Preserving In The Land of The Free [Market] P.I

PRES 6980 | Preservation Research Seminar
Professor Alex López

Completed as part of the Preservation Research Seminar, Preserving in the Land of the Free [Market] explores how neoliberalism shapes preservation priorities in three historic neighborhoods: Houston’s Third Ward, Miami’s Art Deco District, and New Orleans’ French Quarter. Through fieldwork, archival research, interviews, and a comparative matrix grounded in scholarship by Peck, Brenner, and Theodore, the project identifies how market-driven policies influence access, funding, and representation in historic districts. The work challenges top-down preservation models and highlights the need for more equitable, community-based approaches that resist both colonial and neoliberal legacies.

Catherine Restrepo

Meet Catherine, the former architect who traded blueprints for scuba suits and found a love for exploring ocean depths. Armed with a Nitrox specialty certification she tinkers mad-scientist style to concoct safer gas mixtures for sassier dives below. Currently honing her preservation skills by the river, this captain-in-training dreams of becoming a marine archaeologist out on the high seas. Drawn to water ever since she can remember, Catherine is perfectly proof that you can ditch a landlubber career to survey underwater artifacts and still keep your head above water. Whether cheerfully cursing floods in New Orleans or mapping lost treasures, this future underwater adventurist shows you can be anything your heart and diving compass point to next. The depths are calling and this seafaring conservator intends to dive right in!

New Orleans, LA, USAinfo@madameguignol.com
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