BJ Phillips is a licensed architect with Burris Architecture in Bentonville. He is a 2002 graduate of the Fay Jones School of Architecture & Design at the University of Arkansas. Phillips became licensed in 2008 and is currently licensed in nine states.
In 2015, Phillips served as section chair of the Northwest Arkansas section for the Arkansas AIA and began serving as chair of the section’s annual Scholarship Bowling Tournament. He has also volunteered his time with the Fay Jones School, giving students feedback on their portfolios and résumés. Phillips spends his free time with his wife and two young children.
The Jury
Sheila Dial Barton, AIA
Principal, EOA Architects | Nashville, Tennessee
Sheila Dial Barton, AIA, LEED AP is a principal with EOA Architects, a medium-sized design firm in Nashville, Tennessee. Barton began studying interior design at the Art Institute of Atlanta and later studied urban planning at the University of Tennessee. She has been involved with AIA since graduating in 1997.
She served on the AIA Honor Awards Jury in 2001. She sat on the AIA Middle Tennessee board of directors and served as its president in 2009. She was also the director of the Middle Tennessee Young Architects Forum from 2003 to 2005.
Nick Dryden, AIA
Principal, DAAD | Nashville, Tennessee
A third-generation architect in Tennessee, Nick Dryden graduated from the University of Tennessee College of Architecture in 1995 and started his career in Nashville to carry forward his family’s tradition of passionate design, albeit with a modern twist.
Since establishing DAAD, Dryden and the firm have focused on a diversity of project types including adaptive reuse, residential, commercial, neighborhood master planning and mixed-use
development in Nashville and throughout Tennessee, Alabama and Kentucky. Dryden has led projects ranging from a custom dining table to multi-block mixed-use developments in emerging Nashville neighborhoods.
Kem Hinton, FAIA
Founding Partner & Principal, Tuck-Hinton Architects | Nashville, Tennessee
Kem Hinton is an architect, LEED accredited professional, urban designer, author, historian, graphic designer, photographer, lecturer and visual artist. He received his professional education from the University of Tennessee, University of Pennsylvania, and Ecole des Beaux-Arts. In 1984, he and Seab Tuck established Tuck-Hinton Architects, where he has been responsible for award-winning projects.
Hinton is currently working on the new $95-million Tennessee State Library & Archives facility and a new memorial at War Memorial Plaza to honor Tennessee veterans involved in the Gulf War conflicts.
Ryan Thewes
Founder & Principal, Ryan Thewes Architect | Nashville, Tennessee
Ryan Thewes grew up in southern Indiana and graduated in 2000 from Ball State University with a bachelor’s degree in architecture. Shortly after, he had the unique opportunity to apprentice with architects, including Bart Prince of Albuquerque, New Mexico, who were carrying on Frank Lloyd Wright’s vision of organic architecture.
Thewes moved to Nashville in 2006 and started Ryan Thewes Architect, a high-design architecture firm specializing in modern and creative projects with an emphasis on energy efficient construction techniques.
See more profiles from the 2018 AIA Arkansas Design Awards.
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