Introducing Jan Smitheram and Jane Rooney: Jan Smitheram is part of the Wellington team putting together A+W•NZ: Diverse Practice, along with Kerstin Thompson, Sharon Jansen and Ana O'Connell, and Jane Rooney is working with Brita Corbett to ensure A+W•NZ : Re-Think is a great event. Here's why they have decided to be involved;
Jan:  The Wellington branch's exhibition theme of Diverse Practice was a way to acknowledge, value, understand, and celebrate the diverse backgrounds and ways that architects practice. While the exhibition celebrates diversity the symposium and lectures associated with the exhibition build on this to speak to how the challenges of practice are experienced by women.
Jane: I was a new graduate in 1993 when the previous exhibition was held and didn't participate as, at the time, I felt I had nothing much to contribute. So when I was asked to be a Christchurch liaison for the A+W•NZ group it was a chance to put that regret behind me. As a women who has worked mostly in medium to large sized architectural practices, and also part time while raising children, I have been very aware of the issues facing women architects whose names don't grace the letterheads of the companies they work for. I have read with interest over the years many articles about women, equity and architecture so it's exciting now to be part of the A+W•NZ initiative which is generating discussion and giving visibility to women working in architecture as well as hopefully challenging some of the old status quo in the profession. As an architect working in Christchurch, where we face the challenges of rebuilding our city, it's also vitally important that we acknowledge and encourage the contribution of women because, to quote Sarah Wigglesworth, “Architecture is too important to be left to men alone.”