Its purpose is to promote informed appreciation for Bay Area Tradition architecture and public art by making graphic and textual documentation of the work accomplished by local Bay Area Tradition architects, artists, and engineers easily accessible to Californians and the general public.

• Vision statement
• Mission statement
• Core values
• Fiscal Sponsorship
• VLN Advisory Board
• Architecture and public art documentation project
• Copyright policy
• VLN Pledge Card
• References

Vision statement

1. Arts, cultural, and humanities organizations that promote access to and the appreciation, enjoyment, understanding and preservation of architecture and sculpture, the visual arts, art history, historical events, and artistic expression in the San Francisco Bay area and Northern California
2. Art councils and agencies that foster, nurture and sustain artistic excellence and seek to create a climate in which the design and visual arts may flourish, be experienced and enjoyed by the public and community at large
3. Arts service organizations that offer touring and marketing assistance to arts organizations
4. Historical and historical preservation societies devoted to the promotion of public awareness and appreciation of history and historical artifacts such as buildings, structures, objects, sites, and districts with architectural and cultural significance within the Western United States, Northern California, and the San Francisco Bay Area
5. Media and communications organizations, including associations of writers and journalists, that engage in the training and programming required for the production of educational programs related to the design and visual arts

1. Phase I (Suburban shingle and Craftsman building)
   • Ernest Coxhead (b.England 1883-d.San Francisco 1933)
   • John Galen Howard (b.Boston 1864-d.Berkeley 1931)
   • Bernard Maybeck (b.New York 1862-d.Berkeley 1957)
   • Julia Morgan (b.San Francisco 1872-d.San Francisco 1957)
   • Louis Christian Mullgardt (b.Missouri 1866-d.1942)
   • Willis Polk (b.Illinois 1867-d.San Francisco 1924)
   • Albert Cicero Schweinfurth (b.1864 Auburn, New York-d.??)
2. Phase II (Hansel and Gretel cottage world of the twenties, Woodsy imagery of rural California, Redwood post and beam box)
   • Bernardi (b.Berkeley 1903) and Emmons (b.1910)
   • Charles W. Callister (b.Texas 1918)
   • Mario Corbett (b.1900)
   • Gardner Dailey (b.1895-d.1967)
   • John Funk (b.1908)
   • Henry Gutterson (b.Minnesota 1884-d.1954)
   • Albert Henry Hill (b.1913)
   • Carr Jones (b.Berkley c.1880-d.1965)
   • Francis Joseph McCarthy (b.1910-d.1965)
   • W.H. Ratcliff, Jr. (b.London 1881-d.Berkeley 1973)
   • John Hudson Thomas (b.Nevada 1878-d.1945)
   • William W. Wurster (b.Stockton 1895-d.1973)
   • W.R. Yelland (b.Los Gatos c.1890-d.Milan 1966)
3. Phase III (wood-sheathed vertical box)
   • Joseph Esherick (b.1914)
   • George Homsey (b.1926)
   • Donlyn Lyndon (b.Detroit 1936)
   • Charles W. Moore (b.1925)
   • Richard C. Peters (b.1928)
   • William Turnbull (b.1935)
   • Dmitri Vedensky (b.1930)

Mission statement

The effort is premised upon the conviction that by making the historical evolution of the regional Bay Area Tradition architecture accessible to a broad and diverse public, VLN will contribute to an intellectual climate in which sustained artistic excellence may continue to flourish in the San Francisco Bay Area.

VLN research and documentation serves as the foundation for a variety of activities, including the organization of field trips, Internet publication, slide shows, and lectures that disseminate bibliographic, biographical and historical information tending to promote the study and appreciation, enjoyment, understanding and preservation of BAT architecture and design.

VLN efforts serve the community at large by contributing to the achievement of the goals of arts, arts service, cultural, and humanities organizations, art councils and agencies, media and communications organizations--including associations of writers and journalists--and historical societies.

The VLN effort is unique in its focus on the evolution of the regional BAT architecture and design, which coincides with and is emblematic of the development of California's leadership role in the arts, sciences, finance and industry during the 20th century. This is of particular importance because it gives testimony to the fact that the state's reputation for innovation, opportunity, and creativity is based in large measure upon contributions made by successive generations of immigrants to the State.

Core values

Because problem solving requires experimentation and risk taking, effective planning entails persistence, the setting of clear objectives, and the establishment of evaluation criteria to measure progress; otherwise, it is impossible either to determine success or acknowledge and learn from errors.

Fiscal Sponsorship

Under the Fiscal Sponsorship agreement, IFTA offers the following key services that ensure the granting and reporting process meets the needs of both VLN and its funders:

• sponsorship of grant applications, making VLN eligible for funding from sources that limit their support to non-profit organizations;
• provision of formal acknowledgement to funders and monitoring expenditures to ensure they are in keeping with original proposals, contracts and funding letters;
• provision of bookkeeping and financial management assistance by maintaining records of all relevant financial transactions and reporting pertinent information to the proper tax authorities;
• receipt of donations on behalf of VLN projects and provision of Letters of Acknowledgement that include proof of nonprofit status to donors for their tax purposes, whether the contribution be cash, goods, or services.

VLN Advisory Board

• Charles Landraitis, Chair,
  Tel: 1.617.327.4760, E-mail: landraic@mail.bc.edu
• Jack Allen, Treasurer,
  Tel: 1.408.371.0711, E-mail: jackallen@aol.com
• Steve St.George, Member,
  Tel: 1.415.441.1299, E-mail: sstgeorge@fhhlc.com

Bay Area Tradition Documentation Project

1. Aim

   The VLN's BAT architecture and public art documentation project implements the VLN goal of making the unique architectural tradition and history of the S.F. Bay Area readily and generally accessible through documentation and dissemination via the Internet.

2. Proposal

   Many Californians are aware of the rich architectural legacy of San Francisco and the Bay Area. However, few realize the importance of the regional Bay Area Tradition, which arose in the early 1890s and has continued to evolve up to the present day. Furthermore, its vernacular origins, evolutionary phases, and the influence it has exercised, both inside and outside the state, are poorly understood.

   This is not altogether surprising. After more than half a century of quiet development, what Lewis Mumford in 1947 described as "that native and humane form of modernism...a free yet unobtrusive expression of the terrain, the climate and the way of life on the [West] Coast" was embodied by a relatively small number of works which consistently exhibited an individualistic insistence on principle rather than on style (Mumford, 1947).

   As a result, it wasn't until the early 1950s that the term "Bay Area Style" become nationally and internationally accepted. Today, though there is authoritative treatment of the Bay Area Tradition in the professional literature, its importance remains generally under appreciated, largely due to a lack of convenient access to an appropriately organized body of explanatory text and graphics that will open the way to understanding on part of the wider public (Gebhard 1988:3).

3. Significance

   The achievement of the objectives of the VLN BAT architecture and public art documentation project will make full documentation (text and graphics) for more than 1,000 Bay Area architectural structures and public art works available in the public domain. The chronological ordering of the information will reflect the evolution of Bay Area architecture and public art and permit Californians to more fully appreciate the context and importance of their historical and cultural legacy.

4. Objectives (Year 2004-05)

   By proceeding at the rate of 25 texts and 40 photos per month, the 2004-05 Bay Area Tradition architecture and public art documentation Project aims to provide text entries and graphics for an additional 300 architectural works, as well as photos of 300 of the works presently lacking graphic documentation.

   New subsections on the VLN site will cover the sculptors Douglas Tilden and Beniamino Bufano and three Phase II Bay Area Tradition architects: John Hudson Thomas, William Wurster, and Joseph Esherick.

   At the conclusion of the grant period, more than 1,000 Bay Area architectural and public art works will be referenced on the VLN website, where the chronological ordering of the information readily facilitates appreciation for the unique evolution, context and meaning of California architectural and artistic history.

5. VLN Progress to date (6/23/04):

   During the last three years, the VLN has developed the Bay Area Architecture and Public Art Documentation Project. To date it includes eight publications documenting 719 Bay Area art and architectural works. The documentation consists of text and graphics. At present there is text documentation for all of the works, consisting at a minimum of the work's date, name, and location. Graphic documentation is incomplete: some works lack illustration; others are illustrated by more than one graphic (see Table below).
   
   

   VLN BAT Architecture and Public Art Documentation Project (2000 -2004)
   A	B	C	D	E	F
   01.	19th Century Architecture	19	182	178	040
   02.	20th Century Architecture	13	127	121	049
   03.	Public Art	07	066	082	005
   04.	Ernest Coxhead	04	038	028	022
   05.	James Francis Dunn	02	011	016	000
   06.	Bernard Maybeck	12	120	031	100
   07.	Julia Morgan	12	115	013	102
   08.	Willis Polk	06	060	056	015
   	TOTALS (04/15/2004)	75	719	525	333
   A: Number; B: Publication; C: Number of pages; D: Number of works and text entries; E: Number of graphics; F: Number of works w/o graphics

6. Scope

   VLN is an ongoing, long-term program. The Bay Area Architecture and Public Art Documentation Project represents the current stage of development intended to lay the groundwork that will make the unique architectural tradition and art history of the S.F. Bay Area readily and generally accessible to a wider public through documentation, dissemination (both online and in print), lectures, and tours.

Copyright policy

VLN Pledge Card

Cash Donations

Gifts of cash are the easiest form of gift giving. To make a cash contribution to VLN, please use the VLN Pledge Card provided for your convenience.

Corporate Matching Donations

Many companies encourage employees to make charitable gifts through their corporate matching gift program by matching personal donations with an equal or greater corporate contribution. You should ascertain whether your gift qualifies for a corporate match. If so, obtain a matching gift form from your employer's personnel office and enclose it with the completed VLN Pledge Card.

In-kind Donations

Gifts of goods, services, supplies or equipment are also welcome. You should indicate on the VLN Pledge Card the type of in-kind donation you are making, along with its estimated value.

After billing and receipt of your contribution, the VLN Fiscal Sponsor, Intersection for the Arts, will provide you with a Letter of Acknowledgement that includes proof of nonprofit status for your tax purposes, whether the donation consists of cash, goods, or services.

We thank you in advance for your generous support which allows Vernacular Language North to research and document Bay Area Tradition architecture and public art in the greater San Francisco Bay Area and Northern California.

References

Mumford, Lewis. Oct. 11, 1947.

"The Skyline," The New Yorker, 23, pp. 94-96, 99.

Gebhard, David. 1988.

Introduction: The Bay Area Tradition, Bay Area Houses, ed. Sally Woodbridge. Salt Lake City: Peregrine Smith Books, pp. 3-22.