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BUSINESS NEWS WORLD-RENOWNED PELLI CLARKE PELLI SELECTED TO DESIGN EXPANDED MUSCARELLE MUSEUM OF ART AT WILLIAM & MARY Pelli Clarke Pelli , recognized as one the top arts architecture design firms in the world, has been selected to design expansion of the Muscarelle Museum of Art at William & Mary, museum and university officials announced. The expanded and renovated Muscarelle Museum will be part of the new, multimillion- dollar, state-of-the-art facility to be called the Martha Wren Briggs Center for the Visual Arts. That facility along with new construction and renovations at the front of campus will form the William & Mary Arts Quarter. Richmond-based Odell Associates Inc. , known for innovative and lasting designs, will be the Virginia firm contracting with Pelli for the Muscarelle work. Stemann/Pease Architecture of Williamsburg, drawing on the experience with the museum of W&M adjunct instructor of art and art history Edwin Pease, will be consulting. “The Muscarelle has made amazing progress on many fronts in recent years,” said W&M President Taylor Reveley. “The Martha Wren Briggs Center will be a significant addition to the campus, and we look forward to working with Pelli Clarke Pelli.” Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects is an acclaimed international design architecture firm that has designed many of the world’s most recognizable and memorable buildings, each emblematic of its city. Notable examples include the Petronas Twin Towers of Kuala

Lumpur, the International Finance Centre of Hong Kong, and the World Financial Center of New York. In addition, the firm has designed more than 10 museums, showcasing collections ranging from 20th-century art to archeological specimens. César Pelli, the founder of the firm, started his career in the New Haven, Connecticut, offices of architect Eero Saarinen and later became dean of the School of Architecture at Yale University. In Pelli Clarke Pelli design of cultural institutions, the architects are known for recognizing the value of art for bringing renewed life and excitement to a campus setting. According to the firm, the architects believe that museum design should be compelling, elegant, and functional, creating an atmosphere for the user to enjoy the collections on display. They also believe that relationships between art and architecture succeeds best when a consistent and coherent language is apparent throughout. “I am honored to be designing the Muscarelle Museum at William & Mary,” Pelli said. “I want to create a beautiful home for the outstanding collection and the entire W&M community.” William & Mary has a long history of promoting the arts. At the behest of alumnus Thomas Jefferson (class of 1762), William & Mary was the first university in the United States to include the fine arts in its curriculum and to begin collecting art in the 1700s. In 1779, Reverend Robert Andrews (ca. 1747- 1804) was appointed to the professorship to instruct in sculpture, painting, gardening, music, architecture, poetry, oratory, and criticism. Much later, in 1938, William & Mary

and Wheaton College in Massachusetts held national architectural competitions for fine arts buildings on their campuses. Eero Saarinen, founder of the architecture firm where Pelli began his career, was among those who placed first in that 1938 competition, which attracted many of the world’s greatest architects. “It is more than poetic that in 1938 the greatest architects in the world vied in competition for an inspired arts facility on the campus of our historic and prestigious university, and that it is only today that that dream is becoming a reality,” said Aaron H. De Groft ‘88, director of the Muscarelle. “It is so befitting, then and now for William & Mary, that a distinctive ‘Public Ivy’ will again have one of the greatest living architects to design our Briggs Center for the Visual Arts.” The Muscarelle Museum was established with the mission of advancing art and artists, building a dynamic and vibrant community, promoting thought-provoking dialogue and encouraging diverse and creative thinking. The Martha Wren Briggs Center for the Visual Arts was named in honor of one of the museum’s greatest benefactors, Martha Wren Briggs ’55, and its expansive space will house world-class exhibitions featuring interactive technologies and a Teaching Center for research and engaged learning, including the study of tangible works of art. It will have a modern auditorium and gathering spaces and will be home to the Muscarelle Museum of Art.

CONFERENCE CALL, from page 7

next five years. But it’s not all doom and gloom. While we do work nationwide, all of our offices are currently in Tex- as. There are over 1,200 people moving to Texas every day which puts us in a very strong position. Four of the top 11 cities in the nation are in Texas. People in general are wary of the liberal anti-business positions that have been taken in places like New York and California. Texas has no state income taxes. Texas has no unions. Jacobs Engineering, my former employer, didn’t just move to Dallas from California because their employees are big Cowboys fans. There was a compelling business case to be made here. Eight out of 10 Texans live in the 60,000-square mile triangle formed by Dallas-Fort Worth, San Antonio, and Houston, that’s a tri- angle that features Austin at its center. By 2050, Texas will account for a sixth of the total U.S. Gross Domestic Prod- uct. My prediction for the next five years is that Texas will continue to be the miracle of the nation. Many of the larger national firms are in a “growth through acquisitions” mode, finding that they cannot grow their investors’ returns at a fast enough rate on organic growth alone, choosing instead to buy into the Texas markets and existing client bases. Tex- as is a very attractive and necessary market for any large en- gineering firm and many are actively seeking acquisitions in BRD’s markets. GTT, baby – get to Texas!

down our growth because we’re failing to collect. We’re not going to use our line of credit because we’re allowing our cli- ents to slow pay. We’re going to grow, and we’re going to col- lect, and we’re going to have fun and be very unemotional about doing it. That’s just good business. “This year, we’re putting the investments in place that will allow us to double in size in the next two years. That’s a painful process at times, but being able to show our team members, prospective team members, and potential acquisitions that we’ve got a fortress in place for our back-end infrastructure will make it all worthwhile.” TZL: What’s your prediction for 2017 and for the next five years? WS: Rising interest rates, inflation, even more dramatic la- bor shortages, and a mild recession are all very real in the

THE ZWEIG LETTER June 26, 2017, ISSUE 1206

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