfect Florida cottage and our new abode, nestled into the live oak trees, feels like home."
This story is an update of a blog post from 2019 written for and with permission from Rod Collman, President of sdg Architecture, Dunedin, FL .  One artist’s journey in dealing with her health challenges is leading her in new directions for making visual art a pathway for the well-being of people suffering from cognitive impairments. Mason Gehring of Dunedin, Florida, was born into a family of highly creative and artistic people. Today, she is an Artist, Art Teacher, and an Artist in Healthcare Professional. Her journey also demonstrates that the built environment of well-designed public architecture such as community centers, museums, art centers, and healthcare facilities can go beyond simply providing space, provoking emotions that enhance healing. above: Mason Gehring “I am here to facilitate or design art programming in a healthcare setting, purely for the purpose of giving an opportunity to create and hopefully instill the idea that being creative and expressing yourself can be part of a healthcare system,” stated Gehring. “I was diagnosed with CCM (cerebral cavernous malformation) when I was twelve and have been very interested in how the brain works but was generally avoiding thinking about how it really impacted my life. I've been using the creative process for coping since I was a teenager when life seemed complicated and painful. I didn't know that I was creating art for my well-being.” Gehring went on to receive an Associate of Arts Degree from St. Petersburg College in 2003; a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from the School of Visual Arts, New York, NY; and a Master of Arts Degree in Arts in Medicine, University of Florida College of The Arts, Gainesville, FL in 2019. During her studies at UF she learned how architecture and space can affect wellbeing while conducting bedside art activities in the positive, bright, and colorful environment at Shands Children’s Cancer Hospital. By contrast, she described visiting the nearby VA hospital as “…dark in many respects, connected to Shands by a terrifying walkway connecting all the facilities. This is where PTSD veterans and trauma patients are treated.” “In 2019, I experienced a seizure from a CCM hemorrhage, and this set me on a path of creating a body of work specifically about chronic illness and the impact of this kind of diagnosis on a person's identity and how to move forward in life. I had also just graduated from the UF Arts in Medicine program so the degree and life-changing illness made it clear this was part of my journey.” Gehring describes this body of work in her Artist Statement. “As a painter, I have been using self-portraiture to share raw emotional expression in a cathartic exercise to engage the viewer to feel seen and included in this human experience. This current body of work titled, A Journey in Illness, focuses on my understanding of my illness in my identity, facing death, embracing resurrection, and learning how to move forward with a chronic illness.”
Gehring’s thesis research or capstone project was working with adults with aphasia due to a stroke “…to offer visual art experiences for people with aphasia and measure their responses to the experience.” She interned in Dunedin and St. Petersburg with Voices of Hope for Aphasia, a non-profit support group, in her first year creating and instructing art projects with members. “From my work with aphasia participants, I have personally seen changes in their willingness and confidence to converse and new access to phrasing and words not frequently used. In the research I performed, the results were a unanimous desire to work as a group in art projects in the future. The camaraderie from the art-making process brought the aphasia participants together to commiserate while they created and gave opportunities to build confidence, practice conversing, and be part of a social group which are the greatest impacts on well-being for someone with aphasia.”
 Mason Gehring, Artist, Art Teacher and Artist in Healthcare Professional with partner Brian Voliton attending a public exhibition of her work. With the arrival of the pandemic, Gehring found that Zoom meetings, in which a group of patients were collaborating with her making art from home, were surprisingly successful. Rather than losing effectiveness in connecting to them, they were at home in a space of comfort while being with the other group members on screen.
Gehring collaborates with the Museum of Fine Arts in downtown St. Petersburg in their Picture of Health, a multifaceted Arts and Medicine program assembled by Margaret Murray, Curator of Public Programs. This innovative program enhances the well-being of its members and visitors using the Museum’s galleries and gardens as places of healing and solace. The architecture of the building itself enhances the positive effect of viewing the collection of art and artifacts. MFA Mood Tours addresses six emotions through artworks in the Museum. Sit, Stay, Heal takes place in the MFA sculpture gardens, providing a beautiful setting for the public and for front-line healthcare and first responder workers to engage with therapy dogs. Museum on Prescription provides a partnership with physicians and therapists to offer opportunities for visiting the museum to patients that might benefit from encountering art. “The Picture of Health programs engage people by presenting the idea that looking at art is a tool for well-being that can make you feel better,” says Gehring. “Art can medically affect serotonin and endorphin levels, giving the opportunity to change brain status and forget about time, be engaged beyond the current mental outlook, and have hope for the future. That is fulfillment.” Learn more about Mason Gehring at https://masongehring.com  photo: David Shankweiler I visited Karl Flammer Ford in Tarpon Springs, Florida a while back on business and decided to photograph this Ford GT I’ve been loving for two or three years. The very-low mileage Ford GT belongs to Karl Flammer and is one of a little over four thousand production models built. Inspired by the legendary Ford GT-40’s of the 1960’s, the GT was sold in 2005 and 2006 after being released as a prototype show car to celebrate the 2004 centennial of Ford.  above: Supercharged 550 horsepower v-8 under glass photo: David Shankweiler The Ford GT’s 5.4-liter modular, mid-mounted v-8 engine features a Lysholm twin-screw supercharger, all-aluminum block and heads, double overhead cams and 4 valves per cylinder, generating 550 horsepower. An early 2004 test by Car and Driver reported a 0-60 time of 3.3 seconds and a top speed of over 200 mph - street legal off the showroom floor. Besides not being able to bring home groceries, expect average gas mileage of around 14 mpg. Aside from a familiar resemblance to the GT-40, the GT’s construction shares little in common with the historic racer. What I find to be the most interesting of the high-tech methods employed to build the GT is the use of superplasticity to manufacture highly stressed pieces with complex shapes, like the GT’s chassis/frame units. Superplasticity is used to heat titanium alloys, stainless steel alloys and aluminum alloys to the consistency of hot plastic for thermoforming, blow forming and vacuum forming with inert gasses.  photo: David Shankweiler Historical Footnote: The original Ford GT-40 program from the 1960’s came about as a result of Henry Ford II’s attempt to purchase the Ferrari car company in Maranello, Italy. What appeared to be a marriage made in heaven of the small performance manufacturer and the mighty Ford Motor Company, suddenly ended with Enzo Ferrari walking out of the deal. Enraged, Ford spent several years and millions of dollars to build a homologated sports car that would beat Ferrari at its’ own game. The late Carroll Shelby was brought in to help develop the GT40, beginning with performance testing of the prototype. Shelby and his team of hotrodders and mechanics developed the car into a winner. Eventually the Ford Motor Company won the 24 Hours of LeMans in 1966, with a 1-2-3 finish. This vindication for Ford became a run of four consecutive winning years, 1966, 1967, 1968 and 1969. This history is conveyed in the movie Ford vs. Ferrari.
Public Arts Master Plan Provides for Care and Conservation of Public Art The recently completed restoration of Bounce, the colorful steel sculpture outside the Dunedin Community Center, is a result of a well-conceived Public Arts Master Plan by the City’s Arts and Culture Committee, City Commission and City Staff. The City of Dunedin Public Art Consultant, Elizabeth Brincklow, reports that the sculpture has been thoroughly repaired, sanded and repainted for the first time since it was installed in 2008. Bounce is one of many large outdoor installations exhibited in private collections and public spaces around the world created by the late Sonoma County, California sculptor Robert Ellison. Ellison passed away in 2012. Architect Rod Collman of sdg Architecture, Dunedin, designed the Dunedin Community Center and was on the selection committee when Ellison’s work was selected in 2007.
above left: Bounce receiving a thorough washing before sanding and repairs above right: Areas of rust are repaired and sealed (photos: Elizabeth Brincklow) “We sent out a call for artists and got a lot of very nice entries,” said Collman. “But Wow! I was taken aback with this proposed installation from an artist in California. It reflected a recreational overtone with a bouncing ball theme that tied in so well with the Community Center yet was still beautifully abstract. Despite the excellence of other entries, it was easy to get a consensus on Ellison’s proposal. There is no question about the quality of the piece we got,” said Collman. “We want our town to look its best and the City of Dunedin, long recognizing the value of public art, has been great to work with,” said Brincklow. “I have been honored to act as the Public Art Consultant on this project since 2017 and to author the City of Dunedin’s Public Art Master Plan, approved by the City Commission in 2018.”  above: Thaddeus Root, Principal and co-owner of St. Cate Fine Arts, sanding an element of Bounce below left: Bounce in primer ready for color below right: First layers of color being applied (photos: Elizabeth Brincklow)
The plan evaluates new and appropriate projects and gifts of art, creates a balance in terms of what styles and media are incorporated and includes conservation of artworks. From plaques and markers to murals and sculptures, the City of Dunedin currently offers 21+ publicly accessible works of art. Christine Renc Carter, Curator at the Leepa Rattner Museum of Art in Tarpon Springs, worked with Brincklow to complete nine condition reports on existing public art in the City to establish a funding and bidding process to care for the artworks. After reviewing possible art conservation services to care for Dunedin’s public art, the City Commission chose St. Cate Fine Arts. The firm works with a wide range of art media at a high level of professionalism – and they are local. The firm’s two principals, Desmond Clark and Thaddeus Root, offer over 40 years of combined experience in all aspects of fine art management of art collections for museums, private galleries and institutions, as well as corporate and private collectors.
above left: Desmond Clark, Principal and co-owner of St. Cate Fine Arts, applying first layers of color above right: First coats of color for Bounce going on (photos: Elizabeth Brincklow) “Just the search for Ellison’s California studio assistants to find information about the original colors for Bounce was a challenge,” said Brincklow. “When we reached them, they were so pleased to discover the work was going to be restored to perfect condition. Ultimately, the St. Cate team was able to formulate the correct color match. St. Cate has also completed cleaning and maintenance work on several other public art pieces in Dunedin.” The restored Bounce sculpture can be seen at the entrance to the Dunedin Community Center at 1920 Pinehurst Rd, Dunedin, FL 34698.  (photo: David Shankweiler) Elizabeth Brincklow Arts, LLC focuses on enhancing the goals of their clients -- artists, arts businesses and organizations, governments and schools -- to create vibrant communities through a portfolio of arts consulting services. Elizabeth Brincklow has developed a strong reputation as an arts leader in the Tampa Bay region and beyond. Experience allows her the strategic vantage point from which to approach each client’s goals and challenges, providing the necessary alignment for long-term success.  .above and below: Celebration Closeup: (photo by Elizabeth Brincklow) The City of Dunedin is celebrating the first project to be completed under the Public Art Master Plan (PAMP) adopted by the City in 2018. Celebration features a PSTA (Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority) donated bus shelter downtown at Main and Douglas, creatively enhanced by acclaimed artist Catherine Woods. The functional artwork is located across from Pioneer Park, a popular place for a variety of community activities.  “We have been in a years-long pursuit to create a public art master plan, find a credentialed art administrator and the necessary public funds to support making Dunedin an arts and culture destination,” said Jackie Nigro, chair of the City’s Arts & Culture Advisory Committee. “This project is a joint venture between PSTA, the First Methodist Church and the City of Dunedin Economic Development Department. The selection committee chose nationally known artist, Catherine Woods, to perform the bus shelter’s transformation into this charming work. We were most pleased when Catherine applied for the project and even more so when she was selected by the panel.” said Nigro. "I was very pleased to partner on this artistic project and hope it brings a smile to the faces of our residents and visitors," stated Robert Ironsmith, Director of the Economic Development Department." below: Celebration - exploring final designs, disc placement, mounting options and color, (photo by Catherine Woods)  The Arts & Culture Advisory Committee recommended, and the City Commission chose Elizabeth Brincklow of Elizabeth Brincklow Arts, LLC, as their Public Art Consultant in 2017. The Dunedin resident has a strong reputation as an arts leader in the Tampa Bay Region and authored the City of Dunedin’s Public Art Master Plan. In accordance with the Public Art Master Plan, artworks are funded by a percentage of new development projects, by way of public private partnerships, acquired as gifts from individuals, foundations and other sources including departmental budgets. Dunedin counts 21+ existing public artworks from small works to large-scale murals and sculptures. below left: Rivet test. (photo by Catherine Woods) center: Celebration template test fit. (photo by Catherine Woods) right: Celebration cut metal. (photo by Catherine Woods) below: Celebration fabrications at the paint shop. (photo by Catherine Woods)
 “The challenge was to enhance an existing downtown bus shelter to make a statement about Dunedin,” said Brincklow. “The design problem was for Catherine Woods to solve, which she did to our delight. The elements are metal discs created in the spirit of Celebration. Each piece has cutout icons– water, a sailboat, orange slices, bicycle wheels, a thistle, and a puppy – all celebrating things Dunedin is known for.” Additional features include circle shapes in the concrete floor of the shelter that repel water, echoing the art and making a dramatic appearance when it rains. St. Cate Fine Arts, a local fine arts collection management and preservation team, did the final installation of pieces and lighting.
 Catherine Woods’ company, C Glass Studio, is based in St. Petersburg. Her large-scale public artworks in steel and glass, often as tall as 24 feet, can be seen throughout the greater Tampa Bay area and nation wide. Her favorite mediums for making art are stainless steel, aluminum, glass and tile.
“I saw the call for artists from the City of Dunedin and applied,” said Woods. “They wanted something to celebrate downtown, a joyful addition. When we were installing the pieces, people were so friendly and curious. The whole project was fun, happy, like a cheerful party all the time.” Nigro says the success of the Celebration project prepares the Public Art Program for four upcoming projects of larger scale. However, as the program moves forward during the Coronavirus pandemic, Dunedin City Manager Jennifer K. Bramley believes the little bus shelter offers something extra. "It is perfect!” said Bramley. “Who would have thought when the project started that we would need it to boost our spirits during this difficult time.”  sonder n. the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own... (photos courtesy sdg Architecture/Shorelines Design Group) Dunedin’s new Sonder Social Club is a prime example of a project that demonstrates the collaborative relationship between sdg Architecture / Shorelines Design Group (Commercial Architecture and Custom Residential and Interior Design respectively) and the Client Team. Primarily a cocktail bar, Sonder also offers a creative, high quality selection of cocktail-flattering culinary delights. The new destination is the latest visionary effort from Zach and Christina Feinstein who are known for the popular Dunedin restaurants Black Pearl and the Living Room on Main.  above: Retro glamour, yet distinctly modern In a glowing article about Sonder Social Club in the Wednesday, October 23, 2019 Tampa Bay Times, Food Critic Helen Freund praised the excellent cocktails and food, and rated the atmosphere a 10, a high compliment for the sdg Architecture/Shorelines Design Group team. “Olive banquettes line the room, sitting beneath a ceiling of blond wood paneling – lots of retro glamour yet still distinctly modern… That’s just one of many intriguing design gems at Dunedin’s new cocktail lounge,” said Freund. “Part of the appeal lies in the versatility that this space allows for.” “The bathrooms alone are worth a trip to Sonder Social Club. Disguised as a bookcase, the burnt sienna shelves are lined with weathered volumes of the classics, vases and other knickknacks. Give that shelf a little nudge and you’re on your way to the loo.”  above: Sonder Social Club entry and outdoor seating on Douglas Ave  above: Beautiful bookcases hide a speakeasy style entry to bathrooms Rod Collman, President of sdg Architecture, is pleased with the collaborative effort between their two firms - the lead for the project came directly to Rich Badders, President of Shorelines Design Group, the residential firm of sdg Architecture/Shorelines Design Group. “I managed sales and design, and was the main contact for the client,” said Badders. “I did some of the drafting, then delegated jobs to the drafting team in a team spirit we have between our two firms. For Sonder specifically, I oversaw the design and facilitation of construction drawings in conjunction with Senior Draftsman John Benton.” Badders worked with the owners and interior designer on the bar, a key visual feature of Sonder Social Club. Its curving shape embraces and softens the wall of bottles in the corner of the building while providing patrons a social view of others seated at the bar. Benton also worked directly with the Sonder team on the bookshelves, a wonderful and ingenious part of the ambiance and function of the space. Collman was proud to be the firm’s architect to make the final review of the team’s drawings and place the seal for permitting. “The Sonder Social Club project is great example of how a collaboration effort can be successful by working as a team with a project’s owner and their design professionals. Construction was done by Nelson Construction of Palm Harbor with their fine in-house craftsmen," said Collman.  above: Intimate and social bar and the best cocktails in town “The spaces we design should be stimulating and relaxing for customers,” he said. “In this case, a bar or kitchen should be an enhancement to the efficiency and creativity of the bartender or the chef. Making a bathroom fun can be a memorable part of the customer experience. It is often the case that the people we meet are ‘as vivid and complex’ as we are. Our clients know what they want, and our expertise is to take their vision and turn it into reality.”
Rewritten from the original post at sdgfl.com with permission from Rod Collman, President of sdg Architecture. Don’t Market the Buildings. Sell the Relationships Planning an Affordable Cohousing Community10/2/2019  Every cohousing community is unique. Of utmost importance is a sharing, sustainable community where neighbors own their property and spend time together from a front porch, a community meeting or a potluck dinner at the common house. It is a place created for close relationships in a community or neighborhood where everyone can know each other and share with one another. Environmental and energy conservation are often key concerns. According to Rod Collman, President of sdg Architecture in Dunedin, Florida, keeping a community small allows the opportunity for everyone to know each other. It can be rural or urban, multi-generational or seniors only. The type of architecture could be single-family homes or multi-family, multi-story buildings. How do we start a cohousing community? Karen Gimnig, Associate Director of Cohousing Association of the United States, suggests a more affordable type of building to make it easier to buy into an urban community.  Carre Lumiere (France) by LAN architecture. Photo © LAN Architecture. Single-Family vs. Multi-Family Architecture “In Berlin and other cities in Europe, mixed-use retail residential is more a way of life,” said Karen. “I think that our culture is moving in that direction. But such developments in our cities tend to be expensive with larger units. When cohousing groups form that want to build single family homes, they often give up on affordability in order to get it built. $400,000 for a home is pretty typical. We can build smaller.” The spirit of sharing can offer cost-saving architectural possibilities. As in the example above, advantages can be found by sharing walls or building multi-story. Whether small single-family units or multi-family units, designing for shared laundry and kitchen facilities could be shared or located in the common house, further opening space in a small home. “Modern trends lean toward sustainability and greater density,” said Karen. “You can build ten 4000 square foot houses or forty 1000 square foot houses instead. The model cohousing community has about 30 units, so developers don’t get the economy of scale of more typical residential developments. The answer can be in building several (perhaps eight) nearby communities under the same permit. Some communities have changed their ordinances to suit cohousing,” said Karen. Planning and Building the Community “The biggest barriers are zoning and density issues,” said Rod Collman. “The only options we currently have for cohousing are properties zoned for multi-family. If you have large acreage zoned residential/agricultural or residential rezoned to multi-family to create cohousing, it could accommodate a modest common house, two automobiles per unit (generally a requirement) and 4 or 5 units per acre. Connecting walls and stacking can offer greater density resulting in more units in the same space. The first thing a cohousing group must do is establish a relationship with their jurisdiction’s planning staff to identify obstacles and encourage ideas to create solutions.” Collman sees exciting potential in the many areas seeing urban redevelopment in Pinellas County, the most densely populated county in Florida. “This example of an urban building in a downtown setting might feature 15 small units, a mix of 6 studio, six one-bedroom and three two-bedroom on 3 levels (parking plus three stories), said Collman. “The third floor eliminates the three studio units for an open area with outdoor seating, dining and cooking. This area could remain enclosed for a common room for the use of all residents. The rooftop could be potentially accessible and available for solar power or a community garden, offering sustainability in energy and shared food resources.”  “This example of urban living is sought after by many aging baby boomers and millennials alike. Small cities like Dunedin and Safety Harbor, and larger cities like St. Petersburg could make ideal sites for this kind of cohousing due to downtown revitalization and availability of restaurants, entertainment, museums and galleries. “If anyone could sell it, St. Petersburg could sell it,” said Collman. Once you have a core group of people who want to start a community, how do you market the project? How does a developer know if building a cohousing project is going to be successful? Architect Katie McCamant leads Cohousing Solutions and cowrote the cohousing “bible” Creating Cohousing: Building Sustainable Communities, with Architect Chuck Durrett, introducing the housing model to the U.S.in 1994. It is the “must-have” book for cohousers, or anyone interested in more people-friendly neighborhoods. “If you want to start a new community, your first step is to form a group of would-be cohousers,” stated McCamant on the Cohousing Solutions website. “It can seem daunting at first when it’s just you and a few friends who’re interested, but most successful cohousing projects begin with just a few burning souls and motivation!” Her community building checklist is paraphrased below. Group Formation - Find your founding core group of neighbors and begin planning.
Project Feasibility - Site qualities, cost to build homes, other risks: will a property work for your group? Site Search & Acquisition – Research feasibility and negotiate the purchase terms. Building Your Development Budget and Setting up your Homeowners Association (HOA) - Research competitive mortgages, management documents, policies, and budgets from other cohousing project HOA’s and engage with a cohousing professional. Raise investment from your member base and others. Finding Your Professional Team - A successful long-term partnership will require finding a development partner who understands your business model to arrive at an appropriate sharing of risk. Engage with a cohousing professional to guide you through the entire process. Design Programming - Your architect should be receptive to the needs of the group when designing the neighborhood and its homes and should fully understand the uses of common houses. Marketing - What kind of group is desired? Who are they, where are they, where will the community be built? Begin by utilizing your core group’s social media to connect with others. A marketing professional and /or a cohousing professional may be the most efficient way to build a marketing program to find potential group members. “Don’t market the buildings. Sell the relationships,” said Karen Gimnig. “The longer people live in cohousing the more collaborative they become. 40 or 50 people in a close, collaborative community have a great life and if we could arrive at that model, these projects would sell out faster than we could build them. In my wildest dreams, 10% of our population could be living in cohousing communities. I think for most people who have lived ten years or more in a cohousing community, it has changed them in more ways than they could have imagined – in a really good way.”  above: Test driver and racer Ken Richards in 1953 with the record breaking MVC 575 I have long been a British car and motorcycle geek. In my youth, I learned to turn wrenches on my ‘67 Austin Healey Sprite that provided many great memories. There were also a couple of derelict sports cars that looked like potential production racers (imagined through the lens of many beers), two BSA motorcycles and a ’76 Triumph Bonneville motorcycle that I still own. My cousin in law Steve Martin in Asheville, NC, recently sent some images of his Triumph TR6, included here (along with my Austin Healey), that was purchased from my friend and beer partner Jim Goodwin around 1979. Also shown are photos of my '67 Austin Healey Sprite, the car that still appears in the occasional dream in the back of the now non-existent family garage. I nearly bought the Triumph from Jim myself but was dissuaded by a potential job offer that would move me from Atlanta to St. Petersburg, Florida.
top left: 1986 photographs of aforementioned six cylinder Triumph TR6 still owned by cousin Steve above left: 1973 photographs of my 1-liter '67 Austin Healey, small and slow but beloved by a few young ladies OK, Back to the subject. Several months ago, Steve spiked my interest in Triumphs when he sent me some images of a legendary car named MVC 575. This was the pre-production TR2 that set a world speed record in 1953 for 2-liter production automobiles at 125 miles per hour. This speed, difficult for many 2-liter automobiles today, was accomplished at the motorway at Jabbeke, Belgium, on a highway occasionally closed off in one direction for speed testing. According to Andrew English in his Missing link: MVC 575 may be the most significant car that Triumph ever built (www.hagerty.com)... “There aren’t many bits of early Triumph TR history left these days. Considering the genesis of the Standard Triumph range of sports cars—from TRs to Spitfires, Stags, and GT6s—we have little to point at and say, “That’s the start of it all.” So the lovely, geranium-green, speed machine known as MVC 575 is an important car merely in its role as a prototype TR2 and speed record breaker.” However, like the recent discovery of a rare and previously unknown portrait of Mary Queen of Scots beneath a later painting of a Scottish nobleman, there’s more to the 1953 record-breaking prototype TR2 than meets the eye.” What lurked under the sleek bonnet of this automobile? There was a 90 horsepower Standard Vanguard tractor engine that gave 36 miles per gallon of gas, the same engine that would be installed in the TR2 production cars. It had a small windscreen in place of a windshield (a factory option), a metal tonneau cover over the cockpit except for the driver’s seat and rear wheel spats, all to increase airflow and decrease drag. Otherwise, MVC 575 was a standard TR2. The left-hand drive spoke to Standard Triumph’s hopes in the sports car markets of the United States and Europe. Test driver Ken Richardson was sent to Jabbeke on May 20, 1953, accompanied by Sir John Black, chairman and majority shareholder of Standard Triumph, timing officials and the press corps. The roadway was reserved for that day only and problems with the car or the weather could have spoiled it all. Despite ice on the road early that morning, and an oil leak under the car caused by a careless breather tube installation, Richardson set the record; with no driver seat in the car. Richardson’s Jabbeke record run may be his greatest claim to fame, but he was a recognized test driver, and sports car and endurance racer. He did, in fact, compete once at the World Championship level when, as an engineer and the main development driver for the BRM V16 grand prix car, he qualified the car in 10th place for the 1951 Italian Grand Prix. However, he was disqualified for not possessing the appropriate license confirming the experience necessary for World Championship racing. MVC 575 was sold in 1956, was modified over time and ultimately languished for many years. It was purchased in parts by Glen Hewitt, founder of Protek Engineering in Wallingford, Oxfordshire in 2015. Founded in 1986, Protek is a restoration specialist in TR2 through TR8 and many other makes of sports cars. After an 18-month restoration, the record breaking TR2 was reintroduced to the motoring world and honored in an exhibition at the opulent Royal Automobile Club in London.   top and above; the restored Triumph TR2 MVC 575 honored in the rotunda of the Royal Automobile Museum in London Sixty-six years ago, MVC 575 and Ken Richardson ignited a successful start to sales of the Triumph TR2 and the popularity of Triumph automobiles for the next quarter century. Considered the poor man’s Jaguar, The TR2 and TR3 became competitive with the MGA’s and big Austin Healey 100’s of the 50’s and early ‘60’s. Truly, the Jabbeke Triumph was maybe the most significant car that Triumph ever built.
If you came this far, you might like British sports cars so see the gallery images at... www.protek-engineering.co.uk. MVC 575 images above are borrowed from unknown sources. If there is any copyright infringement on any of the images, please let me know and I will remove them.  above: Guest chefs demonstrate culinary techniques to students (photo courtesy Dunedin Fine Art Center) Architect and client Rod Collman, President of sdg Architecture, has played a major role in the design of the Dunedin Fine Art Center’s facilities in Dunedin, Florida since its beginnings in the mid ‘70’s and through several major expansions and renovations. The Center has a history of dedicated studio spaces with customized equipment and engineering for a variety of art media: drawing, painting, printmaking, photography, jewelry, ceramics, fiber arts and much more. These programs have all grown out of smaller, grass roots programs. Some successful classes that have been offered, such as creative writing, have strayed outside of the strict definition of visual arts. The idea for a Food Arts program at the Dunedin Fine Art Center was new and required careful research and study to prove its viability.  “The Strategic Plan called for non-traditional arts programming to attract new students and revenue,” said Ken Hannon, Vice President and COO. “There was concern that ‘food as art’ wasn’t part of our mission. However, there were those who thought it was the next great step for the organization, given the ongoing popularity of creative cooking online and on television. The University of Tampa reached out to us with their program for helping non-profits to develop programming, add revenues and develop a business plan.” Hannon’s thesis project with the University of Tampa was a marketing study to measure the potential of a culinary arts program at the Dunedin Fine Art Center, an idea in which some DFAC members had expressed interest and offered support. Data was required to assure the program was a fit. The results confirmed the program’s viability and several supporters stepped forward to help fund the construction and outfitting of the studio, part of the build-out of the second floor of the west end of the art center.  top: Students get an up close and personal teaching from the guest chef (photo courtesy Dunedin Fine Art Center) above: View from the prep and cooking stations toward the Chef's station and video screens (photo David Shankweiler) “We realized that we were not experts in the planning of a first-class culinary teaching facility and program,” said Collman. “We enlisted the help of Ted Barber of Theodore Barber & Company in Clearwater. The company has consulted and designed on an international level for restaurants, bars and commercial kitchens for hotels, resorts, convention centers, sports facilities, casinos and more. Additionally, the construction of a utility-intense studio in a continuously occupied building, with daytime and evening classes, presented serious challenges.” “We learned that new electric service to the building was required to handle the demands of the cooking and washing equipment planned. The studio on the first floor below the food arts studio had to be abandoned during the construction process to provide access to powerlines, gas lines, and water and waste piping within the first-floor overhead space. This presented programming challenges and noise concerns for the other studio activities. Fortunately, when the building was built in 2015, the Food Arts Committee already had a vision. The studio size was pre-determined in advance so that no walls had to be moved, saving time and money, and reducing noise and mess. The work was mostly confined to the two effected studio areas,” said Collman.
above left: Gas range and oven at the Chef's station above right: View from the Chef's station to the discussion and dining tables and prep and cooking stations (photos David Shankweiler) The new studio includes a chef’s station with commercial range and oven, overhead cameras and two 80” monitors for demonstrations and video production. The most unique feature of the facility is the six mobile workstations for students, powered with 220-volt overhead reels, that move on castors. The custom-built units include electric range tops, large preparation surfaces, storage and a built-in exhaust system that takes the place of overhead hoods. Household convection ovens also keep learning within the realm of home cooking. Program and facility comply with all Health Department standards. Basic build-out was $400,000 and equipment was $130,000, all paid for by donors. This investment needed an ambitious and well thought out program to provide classes that would attract those new students to the center, stimulate partnerships in the community and create opportunities for the center’s current programs to share new ideas. “The Food Arts program has great potential to build partnerships on a variety of levels,” said Hannon. “It fits in so many ways with what we are currently doing. DFAC’s Sterling Society has successfully conducted numerous art travel tours and we believe travel trips featuring food have great potential. The studio’s serving dishes, bowls and cups were made by our students in our ceramics program. Our fiber arts program can potentially provide creative textiles for use in dining and cooking. Our offsite knife forging program can make creative tools for cooking and dining. Food is the oldest still life subject in the world! Photography featuring the visual appeal of food presentation can link our photography program in creating imagery for exhibitions.”
above left and right: A first class culinary studio requires a first class scullery below: Closeup of one of the six mobile prep and cooking stations for students with cooktop, prep and storage areas, and self-contained exhaust systems (photos David Shankweiler)  According to Hannon, Chip Wiener, food photographer and critic for Creative Loafing, will be offering Chip’s Tips, a series of short ideas about improving food photography. The tips might come in the form of print cards and videos. Another offsite outreach opportunity is to partner with the non-profit Dunedin Community Garden, where students can learn how to select fresh organic produce for the kitchen. Such community partnerships can lead to mutual benefits for everyone involved. Restaurant chefs are critical to the mix. “Chefs Cricket and Jason Borajkiewicz from The Restorative, an award-winning Dunedin restaurant, offered a recent class at the Food Arts studio in Sous Vide (cooking meat sealed in bags in boiling water before searing). This provided an opportunity for meeting people who are interested in great food. Those people get new cooking ideas and an introduction to the restaurant and the chefs. It’s a win-win for everyone,” said Hannon. The Restorative was named Creative Loafing’s Critic's Choice Best of the Bay (BOTB) 2017 Best Chefs; Critic's Choice BOTB 2017 Best New Restaurant; Critic's Choice BOTB 2018 Best Restaurant; among other Tampa Bay area awards.
Dedicated studios have elevated the center’s level of teaching. According to Hannon, the well-equipped Jewelry Making studio “…is perhaps the best this side of the Mississippi”. But the Food Art studio is in league with the best culinary teaching facilities anywhere. And for the art center, it offers something different.
“Everyone is comfortable in the kitchen,” said Hannon. “The Food Arts program builds a sense of camaraderie through the shared experience of chefs demonstrating and everyone learning, cooking and sitting down to eat. In the long-standing reputation of the center as a community hub, the kitchen could become the heart of DFAC.” An extensive schedule of weekly classes can be found on DFAC’s website for creating the food of other cultures and for pot recipes, soups, vegetables, baked goods, creative chicken and more on a weekly basis. Go to www.dfac.org. |
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