In celebration of Women’s History Month, the unrecognized talent of female architects throughout history will be showcased in a lecture titled, “Building, Bending, Soaring: Women Architects Hit New Heights.”
Dr. Irene Nero, associate professor of art history, will examine and discuss the works created and the challenges faced by architects who have been excluded from history books. Hosted in conjunction with the Sims Memorial Library and the Hammond Regional Art Center, the lecture will be held on March 20 at 12 p.m. on the third floor of the library.
“It’s a wonderful topic because there are still a lot of under-recognized women who have contributed to society, literature, architecture, culture and politics,” said Nero. “Most people could not name a single woman architect. I think that it would be interesting just to know there was a woman architect, much less all the wonderful things made by them.”
The lecture will focus on the progression of women architects in American history, starting with the first woman to earn a degree in architecture and leading up to present day architects.
Nero graduated from Florida State University with a doctorate degree in art and architectural history. In addition to teaching art and architectural history for 17 years, Nero wrote a book on architectural history titled, “Transformations in Architecture: Frank O. Ghery’s Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain.”
 “All I remember is that from the time I was a child, I have loved buildings,” said Nero. “I love what I do. I love art history completely, but smelling and looking at old stone, glass and steel is wonderful. It’s a good thing if you can stand in a classroom and get someone excited about stone.”
The lecture is part of the lecture series, “Let’s Talk Art,” which focuses on a variety of art topics every semester. Three to four series’ are held in the library each semester. Four years ago Nero and Eric Johnson, library director, developed the idea to host free lecture series on campus for anyone interested.
“We were bored, and we thought it would be fun to host lecture series,” said Nero. “We don’t want to target any lead group of people. We like everyone to come, because it adds all sorts of great energy to the questions.”
Nero’s experience as an architectural historian sparked her curiosity for women architects.
“A lot of people like architecture, but the part that is really intriguing is that so many women’s names are missing from the history books,” said Nero. “I think we’ll all come away with a broader view, knowing that there are many women out there working right now, producing phenomenal buildings.”
For more information on the 2013 Women’s History Month lectures, contact William Robison, department head of history and political science, at 985-549-2413 or wrobison@selu.edu. 

-This story has been edited to reflect the correct time of the Nero’s lecture. The correct time is 12 p.m., not 6:30 p.m. we apologize for the error.