My Favorite Projects
I've been lucky to be a part of some really cool projects. Here are a few that stand out for me. Each one includes elements of teaching, connecting, and storytelling - things I love!
01
Parkland Plaza
Parkland is a neighborhood in West Louisville where decades of neglect and disinvestment from the city at large had stripped a commercial block of much of its former life. My teammates and I spent a year building relationships and tapping into the residents' existing energy to co-create a reimagined & reactivated neighborhood center. Here's where we tell the story of the project. Using quick-build techniques inspired by Better Block and following asset-based community development principles, the neighborhood was able to test out real possibilities for a better future! I helped facilitate vision & design workshops, managed volunteer events, and co-created a neighborhood history booklet using resident interviews and research.
This is the space now: check out Parkland Plaza!
02
DIY Urbanism Workshop
DIY urbanism (aka"quick-build" interventions) is an approach to building community by enhancing the look and feel of a place. This workshop was a chance for me to share best practices for quick-build neighborhood improvement. I would share real-world stories, facilitate teams in mocking up their own ideas for making nearby streets safer and vacant lots more welcoming, and then guide folks through what implementation steps they might take.
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Check out this news story from when I led a workshop at the annual Neighborhood Summit in Louisville.
03
Smithsonian Folklife
Festival
The Folklife Festival is the Smithsonian Institute's beloved out-door museum experience, hosted annually on the National Mall. During the 2013 Folklife Festival, I interned for the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage (the Smithsonian branch that hosts the event) in communications and technology. I crafted pieces for the Festival blog, produced social media coverage of the event, and conducted interviews with program participants. It was an early professional experience for me but I absorbed so much from it! Like how to connect across difference and how to draw out people's unique stories.
04
Smoketown Greenspace Youth Project
My graduate school capstone project focused on connecting with neighborhood youth to plan a network of community pocket parks. My role on the team was to lead the outreach and engagement effort in the Smoketown community, a predominantly low-income neighborhood shaken up by Hope VI. Through classroom workshops, door knocking campaigns, asset-mapping, and stakeholder conversations we were able to compile a realistic vision for reinvigorating existing spaces in the neighborhood.
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Here's more about the project, including a storymap. I was responsible for the narrative text.
05
Campus to Commons
Open House
Culminating a year's worth of analysis, the Campus to Commons Open House was a public celebration that gave people a chance to encounter and interact with Lexington's latest planning effort to improve walking and biking in the city. As project manager for the Campus to Commons Trail Study, I wanted to create a welcoming, festive atmosphere. The event was held in the atrium of the public library; snacks, giveaways, and hands-on activities helped energize the space. I included one of my favorite visioning activities, Place It!, to encourage people of all ages to come up with designs for the future trail.