Rodney Mims Cook Jr.

Rodney Mims Cook Jr. is a developer and designer, and founder and president of the National Monuments Foundation, an organization that choreographed the design and construction of the Millennium Gate Museum in Atlanta.[1] He served as a founding board member of New York's Institute of Classical Architecture and Art.[2][3] He was a founding trustee of the Prince of Wales’s Foundation for Architecture, a 501(c)(3) in the US, which established the Prince of Wales's Institute of Architecture in the United States,[4][5] accredited by the University of Virginia. Cook coordinated the design and construction of the Prince of Wales's World Athletes Monument to the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games.[6][7] He is a charter signer of the Congress for the New Urbanism.[8] Cook is currently orchestrating the design for a memorial library in Washington, D.C. to Presidents John and John Quincy Adams and their wives Abigail and Louisa Johnson Adams.[9] Cook's design proposal with co-designer Michael Franck won the 2011 Committee Commendation prize for the National Civic Art Society Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial, also for Washington D.C.[10] Cook is currently designing 3 buildings and 18 monuments for Rodney Cook Sr. Park, a new peace park in Atlanta that is named after his father.[11]

Rodney Mims Cook Jr.
Born
Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Alma materWashington and Lee University (BA)
Parent(s)Rodney Mims Cook Sr., Bettijo Cook Trawick
WebsiteRodney Mims Cook Jr.

Early life and education

Cook's father, Rodney Mims Cook Sr., was a member of the Georgia House of Representatives and a supporter of the Civil Rights Movement whose eulogy in the Georgia House Chamber was delivered by The Honorable Joe Wilkinson.[12] His mother, Bettijo, moved and then restored the antebellum historic plantation Tullie Smith House to the grounds of the Atlanta History Center. As a result of such influence, at the age of 14 Cook initiated a campaign to successfully save the 5000+ seat Fox Theatre,[13] the nation's second largest, and was subsequently awarded the National Trust for Historic Preservation Prize by trust President James Biddle.[14] Cook served as a White House intern in 1974 under President Richard Nixon.[15]

A graduate of The Lovett School, Cook received a BA degree from Washington and Lee University.[16]

Career

In 1982, Cook established Rodney Mims Cook Interests, a design/development company. In 1987, he founded PolitesCook Architects, which designed the Newington-Cropsey Foundation Gallery of Art in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York.[17] His Gallery of Art design brought him to the attention of the Prince of Wales and his foundation for architecture and Cook subsequently organized the design and construction of the Prince's Olympic Games monument in Atlanta with Anton Glikin.[18]

He is on the boards of directors of the Hearst Castle Preservation Foundation, California;[19] the National Monuments Foundation, Atlanta; Historic Mims Park, Atlanta;[20] and the American University of Integrative Sciences, Sint Maarten.[21] He is an emeritus board member of The Fox Theatre Inc., The Institute of Classical Architecture and Art, The New York Philomusica, The Savannah College of Art and Design, Atlanta, and is a past president of both the Animal Health Trust U.S., Newmarket, England and WPBA/WABE, Public Broadcasting Atlanta.[22] Cook's work has been published in Architectural Digest, Time Magazine, the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Financial Times of London, Pravda, Izvestia, The New Yorker, The Weekly Standard, Forbes, and USA Today.[23]

Cook was involved in the creation of the Plum Orchard Center for the Arts to be located on Cumberland Island, Georgia with John F. Kennedy Jr.[24] The premature death of JFK Jr., a fellow board member, ended this project. Cook spoke at JFK, Jr.'s funeral in July 1999.[25]

In May 2008, Cook opened the Millennium Gate Museum, the largest classical monument erected in the U.S. since the Jefferson Memorial.[26]

In November 2008, Rodney Cook was part of a delegation who, along with the Mayor of Atlanta Kasim Reed, travelled to the UK to visit HRH Prince Charles. They discussed the rebuilding of Historic Mims Park, now called Rodney Cook Sr. Park, in Atlanta and the possibility of the Prince of Wales' involvement given his background in urban design.[27]

Rodney Cook testified before Congress on behalf of the National Monuments Foundation in 2012 concerning the proposed plans for a new Eisenhower Memorial in Washington D.C.[28]

In November 2015, he was a keynote speaker at the "Master Plan for 21st Century Havana" Conference,[29] which for the first time in Cuban history, Cuban citizens and international scholars and urbanists participated together to develop an independent and comprehensive holistic vision for the entire city.

Rodney Cook, Jr. was one of 3 keynote speakers at the Hermitage Museum in the Catherine the Great Theater of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia for the Museum of the 21st Century and New Media Technologies: Limits of Freedom Conference to discuss the future potential of museum archives with the help of virtual reality.[30]

Cook's organization, The National Monuments Foundation, is currently working on constructing a peace park in Atlanta called Rodney Cook Sr. Park, which is named for his father. The park has a large civil rights focus as it is located in Historic Vine City, the neighborhood that was home to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Senator Julian Bond, Mayor Maynard Jackson, and many other Civil Rights Leaders of the mid-20th century.[31]

Personal life

Cook is married to Emily Robinson Cook, a commercial photographer, who is responsible for the creation of the largest wildlife sanctuary in the city of Atlanta.[32] They have two daughters and reside in Georgia.

Recognition

Cook's organization, the National Monuments Foundation, received the 2006 Palladio Award for best new public space in the United States for the Peace and Justice Gate and Plaza.[33] He also received The Atlanta City Council Award for The Prince of Wales's Centennial Olympics Monument.[34] Cook and his organization Youth for the Fox were awarded the National Trust for Historic Preservation's Prize in 1974 for saving the Fox Theater in Atlanta.[14] Cook's design of the Newington-Cropsey Museum resulted in an Arthur Ross Award for Patronage in 1997 to Barbara Newington.[35] Cook and Michael Franck have received a National Civic Art Society board of directors commendation for their proposed design for the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial in Washington, D.C.[36] The City of Atlanta honored Cook's family and their service to the city and the State of Georgia in December 2011.[37]

References
  1. Dewan, Shaila (2009-04-30). "An Elaborate Arch, an Opaque Significance (Published 2009)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-12-28.
  2. "About ICAA - Institute of Classical Architecture & Art". www.classicist.org. Retrieved 2020-12-28.
  3. "Recent Developments in Proposed Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial". www.classicist.org. Retrieved 2020-12-28.
  4. "In Our Own Words: Rodney Mims Cook Jr., who leads National Monuments Foundation". ARTS ATL. 2020-10-29. Retrieved 2020-12-28.
  5. "Prince Charles Forms Architecture School (Published 1992)". The New York Times. 1992-02-13. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-12-28.
  6. Polidori, Robert. "Athens on the Interstate". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2020-12-28.
  7. Taylor, Travis Swann. "World Athletes Monument: An Artistic Tribute With Healing Powers". Retrieved 2020-12-28.
  8. taotiadmin (2015-04-20). "The Charter of the New Urbanism". CNU. Retrieved 2020-12-28.
  9. "A Storied Past and Brighter Future". VIE Magazine. 2019-07-02. Retrieved 2020-12-28.
  10. "Eisenhower Awards". National Civic Art Society. Retrieved 2020-12-28.
  11. "Cook Park to open soon after years of waiting. Longer wait to come on civil rights monuments". SaportaReport. 2020-09-21. Retrieved 2020-12-28.
  12. "Joe Wilkinson Honors the Late Rodney Mims Cook, Sr. - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2020-12-28.
  13. "Saving The Fox Theatre: Recollections From The National Monuments Foundation CEO". 90.1 FM WABE. 2015-02-26. Retrieved 2020-12-28.
  14. Hudson, Phil (October 20, 2016). "Meet the C-Suite: Rodney Cook, CEO of the National Monuments Foundation". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2020-12-28.
  15. "Rodney Mims Cook Jr Bio". generalassemb.ly. Retrieved 2020-12-28.
  16. The Prince of Wales's Monument Information Archived 2011-10-04 at the Wayback Machine, - ThenMF.org
  17. Brown, Patricia Leigh (1996-10-31). "New Museum With Quirks (Published 1996)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-12-28.
  18. Taylor, Travis Swann. "World Athletes Monument: An Artistic Tribute With Healing Powers". Retrieved 2020-12-28.
  19. "Hearst Castle Preservation Foundation | Directors". www.hearstcastlepreservation.org. Retrieved 2020-12-28.
  20. "Board of Directors". rodneycooksrpark. Retrieved 2020-12-28.
  21. "Rodney Mims Cook, Jr". AUIS | Caribbean Medical School. Retrieved 2020-12-28.
  22. "Rodney Mims Cook | Curriculum Vitae". Retrieved 2020-12-28.
  23. "Rodney Mims Cook | Curriculum Vitae". Retrieved 2020-12-28.
  24. Entrekin, Allison (2017-10-20). "Cumberland Island: Georgia's hidden gem". Atlanta Magazine. Retrieved 2020-12-28.
  25. "John F. Kennedy, Jr. Memorial Service - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2020-12-28.
  26. "Arc de Dixie". Forbes.com. Retrieved 2019-09-27.
  27. "Atlanta Visits the Prince of Wales - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2020-12-28.
  28. "Rodney Cook's Testimony - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2020-12-28.
  29. "Report from INTBAU Annual Event in Havana, Cuba 2015 | INTBAU". Retrieved 2020-12-28.
  30. "Rodney Cook, Jr. Keynote Presentation at Hermitage Winter Palace, St. Petersburg, Russia Short - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2020-12-28.
  31. "Atlanta Business Chronicle's BIZ: Rodney Mims Cook, Jr. and Cook Peace Park - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2020-12-28.
  32. My pleasant interlude at the Dacha Archived 2011-09-18 at the Wayback Machine, - Projo.com
  33. "The Palladio Awards". The Traditional Building Conference Series. Retrieved 2019-11-26.
  34. Atlanta City Council Award, - Pg. 6
  35. "Honors - Institute of Classical Architecture & Art". www.classicist.org. Retrieved 2019-11-26.
  36. "National Civic Art Society". Civicart.org. 2011-07-26. Archived from the original on 2011-11-01. Retrieved 2011-09-19.
  37. "Rodney Mims Cook returns to City Hall PART 1 - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2020-12-28.
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