Melanie Vieux: Passion for Art, Architecture & Design

All her life, Melanie Vieux knew that making beautiful things would be a part of her life’s vocation. Even as a child, she strongly believed that “the environment changes people.” Her love for design is rivaled only by her love of community; her selfless gifts of time and energy have touched the lives of thousands and stand as strong and long-lasting as the structures she designs.

Melanie’s roots are from the Bay Area, where she grew up on a working cattle ranch. She spoke fondly of the tight-knit farming and ranching community that formed her as a child, and credits it for being one of the inspirations of her love and passion for her local community. Directly out of high school, Melanie was accepted to California College of the Art’s interior design program in San Francisco. During her studies there, she uncovered a love of architecture and realized that was the path she was meant to pursue, a perfect blend between the artistic and the mathematical. She then attended California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo and attained her degree in architecture. She joined WMB Architects shortly afterwards. The integrity of those at WMB Architects impressed Melanie. She especially valued how much they prized client relationships and ethical business practices, so she decided to make this company her home. Now she stands as a pillar of the company and has been a partner/principal architect for 15 years.

Soft-spoken yet self-assured, Melanie’s quick smile and listening ear are as highly prized as her expertise by her clients. She approaches each job as its own unique artistic endeavor, making sure they hear and realize the client’s priorities, and affirming, “Every project is brand new; we’re doing it for the first time.” They are personally invested in their clients and projects, from corporate work such as renovations for Lincoln Center to community projects such as Stockton’s Fallen Firefighter Memorial and Gospel Center Rescue Mission’s Bill Brown Building.

She especially loves working on historical preservation and restoration projects, a subject that was also part of her thesis while studying at Cal Poly. She speaks fondly of one of her favorite projects, the Bob Hope Theatre renovation in Stockton, which earned the firm the 2005 California Preservation Foundation Design Award. Being able to work on preserving history with a team of talented artists was a dream come true for Melanie, a dream that continues in one of her current projects, a study with historical preservation architects focused on the Civic Memorial Auditorium in downtown Stockton. She loves seeing the job through the eyes of the multifaceted people she works with. “Even though I’ve been doing this for 32 years, I’m constantly learning from engineers, contractors, owners,” she stated.

Not only does Melanie enhance the built environment of her community, she also selflessly pours herself into nonprofit and humanitarian work. She joined the Rotary Club of Stockton as one of her first ventures into community service projects. She loved both the work she was doing at the Rotary Club and the people she was working with and eventually served as club president. She joined the board of Goodwill Industries and also served as president of the Mary Graham Scholarship Foundation, working with youth impacted by the foster system. She sees her community service work in the same light as her architectural jobs, creating a scaffolding of beauty for her community.

Though she jokingly talks about retiring, Melanie’s heart for her work, both corporate and humanitarian, is evident in everything she does. She speaks reverently of the reward of going somewhere and knowing “you had a part of making it what it is, collaborating with such talented people.” She delights in mentoring the up-and-coming generation of architects, watching their careers unfold and blossom. And she loves her community, working to create beautiful spaces in every place she can, with whatever resources she can.

As she said, with a laugh, “We try to make beauty wherever we can; you don’t have to have gold-plated doorknobs to make something beautiful.” The structures that she has designed will stand for decades as a testament to her passion and work, but her love and selfless dedication to her local community will last forever in the lives that she’s touched.