Storefront for Community Design operates three main community-based studio programs: Youth Innovation, Design Session, and Community Engagement. Check out our latest highlights for each studio below. We are also developing new ways to volunteer with Storefront, so be on the lookout for our new volunteer form coming later this year!
Youth Innovation Studio
The Youth Innovation Studio provides project-based learning opportunities that engage youth and young adults in real-world problem solving while providing a safe space to build the capacity to create effective change in their lives and communities.
Summer Session
Thanks to our partnership with Partnership for the Future, Storefront had the opportunity to work with two youth interns this summer. Our interns were given the opportunity to select, participate, and complete a project from our implementation plan. We wanted to make sure that while leadership created the implementation plan, youth voices were heard and involved in the process. During this process, our youth interns engaged in conversations with the community, visited designers and their spaces, assisted in the remodeling of the Six Points Innovation Center (6PIC) space, and helped to lead various parts of our volunteer days with Mending Walls.
Storefront staff and summer interns learned how to screen print at Studio Two Three.
Jonah, a rising sophomore with an interest in photography, art, and community was tasked with designing our informational flyer for 6PIC. The one pager was designed to educate prospective partners, community members, youth, and young adults about how the 6PIC space is used and how they can get involved. Evyn, a rising senior with an interest in design, entrepreneurship, and real estate worked on using the resources available to stage the 6PIC space for prospective rental use. She also worked with staff to develop a new webpage for space rentals that launched earlier this month.
We made sure to visit several sites to gain exposure to design in various elements and professional settings. Storefront would like to thank Baskervill, Studio Two Three, the City of Richmond Department of Parks, Recreation, and Community Facilities, and various community members who collaborated with us this summer to provide an opportunity to engage in design.
We ended the summer planning for National Night Out. Our interns coordinated and organized our giveaway and organized mindfulness kits provided by HandsOn Greater Richmond. Thank you Evyn and Jonah for your design work!
Storefront’s Youth Innovation Studio is putting our final touches on the upcoming City Builders curriculum and has begun recruiting for the Fall 2021 semester scheduled to begin September. Please contact us for more information.
Storefront staff and summer interns learn about architecture at Baskervill.
Design Session Studio
The Design Session Studio provides a low-cost design assistance program that offers one-on-one advice, conceptual sketches, and plans of action from volunteer design and planning professionals to residents and community members that builds the capacity to create new ideas.
Project Highlight: Hillside Court Mini-Farm
Earlier this summer, we wrapped up a Design Session envisioning a Mini-Farm at Hillside Court in Southside with resident Asia Goode and her Groundwork RVA team. Asia’s idea began as an effort to provide her community with the means to produce their own food, encourage spending time outdoors, and understand the health benefits that come with it.
Storefront volunteer Chloe Hawkins, a landscape architect based in Charlottesville, brought this vision to life in a vivid conceptual rendering to use for future community engagement and fundraising efforts. Extra thanks to Chloe for making those Richmond site visits!
“A Vision for the Hillside Court Mini-Farm” created by Asia Goode, Groundwork RVA, Storefront for Community Design and Chloe Hawkins
““Thanks for making this thing that was in our brains real!” ”
Chloe also brought her technical skills and permaculture background to build on Asia’s ideas. Through several work sessions, the team collectively designed a base map for the farm while building in climate resiliency. The map helped identify an ideal arrangement of the farm based on the site that includes an accessible entrance and gathering space, garden beds, an orchard, a wildflower rain-garden, a learning area, and a storage space connected by a gravel path.
Storefront staff, Groundwork RVA staff, and volunteers on a Design Session review.
→ Speaking of climate resiliency...we’re reading: The Seas Are Rising. Could Oysters Help?
Community Engagement Studio
The Community Engagement Studio provides engaging workshops, design discussions, and special events that educate and inspire community members to take action and create a shared vision that strengthens our neighborhoods.
Design Resources for Community Projects and Get Involved!
Earlier this year, we wrote about Storefront’s community engagement process to receive feedback and ideas from residents for the new intended use of the former Bank of America building in Northside’s Highland Park community. Since the development of the final report, Maggie Walker Community Land Trust (MWCLT) developed a Request for Proposal (RFP), held a community meeting to review the process and RFP, and organized an informational session to review the RFP with potential applicants. The RFP launched in early June and applicants are encouraged to submit proposals by September 8.
There have been many neighborhood discussions since the start of our effort and there are still opportunities for community members to share ideas and concerns - don’t miss your chance! MWCLT will be holding a virtual Citizens Advisory Panel meeting on August 25 at 5:30pm. Individuals who are planning to submit a project proposal for the building will be presenting their ideas to the panel and community members during that meeting. Sign up to attend!
In the meantime, if you’ve been wondering “What is an RFP,” we’ve got you covered! Check out a recent post to demystify a Request for Proposal.