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The University of New Mexico

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Contact: Carolyn Gonzales 277-5920
cgonzal@unm.edu

Nov. 15, 2007

State Preservation Officer to Talk About Preservation and Sustainability at UNM

Katherine “Kak” Slick, one of the most accomplished historic preservationists in the country, presents, “ Linking Preservation and Sustainability,” Friday, Nov. 30 at 5 p.m. in George Pearl Hall, the new home for the School of Architecture and Planning, located on Central Ave. and Cornell NE. The event is free and open to the public.

Slick was appointed State Historic Preservation Officer by Governor Bill Richardson in 2003 after 30 years of community involvement in historic preservation.

Chris Wilson, director, historic preservation and regionalism program in the UNM School of Architecture and Planning, said, “Kak Slick has worked at every level of government agencies and non-profit organizations – from the Citizens Committee for Historic Preservation in Las Vegas to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and the President’s Council for Historic Preservation.

“She is a visionary who understands how the 40-year-old grassroots historic preservation movement is about the sustainability of the built environment and of our communities.”

Slick, one of two Pearl Fellows this year, was a close personal friend of George Pearl, the architect for whom the UNM School of Architecture and Planning and Fine Arts and Design Library building is named. She valued his advice on the restoration of the plaza and the Montezuma Hotels in Vegas, and they worked together to develop the New Mexico Heritage Preservation Alliance.

“ George Pearl was a marvelous person to spend time with reflecting on what makes a detail, building, place, landscape, tradition or community work,” Slick said.

“ I would love to be able to discuss with him the intersection, and for some disconnect, between sustainability and preservation in caring for and sustaining those aspects of ‘place’ .”

Slick said t he concept of sustainable development first occurred internationally in the 1980s and was initially viewed as an environmental issue. But preservationists, she said, recognized their work as going hand-in hand with the concept.

“ For those of us involved in preservation, the idea of being sustainable goes well b eyond “ greening” buildings. It is about being environmentally and culturally responsible, and recognizing the past as an integral part of the present,  so that communities continue to be viable.”

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The University of New Mexico is the state's largest university, serving more than 32,000 students. UNM is home to the state's only schools of law, medicine, pharmacy and architecture and operates New Mexico's only academic health center. UNM is noted for comprehensive undergraduate programs and research that benefits the state and the nation.

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