A new layer of living history has recently been added to the Preservation Resource Centerâs Tchoupitoulas Street headquarters in the form of a detailed timeline tracing the PRCâs history.
The new timeline, designed and installed by Tom Varisco Designs., adds to the Leeds-Davis Buildingâs history by laying out the PRCâs history back to its early days saving the âJulia Rowâ buildings more than four decades ago.
Varisco said he began the timeline project in March or April of 2014, kicking off the process by examining the PRCâs existing timeline, which had been built up piecemeal over the years.
âThe old timeline wall was basically a series of framed black and white images, so we knew we would use a full color palette and real objects to convey the excitement and variety of the PRC experience through the years,â Varisco said.
Given the span of time to be covered and the sheer number of milestones achieved by the PRC over the years, Varisco and his team had their work cut out for them.
âWe did rough sketches first and had an initial design in 2014,â Varisco said. âThis was done without any official text to go by. It was an initial conceptual design attempt â more of an ideal design, not knowing how much we had to actually fit.â
Once they had the finished text to accompany the timeline, the really cutting out work began.
âWe actually built a scale model out of heavy paper,â he said. âAfter we had all the objects and text in place, we thought using the mission statement would tie it all together, so we placed that above all the images as a sort of framing device.â
In an effort to draw viewers in and help convey a sense of fun, Varisco and his team settled on warm bold colors for to start off the timeline, which wraps up with the PRCâs 40th anniversary logo.
Along the way, footballs, trumpets, jazz plaques, before and after pictures, awards, honors, and many other noteworthy moments adorn the timeline.
Stop by the PRCâs headquarters at 923 Tchoupitoulas Street to see the timeline for yourself!
All photos by Liz Jurey.
