WP Employee Art Gallery

Brett -untitled Brian - Napa 29We have a space in our break room that has been blank since the office was built. So, we turned it into a little art gallery. Here’s the idea. I thought it would be interesting to showcase our employee’s lesser known artistic talents. Everyone at WP is creative in one way or another. Painting, sketches, scrap booking, knitting, quilting, writing, photography… and so on and so forth. To kick things off, Brett (left)...

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Drop in from Ascent Builders

The nice people of Ascent Builders stopped by last week to talk shop and anything else that happened to come up. They seemed to have inside information on how to get the most WP'ers to attend by bringing sushi and beer. Needless to say the workstations were empty and the conference room packed! Some of us were meeting for the first time, others just catching up but everyone had a great time. Thanks Ascent!!!They also blogged about us... read it...

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The One and Only - Lady Gaga

Wednesday night I was in an arena full of “little monsters”, mesmerized by the one and only Lady Gaga. And what a show, the girl can belt….and dance….and entertain: a real triple threat. How fun to catch a talent at the height of their career, her song “Born this Way” has been on the top of the charts for 6 weeks and she did a slow, Elton John piano style version of it that rocked the house! On a personal note, it was the first time for me in General...

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IIDA Awards

Chapter President Robi Kaseman (Williams + Paddon) spoke about the value of IIDA membership and actions taken during her 2010 – 2011 term: a new Partner program to help underwrite programs, a new Chapter identity program and a new website. As is chapter tradition, the membership gets officially introduced to the President- Elect during Honor Awards, so Ms. Kaseman introduced Laura Grigsby (Laura Grigsby Art Consulting), who took the stage to thank...

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Liz

I was watching a rerun of Sex & the City the other night and in that episode the elegant Charlotte York had just adopted a beautiful puppy and named her “Elizabeth Taylor”. I laughed out loud, it seemed funny and appropriate at the same time because both Charlotte and the puppy are Taylor-esque! The real Elizabeth Taylor passed away this week and it took me back to when I was a little girl. Elizabeth Taylor was an icon: beautiful, elegant, larger...

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Fifteen Trends That Will Reshape The Office

(ucsf capital + facilities management, lounge: STUDIOS, san francisco) 1. The decline of the cubicle. Cubicle sales peaked in 2000 when they accounted for nearly 37 percent of all office furniture sales. This has fallen to 26 percent. Corporations now prefer more open spaces that foster collaboration. 2. More gathering spaces. Informal meetings, workers plop down with laptop or iPod. 3. Work lounges - but work gets done here. 4. The demise of foosball...

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Movie Night at the Crocker

For anyone interested in Mid Century Modern architecture this is a must see. Julius Shulman photographed some of the best architecture of his time. His work brought modern design to the masses via countless media publications. An amazing artist of his trade, he captured the essence of these architectural icons through his lens. This is part of The Crockers "Thursdays 'til 9" series. It's a great opportunity to check out the exhibits (price of the...

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Fogscapes - Art Reception

2237 GALLERYWilliams + Paddon Architects + Planners, Inc.Lafler Moore Connerty & Webb, LLP2237 Douglas BoulevardRoseville, California 95661PresentsFogscapesPhotographs by Donald Satterlee Donald Satterlee works as a commercial photographer in Sacramento and has produced many of the images seen in ads, brochures, annual reports and billboards around Northern California. This exhibit of his personal work features many of the black & white images...

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Artist Lecture

Semi-local artist John Pugh (Truckee) Will be giving a lecture at the North Natomas Library this Wednesday. You can see more of his work HEREJohn Pugh is the artist that did a mural on the wall of the existing Taylor Hall at CSU Chico Campus (image below). Due to its artistic importance, the University is exploring several methods of preservation / relocation ($$) since the building will be demolished to make way for the new Taylor Hall. He is a...

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St. Patrick's Day - Morning

Thanks to Naaz, Paul, Greg and Jim for waking up extra early and cooking the office a 'green' breakfast. The menu included green eggs and spinach, kiwi, grapes, green Irish soda bread, and green pancakes. Everything was delish... Thanks!!! Paul manning the griddle... he was most proud of the fresh green whipped creamNo, nothing was spoiled or rotten... just greenRobi and Brian W. in a pancake eating contest. Brian 15, Robi 3. What a way to start...

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St. Patrick's Day - Afternoon

One for everyone Everyone watching Brett do an Irish jig. Someone really likes green beer!Mark's Green Musta...

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W+P Garage Sale

Request for donations!!!We’re back folks and still coming up with new and resourceful ways to raise money for our charity Sierra Forever Families! What is it this time? Pony rides? Javelin throwing contest? Kissing booth? Hell no, we’ll spare ourselves the indignity. Really it’s simple and to the point… another “Garage Sale”!!! This time, we are simplifying it by only requesting items that are media based. If you have any of the below items just...

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Did You Know...

Kim Settle rode out the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake in San Francisco in a wood 2-story building that had survived the 1906 earthquake. The building remained standing, if somewhat crookedly, but completely separated from its foundation & had to be torn down. We were cowering under my desk & I can still remember the sound of the nails popping out of the timbers underneath me after the shaking had stopped.Kim Navarro has driven across the United...

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Trip to the Library - Cade Winery

Let me introduce you to Cade Winery in Napa. Paul and I were directed to this winery after getting caught sneaking around another architecturally inspired winery (Quintessa). Apparently "by appointment only" means don't walk around without supervision. Oh well, back to Cade... after a few wrong turns we finally found this little gem tucked away from the main traffic. As we drove through the vineyards below, we had to pick our jaws off the floor as...

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Inspiration

While trying to locate some of these wineries we got lost... more than a few times. But, this was OK because getting lost in Napa is never a bad thing. We came across this beautiful and well crafted stone wall that is exactly what we envisioned for one of our projects. Also, the green moss that grows on the old oaks of the fog filled valleys might inspire the color of the window mullions. Inspiration is all around and in the everyday if your eyes...

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The Art of Dessert

The reason for the trip to Sonoma was to attend The Art of Dessert event at the Wells Fargo Center for the Arts. This years benefactor of the year was the Lytton Rancheria and tribal chairwoman Margie Mejia. The Lytton tribe has become heavily involved in donating and raising funds to support the center and the children of the greater Sonoma region. The Art of Dessert is the Arts Center’s annual, and only, major fundraising gala. Three hundred of...

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Who Doesn't Like a Good Practical Joke?

-E...

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Can You Tell the Real Jack?

Is this Jack? Or is th...

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On The Boards - Chico State Parking Garage

A few weeks back Bill and Mark organized a design charrette on the Chico State Parking Garage. The team presented a well thought out solution to the problem... they bribed us with free pizza for our innovative ideas on how to make this design sing. It was a huge success, ideas were exchanged and the final product is something to be proud of. Great job everyone! Amber and Regina hard at work while Brian eats pizzaMark explaining connections details...

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