Our first episode in the new Culture Series of the Queries & Theories webcast was hosted live on August 18, 2021.
The second season began with a conversation between this year’s moderator, Alyson Steele FAIA, LEED AP, Principal & Director of Design, and featured guests Beth Barrett AIA, AANB, Senior Associate of Quinn Evans and Betty Seigel JD, Director of the Office of Accessibility and VSA at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts surrounding the overarching goals of making shared experiences possible for all who wish to enjoy them.
Topics discussed include human-centered design, social models, and creating a better-built environment.
Watch our Queries & Theories: Culture Series - Session 1, Creating Shared Experiences webcast recording below.
Learn More About the Speakers
Betty Siegel, J.D. is the Kennedy Centers’ Office of Accessibility and VSA Director, and she believes that cultural experiences inclusive of people with disabilities of all ages is a critical civil and human right. She champions, defends, and leads national and international disability, arts, education, and cultural practices. Betty is especially proud of the Kennedy Center LEAD and VSA intersections conferences that collectively convene over 900 professionals and arts workers in the cultural access sector. She is a respected speaker, delivering presentations around the world and across the United States on disability, civil and cultural rights, and federal disability laws and regulation. Her J.D. (2009) is from the Columbus School of Law.
Beth Barrett, AIA, AANB is a Senior Associate at Quinn Evans and has a distinctive portfolio that includes the design of new facilities and major restoration projects for several of the nation’s most treasured cultural resources. She has helped to create and modernize popular destinations for historical interpretation and the arts, including thoughtful news interventions on historic sites and challenging renovations of outdated facilities. Beth has contributed to the design of visionary improvements for significant civic and cultural properties, including museums and visitor centers, with a focus on enhancing the visitor experience.
Alyson Steele, FAIA, LEED AP, Principal and Director of Design at Quinn Evans has an approach to design that enables cultural institutions to address new audiences while enhancing their buildings’ and sites’ essential character. She utilizes facilitation, graphic representation, and digital technology to develop solutions that make history and meaning tangible. Alyson enjoys engaging and empowering diverse stakeholder groups to create authentic and inclusive experiences of shared cultural places—making these places stronger, more dynamic, and better connected to their communities.
