Welcome to the Summer issue of VAN (click on the bolded title if you prefer to read the entire issue from top to bottom or feel free to click on any of the sections below to access the articles)

Thanks to the dedication of many people on the local committee, the VAF Potomac conference was wonderful. The success was in no small part due to our VAF Conference Planner, Michelle Jones, who you can meet in this issue if you didn't get a chance at the conference.  Included in this issue are essays from many groups of VAF Ambassadors: Boston University, College of Charleston/Clemson, Roger Williams University, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and UPenn all of who share interesting insights and observations from the conference.  As is the tradition, the 2018 awards were announced at the conference with much fanfare.  You can see the list of awardees and click on each of the awards to read the full citation of the contributions each has made to the field of vernacular architecture.

Also in this issue are two articles in the Field Notes section, where we get to hear about interesting documentation and field work that is going on around the country.  The first article is from Alison Stone who details the work of the Utah Legacy Project and the second is from Grant Gilmore who describes work on an African American wooden schoolhouse in Mt. Pleasant, SC.

There are some great opportunities in this issue, such as a call for VAF conference organizers to work on future events, a call for Bishir Prize nominations, and a call for abstracts for the Preserving the Recent Past 3 conference.  There is an announcement for a symposium for Richard Longstreth that will be held in May 2019.

The member news section as always is packed with updates on publications, awards and activities that our members are doing to advance the field of vernacular studies.  Please send me any updates you want to share for upcoming issues. And of course, we have our fantastic bibliography. 

Hope you enjoy the issue!

Christine Henry, Newsletter Editor