GOOD NEWS | ‘How’d They Do That?’

The McFaddin-Ward House Lecture Series will present “Architectural Ornamentation: How’d They Do That?,” a free lecture by expert Thomas Ashworth on Thursday, Feb. 16, at 6:30 p.m. in the museum’s Visitor Center Lecture Hall, 1906 Calder Ave. in Beaumont.

With more than 30 years of experience in the architectural ornamentation and interior design industry, Ashworth will share his extensive expertise in historic preservation, methods of creating historic plaster architectural ornamentation, and completed restoration projects, as well as provide insight into the care of our local historic buildings.

In 1991, Ashworth partnered with his father, David, to form Ashworth Design, a company specializing in the design, fabrication, and installation of plaster and composition ornamentation. Semi-retired from the ornament industry since 2017, he now works as a project planner for the city of Beaumont, and his responsibilities include the care of many of the historical downtown buildings.

Ashworth’s lecture coincides with the opening of a new architectural exhibit – “The Way Things Were: Texas Settlers and Their Buildings, 1860s-1930s” – to be staged in the McFaddin-Ward Carriage House from Feb. 16 through April 30. The exhibit focuses on family and community life of Texas settlers as reflected in old buildings and looks at early Texas buildings for information about settlers’ visions of community and progress and their accommodation to the physical demands and economic realities of everyday life. Print resources that accompany the exhibit help audiences explore our cultural heritage, modern attitudes toward the past, and our duty to future generations. 

The exhibit is courtesy of Humanities Texas and will be supplemented by architectural and decorative objects from the McFaddin-Ward House Collections.

McFaddin-Ward House lectures are free and open to the public, but space is limited.

For more information, visit mcfaddin-ward.org.