If you’ve ever wanted to take home a piece of West Virginia’s architectural history, here’s your chance.
Hand-ground coal. Metal and nails. Single-block Legos. These are just a few of the materials used by 20 of West Virginia’s most creative minds to illustrate the state’s architectural history. They were commissioned by none other than Mills Group, in celebration of the Morgantown-based architectural firm’s 20th anniversary—and now they’re up for grabs, in an auction benefiting the Preservation Alliance of West Virginia (PAWV).
Each piece is an artistic depiction of an iconic historic landmark in West Virginia, from Morgantown’s very own Metropolitan Theatre and Monongalia County Courthouse to locations across the state, like Blue Sulphur Springs Pavilion and Carnegie Hall. Together, the artworks tell of two decades spent tending the Mountain State’s heritage—each location is one of the Mills Group’s many preservation projects.
“These are landmark buildings in West Virginia’s towns,” says Mills Group founder and managing principal Michael Mills. “They’re part of the charm and flavor of West Virginia, and they document change over time. So many of these came about during the boom of oil and gas, and they also document the heritage of Italian masons and immigrants that came here to work. You go from town to town, and the architectural styles are different, the materials are different. That’s the exciting thing in West Virginia—we have some wonderful historic resources that have been saved.”
That’s why PAWV was chosen as the beneficiary of the anniversary auction—preservation is kind of its thing. Before founding Mills Group in 2005, Mills was on the PAWV’s board, and the alliance was one of the firm’s first cheerleaders. Now, as nonprofits like PAWV struggle to obtain funding, Mills wants to give back to an organization that holds preservation as close to its heart as Mills Group does.
“Every project that we do is like our baby. You raise them and see them change,” says Mills. “All of our historic projects are passion projects. They’re all special for different reasons.”
The auction runs until December 19. View and bid on the pieces online, and you just might find yourself hanging a piece of West Virginia’s heritage on your wall—or cooking your green bean casserole in it, if you win Gabrielle Merandi’s functional casserole dish inspired by Elkins’ Tygart Hotel.
This isn’t the end of Mills Group’s support for the PWVA and protection of the Mountain State’s heritage—in coming months, the firm will announce plans to further bolster the alliance’s work.
READ MORE ARTICLES FROM MORGANTOWN LOWDOWN
Leave a Reply