Macon Magazine

KICK-STARTING A CAREER Still considering a career in architecture and seeking real world experience, Fickling took a job at Macon's architectural firm Holiday, Couch, Hollis & Jelks. "I was a secretary making coffee and blueprints," she said. "But they had an extra dra ing table, and when facing deadlines, they taught me how to dra , meaning pen and ink drawings. That served me well, and I continue to draw today. I don't use computer so ware. Drawing helps me think through the design process." That job enhanced architecture's appeal for Fickling, who contacted Georgia Tech to gauge her chances for admission. Their reply: "Take calculus and physics at your local community college and we will accept you." Fickling completed the prerequisites and Georgia Tech kept its word. Fickling spent four years at Tech earning a Master of Architecture degree, working as a teaching assistant in an architectural history class during the school year, and during summers at the architectural firm of Rabun, Hatch in Atlanta, where she encountered another role model in Helen Hatch. Diploma in hand, Fickling returned to Macon and spent four years at Wood, Morris and McTier. Fickling and Macon landscape architect Wimberly Treadwell have a lifelong friendship that Fickling said, "dates back to grade school and playing kick the can in each other's yards." Treadwell's father was an architect at whose firm, Dennis and Dennis, Fickling spent the next two years honing her skills. Shannon Fickling navigates the complexities of architectural design and construction with a de hand, keen insight and laid back, affable charm. Guided by her love of the work, she's mindful of the trust clients place in her to create a vision for their biggest investment and the place they'll live for years or a lifetime. It's a daunting responsibility, but one she handles with her signature good nature and the calm self-assurance her clients count on. Fickling's passion for architecture is a melding of her interest in art history with her love of drawing, a hobby dating back to childhood when she'd walk from her family's home on Osborne Place to Alexander IV Elementary School for drawing and painting classes taught by local artist Houser Smith. Inspiration abounded in her neighborhood and in Macon. Jean and Suzy Newton, the daughter and granddaughter of Georgia's eminent female architect Ellamae Ellis League, lived down the street. "Although I never knew Ellamae Ellis League, her daughter Jean also was an architect, so I grew up spending a lot of time in the household of a female architect, which was rare but seemed normal to me," Fickling said. League owned an acclaimed Macon firm for 41 years during a half-century career. Local commissions included the Grand Opera House, Macon Hospital, Mulberry Street United Methodist Church, Winship Elementary School and notable homes in Shirley Hills. Despite rampant gender bias, League was a luminary in architectural circles in Georgia and the South, and Georgia's first female Fellow of the American Institute of Architects. "Most older male architects returning from World War II went to Georgia Tech on the G.I. Bill. Those who settled in Macon worked for Ellamae League, and eventually, I worked for them," Fickling said. Despite early inspiration from thriving female architects, Fickling hit a brick wall when her high school guidance counselor discouraged her from applying to Georgia Tech, saying she wouldn't be able to pass the math. Instead, Fickling shi ed gears and enrolled in Vanderbilt University, located in Nashville. Although architectural history classes continued to fuel her interest in architecture, she graduated with dual degrees in Fine Arts and Education. Returning to Macon, she taught fi h grade for one year each at Eugenia Hamilton Elementary School and Stratford Academy. She quipped, "Those experiences taught me I wasn't cut out to be a teacher." S 'WHAT I ENJOY MOST IS A HOUSE THAT'S A WRECK, ALTHOUGH I'VE WORKED ON MANY HISTORIC HOMES THAT WEREN'T.' – SHANNON FICKLING 52 maconmagazine.com | JUNE/JULY 2021

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