JOHN JAMES PRON, AIA

CURRICULUM VITA OCTOBER 2024

Professionally, I am an architect and a retired faculty member from the Tyler School of Art and Architecture at Temple University and since 1998 an artist active in the regional gallery scene- originally a member of the 3rd St Gallery on 2nd Street in Old City, Philadelphia (where I was gallery co-director for two years), then the DaVinci Art Alliance (DVAA) in Bella Vista, South Philadelphia and now, since 2023, a member of the Cerulean Arts Gallery and Collective in the Fairmount section of this city.

TEACHING I graduated with an M.Arch from the University of Pennsylvania, Graduate School of Fine Arts (now the Stuart Weitzman School of Design). Since 1976 until retiring, I taught in the Department of Architecture at Temple University’s Tyler, teaching design studios, freehand drawing and Beaux Arts presentation graphics as well as lecturing on architectural history (both Western and Non-Western traditions). In my studios, I specialized in the adaptive reuse of historic buildings, which is preserving its essential character (its ‘soul’) while adjusting functions and spaces for contemporary use. I led several summer study tours of Italy and Greece and taught at the campus of Temple University Rome. I was the recipient of his college’s Distinguished Faculty Award (1981), a Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching (1986), and the Temple University Great Teacher Award (1995)- its highest honor. Since 2012, I am an Emeritus Professor.

PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE

As a registered architect in Pennsylvania, I was, until just before the Covid pandemic, the Director of Architecture and Design for Hospitality Design Group, Architects, in Chalfont PA, a firm that specializes in hotel design- both new construction as well as the renovation of older buildings of historic character- in the countryside as well as in urban settings. Most recently, I redesigned the corporate modernist interiors of the Desmond Hotel at Great Valley, Malvern, PA in a style to match the traditional vocabulary.of Chester County- not as a colonial pastiche, but rather as a point/counterpoint between established proportions and classical details with present-day materials, colors, details and fixtures. Similarly (but to a lesser degree), I assisted in the ‘reimagining” of the interiors of Albany New York’s Crown Plaza Desmond Hotel to preserve its much-loved character while adapting to the cosmopolitan hospitality lifestyle of a global hotel chain. I also created and oversaw the installation of the lobby’s 8’ hi and 25’ wide mural.

ARTIST My background in architecture and history inform his artwork. For the past 20 years, I regularly presented in group shows, while exhibiting extensively in the juried shows of many regional art centers and other arts venues. I have had solo shows about every 2 years. At 3RD ST: Citta di Roma: Touch and Go 2002 (the result of a sabbatical in Rome), Cita-del of Brotherly Love 2004 (safety and security in Philadelphia), Phorbidden City: East West Quaker Buddhist 2006 (the result of travel to Vietnam), and PHILApocalypse: a waterlogged Delaware Valley in the age of global warming 2008. Additionally, at 3rd St, Roman Remix: repurposing its excess sacred spaces for social needs 2010 (the result of another Temple sabbatical in 2009), Fracking Roma: uncovering its buried heritage 2012, and philadelphiaBURNOUT: past regrets present frustrations future warnings 2014. At DVAA: Yo, Piranesi in 2017 (co-curated and participated in a Rome-Philly comparison), Rocky (re)Runs in 2018 (similarly co-curated and participated in a study of the impact of Rocky Balboa on the Philly psyche), Not-so-Fast Last Judgement in 2019 (a re-imagining of the Sistine Chapel), and Philadelphia Fabulist: Tales of the City in 2020 (facts and myths of Philadelphia). At Cerulean, my last show was “For better or Worse, for Richer or Poorer…” in 2023, graphically documenting

my warnings and wishes for a city I love. And in Oct-Nov, 2024, my “withDRAW” show of ink and graphite drawings/collages looks at my own family immigration history.

See my website www.johnjamespron.com for a complete listing of all art shows on my cv as well as images from my gallery shows, drawings, lectures and architectural designs.