Secular Columbarium for The Island, Detail (2012)
I am honored to be one of six individuals selected to be a part of the very first Public Interest Design Lab fellowship in connection with the DC Public Library and Goethe-Institut. Fellows were selected by jurors, Omar Hakeem, AIA; Anthony Harris, AIA; and Dian Holton, AIGA-DC, with input from the Goethe-Institut and DC Public Library.
The fellowship works to further develop existing projects that confront inequities and foster connectivity through community-based design. Fellows' projects will draw upon the fields of Architecture, Education, Graphic Design, Public History, Racial Equity, Social Design, Social Practice, and Visual and Performing Arts, and more.
I will work over the next year to engage with resident narrators of the Kingman Park and Rosedale neighborhoods co-creating oral histories with a focus on experiences of the pandemic (and touching on themes of loss, place and how communities create, imagine, and reimagine the future).
Ultimately, my project will culminate into a site-based sound installation housing audio elements created with and for the residents I work with. Although in its initial stage, my aim is to offer ways for both residents and visitors to the neighborhood to engage with individual and collective experiences of place, and hold space for reflecting the past, present, and potential future.
In June I trained with the Oral History Summer School (OHSS) to support this work ongoing.
