For the 3rd year in a row, the New Paltz Community Partner Organizations (the Elting Memorial Library, Dr. Margaret Wade-Lewis Center, Historic Huguenot Street, and the New Paltz Historical Society) have come together to bring the New Paltz community free programming that explores and celebrates Black strength, history, and cultural.

We are honored to host Scott Ruff for our 2025 program. Ruff will discuss his wide-ranging experience as an architect committed to the repair(ation) of vital buildings and spaces of African Americans, as well as other people of color. Join us at the Elting Memorial Library (93 Main Street, New Paltz, NY 12561) on Saturday, October 4th from 4:00-5:00 pm for this engaging, in-person presentation.

Program Description:

African American experience arises among the structures of enslavement. Black knowledge and labor contributed to the design and construction of structures, both national and monumental, and local and vernacular. African Americans in the fields of architecture and design are examining the historical record, personal and community memory, and the physical landscape to answer the question – how does architecture convey the historical presence, aspirations, and expertise of African Americans? 

Presenter Biography: 

Scott Ruff is an adjunct associate professor of architecture at Pratt Institute. He is the co-editor of In Search of African American Space: Redressing Racism, Lars Muller Publishers. He is co-author of Within or Without “Gullah Geechee Institute”, Yale School of Architecture publications.

Ruff is Co-Director of the Coles House Project in Buffalo NY, Director of Design for NST Collaborative, and the principal of RuffWorks Studio, a research and design studio specializing in culturally informed projects and community engagement.

He previously held appointments at Cornell University School of Architecture as the Baird Visiting Professor, Yale School of Architecture as the Louis I. Kahn Visiting distinguished professor, New York Institute of Technology, Tulane University, Syracuse University, Hampton University and SUNY Buffalo.

This program is free and open to the public. Pre-registration is required as limited seating is available.