Cheryl Morgan Wins Alabama Governor’s Arts Award

On May 24, the Alabama State Council on the Arts honored former Auburn University Urban Studio Director, Cheryl Morgan, with the Governor’s Arts Award at the “Celebration of the Arts” awards ceremony at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival in Montgomery, Alabama.

Established to bring awareness to the arts in Alabama this awards program identifies individuals who make significant contributions to the state. “These individuals represent the scope and breadth of artistic diversity, talent, leadership and generosity that is an integral part of the cultural landscape of Alabama,” Executive Director, Al Head stated.

Morgan was one of eight “outstanding Alabamians” honored at the ceremony.

Morgan is a licensed architect as well as an Emerita Professor of Architecture at Auburn University’s College of Architecture, Design and Construction. In her thirty-year career, she also taught at Georgia Institute of Technology, Oklahoma State and California College of Arts and Crafts.

As Director of the Urban Studio from 2002–2013, Morgan was a significant force in the evolution of the studio to its presence today, establishing the Small Town Design Initiative to assist communities throughout Alabama to maximize their assets to grow and flourish. She also is a founding board member of the citizen leadership program, YourTownAlabama and helped to found Alabama Innovation Engine, a design-based community development initiative in partnership with the University of Alabama.

An Auburn architecture alumna, Morgan was named a member of the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects at the 2014 National AIA Convention. Induction into AIA’s prestigious College of Fellows is one of the highest honors AIA can bestow upon a member. Fellows are elected by a jury of their peers in recognition of their significant accomplishments to architecture and society, and Prof. Morgan was nominated by the Birmingham Chapter of the AIA, in recognition of her innovative approaches to instruction and outreach and the impact of her work in these arenas on the careers of her students and in the lives of small towns and communities across the state, region, and nation. “Cheryl has been an advocate for the Urban Studio and its students as well as the city of Birmingham. Through her guidance the Urban Studio has become an instrumental voice in the development and growth of the city of Birmingham,” says Alex Krumdieck, Auburn University Urban Studio Director.