News from Tulane

Leading off the fall lecture series for the Tulane School of Architecture, jazz trumpeter Irvin Mayfield will speak on “The Art of Building Good Ideas” on Monday (Sept. 24) at 6 p.m. in the Kendall Cram Lecture Hall on the uptown campus.

Mayfield is a member of the school’s Board of Advisors, in addition to his renown as a performer, Grammy-winning recording artist and cultural ambassador for the city of New Orleans, said architecture dean Kenneth Schwartz.

“I planned this a while ago,” Schwartz said, “as I thought Irvin would appeal to a wide audience at Tulane — plus he has a great interest in the intersection between architecture and music as fundamental elements of New Orleans culture.”

Mayfield created the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra in 2002, and under his artistic direction, NOJO won the 2010 Grammy Award for best large jazz ensemble for its critically acclaimed CD, Book One.

He works with numerous civic and cultural organizations, including serving as chair of the board for the New Orleans Public Library Foundation.

Mayfield was appointed by President Barack Obama to serve on the National Council on the Arts, which is the advisory board of the National Endowment for the Arts.

The architecture series continues on Oct. 1 with the Azby Fund Lecture by Kate Orff of SCAPE/Landscape Architecture, who will speak on “Petrochemical America.” She is an assistant professor at the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation.

The School of Architecture’s fall lecture events, cosponsored by the American Institute of Architects–New Orleans, are free of charge and open to the public.