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From YouTube: Moments with Melinda: Interview with Diane Gayer
Description
From Melinda Moulton:
Architect, Environmental Conscious Designer, Visionary for a Better Future, Teacher, Artist and Writer.
Diane Elliott Gayer is a licensed architect in the States of Vermont and Colorado. She has been practicing architecture since graduating from the University of Colorado, School of Design and Planning, Denver, Colorado, with a Masters of Architecture (1976 to 1979). She received her B.A. in German Languages from the University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, 1975.
Ms. Gayer’s professional experience includes work as an architect, community planner, and environmental designer. She was director of the Vermont Design Institute (VDI), a non-profit design and community development collaborative based in Burlington, Vermont. She managed the collaborative since April 1998. June 1999 to September 2000, Diane worked for the State of Vermont as a planner, organizing the Smart Growth conference for the State and writing a History of Planning in Vermont.
9/29/2022
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A
A
Am
so
glad
to
have
you
here
you
and
I
go
back
many
many
years,
I
think
30
or
40
years
we
go
back
and
we've
sort
of
been
aligning
in
each
other's
careers
and
I
have
been
dying
to
learn
more
about
you
and
to
share
with
my
viewers,
your
life
story.
So
for
my
viewers,
let
me
tell
you
a
little
bit
about
Diane
Gare.
She
is
an
architect,
an
environmentally
conscious
designer,
a
teacher,
an
artist
and
a
writer
anything
you'd
like
to
add
to
that
illustrious
list
of
accomplishments.
A
I
think
they
know
I
I
do
I,
think
I,
think
I
think
people
have
I
think
you
have
impacted
people
and
certainly
in
my
work
in
sustainable
Redevelopment,
you
were
always
there
as
sort
of
the
conscience
in
the
back
tapping
me
on
the
shoulder
and
saying
Melinda.
Have
you
thought
about
this?
Have
you
thought
about
that
and
you've
always
stretched
me
to
think
a
lot
deeper
in
the
work
that
I
was
doing
and
I
think
that's
been.
You
know.
One
of
your
roles
is
that
you
are.
A
You
are
someone
who
does
not
hold
back
if
you
know
that
something
could
be
done
better
to
protect
our
planet,
so
I
think
I.
Think
I've
always
loved
that
about
you.
You
do
not
you
aren't.
You
are
not
a
a
wilting
flower.
You
are
a
explosive
energy
of
what's
right
and
good
and
your
trouble
is
good.
Good
trouble.
Okay,
like
John
Lewis,
said
so,
let's
start
with
you
sharing
with
us
a
little
bit
about
your
life
and
your
childhood
and
and
where
you
grew
up
and
a
little
bit
about
that.
B
B
B
B
A
B
Great
yeah
all
right,
so
it
was
a
mountain
outside
of
Valley
Forge.
It
was
called
Valley,
Forge
mountain
and
it
did
form
a
couple
different
things,
but
I
think
one
of
the
oh
and
you
know
when
kids
change,
schools
and
change
cultures.
All
sorts
of
things
happen,
but
the
first
two
years
that
I
was
there
I
pretty
much
isolated,
myself
and
I
think
because
of
that
it
informs
my
belief
system
in
in
myself.
B
A
B
Maybe
a
a
litany,
a
collection
of
of
friends
and
people
there's
not
one
particular
person
that
stands
out.
Although
there
was
a
course
when
I
was
in
high
school,
I
did
end
up
in
a
in
a
Waldorf
School,
that's
sort
of
Rudolph
Steiner
philosophy,
and
there
was
a
course
called
history
through
architecture
and
in
that
course
we
explored
the
meaning
of
space
and
sort
of
modulating.
B
There
are
three
like
nested
envelopes
about
space,
personal
space,
community
space
and
cosmic
space,
and
that
in
particular,
not
only
influenced
my
life
personally
and
my
work
in
the
community,
but
also
my
belief
system
in
terms
of
being
part
of
the
cosmos.
So
that's
that's
critical
and
it
was
more
a
course
following
Rudolph
Steiner
than
than
a
person
in
particular
and
then
sort
of
unfolding.
B
At
the
same
time,
I
had
a
couple
siblings
of
friends
who
were
studying
architecture,
one
of
whom
was
a
woman,
who's
now
deceased
and
so
I
knew
right
from
the
beginning.
That
architecture
was
a
possibility
as
well
as
my
father's.
An
engineer
was
an
engineer.
My
brother
was
an
engineer,
so
I
ran
in
the
family
and
where
I
didn't
quite
want
to
do
what
they
were
doing.
I
could
go
from
engineering
to
architecture
and
my
father
totally
supported
that
from
the
get-go
I
said
teaching
or
architecture
and
he
said,
go
for
it.
B
B
My
paternal
grandmother
was
in
the
extension
service
in
Nebraska
and
I
was
totally
surprised
when
I
went
to
visit
with
the
archives
several
years
ago
that
that
that
was
unusual.
They
were
like
wait.
We
want
her
history
too,
because
they
didn't
they
said.
No
extension
service
was
always
met,
I'm
going.
What
are
you
making?
It's
always
been
women
to
me
and,
and
my
mother
and
my
grandmother
were
also
early
in
banking.
A
B
Maybe
he
graduated
I
left,
so
I
went
to
car,
sorry,
I
went
to
Occidental
College
and
then
I
went
to
the
University
of
Colorado
and
then
I
spent
a
year
in
Germany
and
then
I
came
back,
so
I
went
to
five
school
or
two
schools
twice:
three
schools
total
and
graduated
in
four
years,
and
then
I
went
off
and
taught
skiing
right.
Isn't
that
what
we
did
in
the
70s?
Yes,.
A
We
did
I
guess
we
did
yeah
I
was
skiing,
I
was
teaching
skiing
at
Mad,
River
I
guess
we
did.
We
did,
and
so
so
you
now
you
you
and
your
ex-husband
was.
He
was
your
business
partner.
You
established
your
own
practice
called
Artemis
design
Artemis
designer
our
team
is
designed.
Tell
us
a
little
bit
about
your
time
in
Colorado
and
the
important
work
you
did.
While
you
were
there.
B
Okay,
so
to
segue
back
just
a
little
bit
so
I
end
up
in
Colorado
teaching,
skiing,
three
part-time
jobs.
That's
when
I
come
home
and
I
say
this.
Isn't
sustainable
I
need
to
do
something
else
at
six
in
the
morning,
scraping
sugar
off
of
donut
racks
was
not
going
to
be
my
future.
So
I
end
up
in
architecture,
school
I
meet
Jeff
in
architecture
school.
B
We
graduate
and
we
decide
well
I
work
for
a
couple
other
Architects
for
a
couple
for
a
year
and
a
half,
and
then
we
become
part
of
the.
It
was
a
HUD
renovation
Zone
in
Denver,
and
so
we
buy
a
building.
We
start
to
renovate
it
there's
a
fire
in
it
and
there
have
been
fires
in
several
of
my
key
iconic
projects
as
it
turns
out.
B
Jumping
ahead,
Old
Mill
had
a
history
of
fire
in
it
before
that
became
my
key
project
at
UVM,
so
on
Santa,
Fe,
Drive,
Jeff
and
I
Opus
Artemis
designs
and
the
fire
is
the
day
that
I
quit
my
paying
job
and
the
building
burns
down
to
the
degree
that
then
all
the
code
violations
kick
in
that
we
have
to
take
care
of,
as
opposed
to
just
thinking,
we're
doing
a
simple
renovation.
The
whole
thing
has
to
be
brought
up
to
code
and
I
think
you
might
know
what
some
of
that
means.
B
So
so
that's
the
beginning
of
Artemis
designs,
I,
basically
named
it.
After
my
own
name,
Artemis
was
the
goddess
of
the
hunt.
The
Greek
goddess
and
I'm
I
become
the
one
that's
licensed,
I'm
sort
of
in
charge
of
the
office
and
Jeff
and
I
worked
together
and
he
does
the
renovations
part
more
than
I
do
and
it's
sort
of
a
split
office.
B
Excuse
me,
but
after
several
years
of
that,
the
economy
in
Denver
totally
falls
apart
and
it
continues
to
fall
apart
for
a
total
of
eight
to
nine
years.
So
at
year,
five
I'm
applying
for
jobs
elsewhere
and
one
of
the
places
is
UVM
and
and
I
and
I
keep
track
of
the
eight
years
because
it
wasn't
like
oh
yeah.
I
could
just
go
work
for
UVM
for
six
months
or
a
year
and
then
go
back.
The
economy
continued
to
be
non-existent,
so
I
end
up
at
UVM
and
it's
it's
a
total
love.
B
B
B
B
A
B
B
So
it
evolves
out
of
working
for
UVM
for
five
years
and
I
think
well.
There
was
somebody
teaching
an
architecture
course
within
what
was
then
still
votech
and
they
stopped
doing
that,
and
so
I'm
asked
to
step
in
and
fill
in
and
that
meets
a
need
in
in
what
I
like
to
do
and
and
expands
from
doing
drawings,
to
helping
other
people
see
the
world
and
know
that
they
can
make
a
difference.
B
So
that's
the
engagement
and
teaching
is,
is
that
and
what
I
found
at
UVM
versus
Norwich
is
that
I
could
teach
drawing
and
design
skills
to
environmental
students
or
natural
resource
students
at
UVM
so
that
they
had
more
tools
where
if
I
was
at
Norwich,
they
were
already
thinking
that
they
were
Architects
and,
and
they
didn't
want
to
learn,
maybe
about
the
environment
and
what
I've
always
been
doing
is
mating
the
environment
that
place
where
we
live
with,
how
we
engage
in
it
and
that's
the
architecture.
For
me.
A
B
B
At
that
point
we
engaged
neighbors
and
folks
who
lived
in
St
Johnsbury
and
asked
them
about
their
parking
habits,
all
of
which
ended
up
showing
that
there
was
a
really
easy
non-built
solution.
So
the
state
was
happy
with
us.
The
Athenaeum
was
happy
with
us.
The
parking
needs
were
solved
and
we
didn't
build
anything.
So
no
natural
resources
were
used.
B
What
it
really
amounted
to
was
re-measuring
all
the
parking
meters
so
that
people
at
the
courthouse
could
park
for
six
to
eight
hours
and
people
at
the
post
office
would
have
15
minutes,
and
it
was
just
a
flip
of
all
the
hours
on
all
the
meters
and
then
there
was
plenty
of
parking
so
that-
and
that
was
also
in
the
time
that
the
Rutland
parking
structure
was
controversial,
so
that
to
me
that
was
a
win-win.
We
didn't
have
to
spend
five
million
dollars
of
concrete
and
we
didn't
ruin
the
Athenaeum.
A
And
you've
been
doing
this
work
for
so
long.
So
now
you
you
so
you
just
mentioned
that
you
were
the
director
of
the
Vermont
design.
Institute
and
I
was
gonna.
That
was
going
to
be
one
of
my
questions,
but
you
are
committed
to
and
have
devoted
your
life's
work
to
ensuring
that
architecture
creates
a
more
sustainable
future
through
Community,
empowerment
and
integrative
design
approaches.
Can
you
share
with
our
viewers
what
that
means
and
maybe
bring
in
some
of
the
projects
where
you've
done,
that.
B
B
You
know
a
physical
engagement,
direct
involvement
to
make
a
change
on
those
neighborhoods,
and
in
that
case,
I
I
wasn't
only
working
on
our
own
building,
but
I
was
part
of
a
Community
Coalition
that
helped
neighbors
gain
a
thousand
dollars
for
a
facade
renovation,
and
with
that
facade
renovation,
the
neighborhood
streetscape
would
change
and
get
bus
stops,
benches
Street,
trees
and
new
sidewalks.
So
that's
sort
of
the
very
Urban
scale
and
I
think
in
between
is
the
smaller
projects
that
you
know
an
example
would
be
participating
and
teaching
with.
A
So
so
I
wanna,
because
we're
getting
so
I
have
some
I
could
talk
to
you
for
hours
and
there's
and
of
course
this
is
a
world
that
I'm
just
so
in
love.
With
talk
talk
to
me
a
little
bit
about
about
what
you
are
working
on
now
and
I
want
to
move
on
to
the
Green
Tara,
because
you
you
use,
you
stopped
working
at
the
non-profit
as
a
director
in
2016.
and
so
yeah.
That's
a
while!
B
So
Green
Tara,
let's
see
maybe
I,
bought
that
building
in
2017,
so
it
it
flows
that
there
I
am
going
back
and
forth
to
North
hero
because
we
have
a
cabin
there
and
I'm
watching
a
building
fall
down
for
seven
years.
So
I
keep
saying
well,
somebody
needs
to
buy
the
building
and
you
know
nobody's
buying
it
so
I
buy
it.
So
that's
the
beginning
and
it's
a
200
year
old
structure.
So,
of
course
you
know,
there's
there's
a
lot
of
sacredness
in
the
structure
plus,
of
course
it
was
a
Catholic
Church.
Initially,
no
sorry.
B
B
When
it
opened-
and
it
was
as
I
was
working
on
it
and
I
was
working
alongside
the
builders,
it
was
very
clear:
it
needed
to
be
big
open
space
because
that's
what
it
was
I
mean
it's
not
a
huge
building,
so
that
led
it
to
being
an
art
gallery
and
I
managed
a
sort
of
coffee
and
tea
bar
and
then
under
covid.
It
became
the
tasting
room
for
a
microbrewery
and
they're
now
moving
out.
B
So
in
the
village
of
North
hero,
it's
pretty
much
only
open
on
weekends
and
right
now,
through
October
Kramer
can
move
out
before
Halloween.
So
it's
only
open
until
then
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
noon
to
six
there
is
a
temporary
I've,
been
curating
the
shows,
but
we
got
to
the
end
of
the
set.
Curated
shows
Janet
van
fleet's
work.
Just
came
down
so
I
pulled
out
of
my
archives,
you'll,
like
this
old
ecological
drawings
that
students
made
from
2016..
So
those
are
now
pinned
on
the
wall
as
little
transformative,
drawings,
yeah.
A
A
Well,
we
have
about
five
minutes,
but
you
know
I
mean
you
have
been
doing
this.
Your
whole
life
I
mean
you've,
been
thinking
about
this
and
everything
that
you've
touched,
and
so
here
we
are,
you
know,
witnessing
what's
happening
down
in
Florida
and
even
in
our
own
world
here
in
Vermont
and
I.
Just
would
love
to
hear
that
from
you,
your
wisdom
on
the
future
of
our
species
and
so
go
for
it.
Girlfriend
yeah.
B
So
I
have
both
a
short-term
View
and
a
long-term
View
and
the
the
middle
ground
view
is
the
one
that's
the
most
difficult
that
we
always
ask.
The
question
to
the
the
first
part
is
I,
went
back
to
1967
and
I'm
reading
the
territorial
imperative
and
I'm
shocked
as
to
how
few
people
that
I
know
in
my
circle
know
about
these
three
books
that
he
wrote
and
I'm
gleaning.
B
What
what
what
I
think
when
I
breathe
deeply
it's
just
so
much
more
than
our
day-to-day
experience.
I
mean
I'm,
I'm,
I'm,
lucky
I'm,
I'm
in
a
good
place
and
I
know
not
everybody
has
that,
but
the
Ultimate
Reality
that's
behind.
All
of
this
is
eternal
and
free
and
pure
and
and
that's
sort
of
where
I
go
to
to
remind
myself
that
it's
okay,
there's
more
to
it
than
than
the
hurricane
hitting
Florida.
B
That's
devastating
I'm,
not
denying
that,
but
at
the
same
time
there's
there's
a
whole
bigger,
bigger,
bigger
world
out
there.
That's
not
a
man-made
world
and
I.
Think
that's
my
connection
that
that's
beyond
our
our
community
space
to
the
cosmic
space
that
that
gives
me
hope
and
and
you
know
you
either
have
faith
or
you
don't,
and
it's.
A
Hard,
it
is,
it
is
hard
and
I
think
I
think
this.
This
bodes
for
you
to
maybe
start
a
podcast
in
some
way
that
could
educate
people
to
to
think
this
way,
because
it
is
horrific
and
the
suffering
is,
is
beyond
belief
and
at
the
end
of
the
day,
I
think
people
do
need
to
to
be
able
to
look
at
this,
maybe
in
the
way
that
you
are
so
thank
you
for
that.
Now.
What
words
of
wisdom
would
you
want
to
share
with
our
younger
generation.
B
Well,
I've
come
back
to
meditation
as
a
serious
Endeavor,
where,
in
my
20s
I
did
a
lot
of
Zen,
Buddhism
and
meditation
and
then
in
the
I
guess
in
my
40s
and
sort
of
get
very
busy
with
with
my
worldly
life
and
then
I
come
back
to
it
and
I
would
say
spending
time.
Meditating
is
worth
every
ounce
you
put
into
it
and
that
that
would
be
something
that
I
would
suggest
to
to
anybody.
A
A
minute-
let's
think
about
that,
you
know,
and
also
I
and
I,
also
know
that
you
agree
with
me
that
act
250
in
the
permitting
in
Vermont
is
really
important,
because
without
that,
Vermont
would
look
like
other
places
that
we
would
not
want
to
live
so
and
you've
been
really
active
in
all
of
that.
So
to
you,
Diane
gair,
I,
honor,
you
and
I'm,
so
glad
you're.
My
friend
and
I
want
to
thank
you
for
being
on
my
show.