The ICAA North Carolina Chapter is pleased to partner with the Museum of Southern Decorative Arts to host a Sip & Sketch in conjunction with the 2025 In Perfect Harmony: A MESDA Design Seminar.
Throughout history architects and designers have continually looked to antiquity for inspiration and instruction, studying historic buildings as precedent for contemporary practice. As students of the built environment, we primarily turn to measured drawing and observational sketches as a medium for capturing these precedents— which can vary in scale from something as small as a moulding profile, all the way up to a building façade study, or a site plan that illustrates the relationship between building and landscape. This course aims to introduce participants to a step-by-step process to produce measured drawings, and to provide an opportunity to put process into practice by doing a guided measured drawing at a historic location in Old Salem, NC.
Instructor, Alexander Ancona— Alex is a project architect for the Charlotte, NC based architecture and interior design firm, Pursley Dixon. He is also a board member for the North Carolina chapter of the ICAA, as well as the inaugural recipient of the Kyle D. Taylor Memorial Scholarship. His love of drawing and historic buildings, particularly the 19th century log cabin he calls home, has led to continued study and appreciation of traditional architecture and details.
The class will take place from 3-5:30 pm starting off in the Sally Gant Classroom at MESDA (924 South Main St, Winston-Salem 27101). After a presentation on measured drawings from Alex Ancona, participants will head into Salem Square to select a building to draw before concluding the day on Lot 63’s patio with a refreshing drink.
This event is free for all ICAA Members and MESDA Design Seminar Attendees, please RSVP to info@classicist-nc.org
ICAA, NC is pleased to be a major sponsor the 2025 In Perfect Harmony: A MESDA Design Seminar in Winston-Salem, May 2 and 3. Moderated by J. Thomas Savage, MESDA’s longtime Design Seminar host and the Director of Educational Travel & Conferences at Colonial Williamsburg, this program brings together notable architects, designers, and gardeners to share the latest trends in design, and how they create harmony between a home, garden, and a space’s history.
During the Saturday program, Lady Xa Tollemache, Author of A Garden Well Placed, will share her experiences designing the gardens at Helmingham Hall while remaining in harmony with the home. Followed by a presentation by Charlottesville-based interior designer Charlotte Moss, author and editor of over a dozen books and star of the American interior design world, about her design influences. Finally, interior designer and architect Steven Gambrel, part of the Architectural Digest’s AD100 in 2023, will share how he creates modern interiors rooted in tradition. The day will close out with a book signing.