2024 Holiday Party and State Awards

We celebrated our annual holiday party this past year at Ochos Cocktail and Wine Bar in downtown Boise. The atmosphere was energetic and exciting, as over 60 of our guests mixed and mingled with crafted cocktails, local wine, and delicious food. The event brought together architects, designers, engineers, professors, students, and award winners!

Awards

This year, we had the pleasure of announcing the AIA Idaho Gold Medal 2024 Recipient: Jim McLaughlin, AIA. Jim is an incredible Idaho architect, and he presented the highlights of his work from his 50-year career. The AIA Idaho Gold Medal is a prestigious award given to dedicated Idaho architects who exemplify a lasting impact on architecture. As only the third architect in AIA Idaho’s history to receive this prestigious award, Jim’s legacy is one of innovation, mentorship, and community service. We are honored to celebrate his achievements and look forward to seeing his continued influence on architecture.

We also announced the AIA Central Idaho Scholarship to Sandra Meza, a University of Idaho Master of Architecture student (M. Arch 2026). Sandra received a $3,000 scholarship award for the academic year 2024-2025 for her outstanding studio and academic work. This annual UI-Boise scholarship is made possible by the continued support of our members to promote architectural education at the University of Idaho.

Certificates of Acknowledgement were given through the AIA Idaho Chapter for recognition of outstanding service, including:

• Dave Davies, AIA – AIA Idaho Representative to the AIA National Strategic Council
• Scott Lloyd, AIA – AIA Idaho Representative to the AIA National Small Firms Exchange
• Jorge Basulto, AIA – AIA Idaho Representative to the AIA National Young Architects Forum
• Glen Berry, FAIA – Serving as the F&H Committee Chair
• Andy Erstad, AIA – Serving as the Longest Serving Past President
• Jeff Williams, AIA – Serving as the Chair of the Design Awards Committee for many years
• Jennifer Mohr, AIA – Serving as the Idaho Secretary Treasurer for the last 4 years

In addition, the AIA Central Idaho Travel Grant was awarded to Jim Grissom of GHm Architects. Each year, the travel grant recipient is selected, via a random lottery, from a list of members who have attended at least one AIA Central Idaho event. The more events that are attended, the more the participants name is added to the list. This is to encourage our members to continue attending events, and have an added possibility of winning a travel grant at the end of the year!

Sponsorships

We would like to thank our sponsors for their support to host this event for our members.

• CSHQA: Beverage Sponsor
• Andersen Construction: Charcuterie Sponsor
• AJH: Dessert Sponsor

We thank everyone who was able to attend our holiday party and make it so special. We encourage you to reach out to our Board members if you have any questions or feedback for the event.