Jillian Storms, AIA, was instrumental in her volunteer role with AIA Baltimore in developing the organization’s Early Women of Architecture in Maryland initiative — a traveling exhibit and online resource that has reached thousands about the impact of Maryland women on our built heritage. For her efforts, Jillian will be recognized with the Harrison Volunteer Award by Preservation Maryland.
As the chairwoman, of the Women in Architecture Committee of the Baltimore Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, Jillian Storms conducted and led extensive research about the practices and contributions of women in architecture across the – Mid-Atlantic. In Maryland, women have been professionally practicing architecture in Maryland for over 80 years, yet, with the exception of a few, little is known about those from earlier generations.
Under her leadership, Jillian brought the Baltimore Architecture Foundation and architecture students at Morgan State University to the project and received funding from Maryland Humanities. The project culminated in the research and design of traveling museum exhibit panels that have since been to six Maryland counties, Baltimore City, and Washington, DC. The exhibit starts with an overview and then features the stories of twelve women, organized in order of their birth year with a biography and images of their Maryland projects, and for nine of them, an extensive timeline of their life events and achievements.
Jillian has personally shared her research and fluent knowledge of Maryland’s early architects by maintaining a project website and offering tours during Doors Open Baltimore tours and other public education opportunities.
Jillian Storms, AIA, is an architect and capital programs manager at the School Facilities Branch of the Maryland State Department of Education. She is a former President of the Baltimore Architecture Foundation. She is being recognized with the Harrison Volunteer Award for being a guiding and sustaining force behind the Early Women of Architecture in Maryland public history and education project.