During his tenure as President of the state chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) in 2000, Doug Ashe created the Celebrate Architecture design symposium, which is a one day event, held each spring in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, that brings together internationally recognized architects to present their work to more than 250 AIA Louisiana architects and students.
For 20 years Doug continued to organize and moderate the event, during which time over 70 architects presented their work. In 2021, Doug passed the baton to Melissa and Brian Rome, who are continuing the tradition of bringing leading architects to speak to the Louisiana architectural community.
As a direct result of the financial success of Celebrate Architecture, AIA Louisiana was able to establish the Celebrate Architecture Scholarship Program. Each year, up to $10,000 of the profits from Celebrate Architecture go to fund the AIA Louisiana Celebrate Architecture Scholarship Program awarded to students at our state’s schools of architecture, as well as emerging professionals.