JILLIAN STORMS
Jillian Storms, AIA
SAY IT LOUD - MARYLAND Exhibitor
Maryland Based Designer
Who or what inspires you professionally?
My mother who showed me that living your passion is the most satisfactory thing you can do in life. She went from having nothing as a single mom to getting doctorate in international health and traveling the world helping people.
JILLIAN STORMS
Bio:
The great designer, Jillian led the Early Women of Architecture in Maryland project featuring women practicing architecture from 1920-1970. She’s received Baltimore Architecture Foundation & Preservation Maryland awards in recognition of her extensive work to bring these stories to light. She’s devoted the last 15 yrs to public service & 20 yrs prior as an architect specializing in facility planning & affordable housing with degrees in Urban Planning & Studies from Goucher College & Architecture from Univ of Oregon
How did you first learn about architecture and when did you decide that built environment profession was an area of interest for you?
Loved making miniatures to scale as a child. Spent hours poring over maps & aerials. No architects in family, so 1st introduced to the field thru historic preservation in college, “reading” history through architecture – a revelation for a dyslexic!
What do you do?
I serve as a capital projects architect in Maryland State Dept of Education’s School Facilities Branch, assisting counties with K-12 public school projects. When not giving time to public service, I do research & oral histories with a focus on women
What excites you in the work you do?
For my paid job - making environments better to learn and teach in. For my volunteer research – uncovering lost histories and making those stories evident and inspiring for the public.
Who or what inspires you professionally?
My mother who showed me that living your passion is the most satisfactory thing you can do in life. She went from having nothing as a single mom to getting doctorate in international health and traveling the world helping people.
What is your proudest professional accomplishment or achievement?
Creating a professional exhibit from start of research to completion in 6 months and having it grace the walls of schools, libraries, museums, and cultural centers all over the state in every county the women had work in (still working on the last 2)
Featured Project Name:
Early Women of Architecture in Maryland
Featured Project Location:
Numerous locations in and around Maryland
Featured Project Completion Date:
started in 2015, ongoing
Role in Featured Project:
founder, organizer, researcher, curator, presenter
Featured Project Description:
The Early Women of Architecture in Maryland project started out as an idea to discovered the history of women’s role in architecture in our state and became a traveling exhibit featured in 20 different locations over its 5 year history involving volunteer mobilization, public programming, and ongoing research. We are now documenting sites designed by women for the National Register of Historic Places. Even assisted our oldest living female architect Helen Staley to make an SIL exhibit entry :)
