In a day when the value (or lack thereof) of a college degree seems to be front and center in our collective conversation, it occurs to me to shine a bright light on a school that not only delivers a degree, but equips the graduate with a skill that is in high demand and delivers an immediate, tangible bang for the buck - sustainable for life.
Ask anyone who has launched into a restoration project of some sort and you will quickly learn that craftsmen skilled in the preservation arts do not grow on trees. After having spent the past couple of years immersed in a project of my own, I can testify. It has seemed at times that these guys are not just scarce, but possibly extinct.
Approaching the 250th birthday of our nation, it only stands to reason that our inventory of historic structures is growing larger by the year. Why, then, is the stable of artisans capable of supporting and maintaining that inventory not keeping pace?
The question is valid, and I suspect the answers lie somewhere within the labyrinth of recent educational advances that have leaned heavily into technology and steadily away from physical pursuits.
All well and good, but what happens when nothing else will suffice but an honest-to-God stone carver or plaster artist or master mason or finish carpenter? Our phones can do a lot, but their prowess has its limits.
Enter The American College of Building Arts in Charleston, SC. In addition to a four-year degree, the school offers formal training in a wide range of preservation trades and regularly sends its graduates out into a world where requests for quotes and offers of projects are a mile deep, equally as wide, and “name your price” is a phrase frequently uttered.
If there are young people in your life, take a moment for a conversation about life’s work and the benefits of finding a pursuit that you love, rather than slogging through adulthood merely (or barely) earning a living while waiting for retirement so that the real fun can begin.
I suspect that you (and they) will be surprised at the availability of careers in historic preservation and where those might lead. We have already skipped a generation or two. I know this because the craftsmen that I have been able to locate are well beyond their twenties. But if we start today, and work toward an expanded focus on training the next preservation workforce, the old structures among us - and the stories that they hold - might just live another 250 years.
And if that age seems preposterous, look no further than our friends across the pond. If Europe can do it, so can we.
For more information on ACBA, simply click here.
Photos via American College of Building Arts.
