The Vernacular Architecture Forum (VAF) offers a number of awards and fellowships to promote and support vernacular architectural fieldwork and scholarship, as well as the dissemination of research. Prizes are awarded to recognize the contributions to the study of vernacular architecture. Information about applying and past winners can be found on the VAF website at: https://www.vafweb.org/awards.
The deadline, unless otherwise noted, is February 1, 2023.
The 2023 awards, prizes and fellowships will be presented at the 44th annual VAF conference in Plymouth, Massachusetts, May 17-20, 2023.
Access Award
The Access Award supports first-time attendance at the VAF’s annual meeting by scholars and students with limited professional exposure to the fields of architectural history and vernacular studies, as well as by practitioners and independent scholars in the field.
Award for Advocacy
The Award for Advocacy encourages citizen-based advocacy by recognizing exemplary efforts and achievements on behalf of our vernacular built heritage.
Ambassadors Awards
Ambassadors Awards provide funding for faculty-sponsored student groups (both undergraduate and graduate) from North American institutions, to attend VAF annual conferences.
Catherine W. Bishir Prize
The Catherine W. Bishir Prize is awarded annually to the scholarly article from a juried North American publication that has made the most significant contribution to the study of vernacular architecture and cultural landscape.
Paul E. Buchanan Award
The Paul E. Buchanan Award recognizes contributions to the study and preservation of vernacular architecture and the cultural landscape that do not take the form of books or published work.
Abbott Lowell Cummings Award
The Abbott Lowell Cummings Award, named for the founding president of the VAF, is awarded annually to the newly-published book that has made the most significant contribution to the study of vernacular architecture and cultural landscapes of North America. (NOTE: DEADLINE FOR THE CUMMINGS AWARD IS DEC. 20, 2022)
Simpson Presenter’s Fellowships
The Simpson Presenter’s Fellowship allocates funding to offer partial financial assistance to students and young professionals presenting papers at VAF annual conferences. (NOTE: DEADLINE FOR THE SIMPSON FELLOWSHIP IS DEC. 19, 2022 AND MUST BE SUBMITTED WITH PAPER PROPOSAL)