News
Storefront for Community Design
Storefront Launches Roadmap for 3-year Plan

In May 2022, Storefront for Community Design announced a bold, new vision and a three-year strategic plan. We will firmly focus on transforming our low-cost design and planning assistance programs and expanding our design education programs to inspire community-driven design in the built environment.

This is a living, breathing plan that we will continue revisiting over the months and years ahead. Since kickstarting our plan in July, we've been building an intentional roadmap that prioritizes actions and creates measurable goals. We are excited to share it and begin collaborating with you as we continue to realize our vision.

Storefront Launches Roadmap for 3-year Plan
Community Design Archive, News, Impact Stories
Storefront for Community Design
Storefront Celebrates 10th Anniversary

Each year, Valentine’s Day reminds us to purposefully demonstrate love, care, and support for our families, friends, and communities. This year’s holiday also marks Storefront for Community Design’s 10th anniversary and we want to shout a huge THANK YOU for your support in making our first ten years a success.

Since the beginning, we set out to make design accessible to all “for the love of our city.” Through partnerships and community collaborations, we continue to discover new ways of seeking Richmond's physical and social transformation through design and community voice. After an incredible ten years, we remain humble, yet excited for the possibilities that lie ahead for our organization, partners, and neighbors.

Our Board of Directors, staff, and partners are excited to celebrate this milestone anniversary throughout the year, so stay tuned for ways to get involved. To kickstart our celebration, here’s a few ways you can show your support today.

  • Donate to Storefront to support our next ten years

  • Volunteer as a Session Designer

  • Share our story with your network

Whether you’ve been with Storefront from the beginning or just a short time, we wanted to celebrate our anniversary with a look back over the last ten years. Enjoy the memories and accomplishments of our community and we look forward to making many more with you in the coming years. Now, it’s time to celebrate!

Storefront Celebrates 10th Anniversary
News
Storefront for Community Design
Storefront Welcomes New Executive Director and ...

Storefront for Community Design is excited to announce the selection of Shawn Balon as its new Executive Director.

Shawn brings a wealth of experience in design, non-profit, and educational environments with expanded knowledge of organizational management and strategic planning. He has the strategic vision necessary to elevate Storefront for Community Design and its programs in the years to come and will bring a creative, innovative, and collaborative approach when working with staff, board members, donors, partners, volunteers, and the community-at-large.

“I appreciate the board’s confidence in me, and I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to lead such a great organization. It will take innovative and purposeful solutions to create a path for Storefront for Community Design to continue addressing the challenges in our communities, and I look forward to advancing my efforts to focus on the importance of participatory design to honor differences, challenge injustices, and create vibrant neighborhoods,” said Balon.

News, Programs & Projects
Storefront for Community Design
Richmond Magazine: Designs Within Reach

We recently got to share a few projects at mOb studio + Storefront for Community Design with Richmond Magazine and how it all got started. Read the full interview by Taylor Peterson published on Feb 7, 2020.

“Design provides a vision rather than a … volatile position.” —Camden Whitehead, co-founder, Mob Studio

Richmond Magazine: Designs Within Reach

Design Session Studio

Notes from the Field: Summer Highlights

Notes from the Field: Summer Highlights

Storefront for Community Design inspires equitable community-driven design through our innovative design education programs including low-cost design and planning assistance and design workshops. . Check out our May 2023 Notes from the Field to learn about recent updates from our programs.

City Builders Design Workshop
Design Workshops

We convene project-based learning opportunities that focus on real world issues in the built environment and encourage youth and young adults to discover and design solutions that create effective change in their lives and communities. Learn more about City Builders Design Workshop.


SPRING semester

Cities don’t magically appear. They are planned, designed, and then developed.

Notes from the Field: May Program Highlights

Notes from the Field: May Program Highlights

Storefront for Community Design inspires equitable community-driven design through our innovative design education programs including low-cost design and planning assistance and design workshops. . Check out our May 2023 Notes from the Field to learn about recent updates from our programs.

City Builders Design Workshop
Design Workshops

We convene project-based learning opportunities that focus on real world issues in the built environment and encourage youth and young adults to discover and design solutions that create effective change in their lives and communities. Learn more about City Builders Design Workshop.


SPRING semester

Cities don’t magically appear. They are planned, designed, and then developed.

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Storefront Kicks Off Inaugural DesignRVA Celebration

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Storefront for Community Design announced its inaugural DesignRVA celebration will take place on June 24 at The Branch Museum of Architecture and Design. This year DesignRVA highlights the critical need in areas of health and wellness, land use, transportation, and housing. The event will initiate community ideas and focus conversation around the question, “How would YOU design a more equitable and fair Greater Richmond?” 

DesignRVA is a one-of-a-kind free event that introduces children ages 8-14 to the design of our area, while informing them how their voices can be a part of the planning, creation, and improvement of the places where we live, work, and play. Storefront for Community Design invites families from across Greater Richmond to participate in this inaugural community day.

Notes from the Field: February Program Highlights

Notes from the Field: February Program Highlights

Storefront for Community Design inspires equitable community-driven design through our innovative design education programs including low-cost design and planning assistance and design workshops. . Check out our February 2023 Notes from the Field to learn about recent updates from our programs.


City Builders Design Workshop
Design Workshops

We convene project-based learning opportunities that focus on real world issues in the built environment and encourage youth and young adults to discover and design solutions that create effective change in their lives and communities. Learn more about City Builders Design Workshop.


fall semester: sharing ideas for equitable transportation

Imagine a city where ALL residents have access to shared bike systems, safe streets, improved intersections, multiple modes of transportation, and parklets for outdoor activities. This past fall semester, our City Builders Design program participants took a walk through the city to learn about equitable transportation and discover solutions for Richmond.  Learn more by reading a recent blog post highlighting the semester of activities.

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Five Ways to Get Involved in 2023

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Are you looking for ways to get involved at Storefront for Community Design in 2023? Check out the following opportunities and consider supporting us in 2023.

VOLUNTEER FOR UPCOMING COMMUNITY VISIONING EVENTS

We are seeking residents and professionals who are passionate about community voice, equitable design, and collaborative partnerships to volunteer at upcoming community events for the Jackson Ward Community Plan. The next community event will be held on February 11.

BECOME A DESIGN MENTOR 

We are looking for two qualified design professionals to join our City Builders Design 12-week program in spring 2023. Design mentors will receive a stipend for participation along with the reward of developing the next generation of designers. Learn more and apply by January 13.

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Top Blog Posts of 2022

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This year has been a great one! We brought on new team members and board members, created a new Advisory Council, enhanced programming, and built our strategic roadmap for the future. We are extremely grateful for what we have accomplished with our small team, Board of Directors, and community partners. Thank you for helping Storefront for Community Design inspire equitable community-driven design in the built environment.

We've got big things in store for 2023! Until then, we thought it would be fun to share the top read blog posts of 2022. It’s great to see many of our posts and resources from past years resurface with the changing landscape of our city. Enjoy and have a Happy New Year!

Storefront Launches Roadmap for 3-year Plan

Storefront Launches Roadmap for 3-year Plan

In May 2022, Storefront for Community Design announced a bold, new vision and a three-year strategic plan. We will firmly focus on transforming our low-cost design and planning assistance programs and expanding our design education programs to inspire community-driven design in the built environment.

This is a living, breathing plan that we will continue revisiting over the months and years ahead. Since kickstarting our plan in July, we've been building an intentional roadmap that prioritizes actions and creates measurable goals. We are excited to share it and begin collaborating with you as we continue to realize our vision.

Storefront Celebrates Community Impact in 2022

It’s been an amazing year! Our small staff, volunteer base, and scores of community partners incorporated new and creative ways of engagement and problem solving that increased access to design resources and advanced equity in the built environment.

In FY 2022, Storefront for Community Design collaborated on 26 projects that have the power to serve over 92,000 Richmond area residents. We provided volunteer services in our design education and low-cost design and planning assistance programs valuing over $132,000. Download our FY 2022 Program Impact Report and take a look at our project highlight from each program.

Notes from the Field: November Program Highlights

Notes from the Field: November Program Highlights

Storefront for Community Design inspires equitable community-driven design through our low-cost design and planning assistance programs and design education programs. Check out our September Notes from the Field to learn about recent updates from our programs.

Design Education: City Builders Design Workshop

We convene project-based learning opportunities that focus on real world issues in the built environment and encourage youth and young adults to discover and design solutions that create effective change in their lives and communities. Learn more about City Builders Design Workshop.


Summer Session: Design Camp

Storefront for Community Design hosted a week-long summer City Builders Design camp that invited youth from all over the city to join. The goals of the summer design camp were to learn about design process and gain exposure to design professions. Using the graphic novel No Small Plans, participants explored urban planning while following a group of teens in their discovery of Chicago’s past, present, and future. They were also tasked to explore the Jackson Ward community and design an empty lot at N 2nd Street and Jackson street.

Storefront Recognized with AIA Virginia's Highest Honor

Storefront for Community Design received the American Institute of Architects Virginia (AIA Virginia) Chapter’s Architecture Medal for Virginia Service at the Visions for Architecture celebration on November 4 at the VMFA. The award is the highest honor that AIA Virginia hands out and recognizes an individual or organization that makes an “unusually significant contribution” to Virginia’s built environment, or awareness of the built environment.

In a letter to Storefront informing them of the award, AIA Virginia noted they wanted to recognize Storefront for its influence and contributions to uplifting underserved populations through the power of design. “AIA Virginia is delighted to honor Richmond’s Storefront for Community Design,” said Helene Combs Dreiling, FAIA, Interim Executive Vice President at AIA Virginia. “Since 2011, Storefront has been a stalwart non-profit design hub that seeks to make design programs and resources accessible to all. Leveraging their large network of volunteers, they have prioritized equitable growth, benefiting Richmond and the broader metropolitan area.”

Since 2011, Storefront has convened over 370 low-cost design and planning assistance projects and over 20 design education initiatives to community members, businesses, nonprofit organizations, local governments, schools, and neighborhoods. Last year, Storefront celebrated 10 years of community impact and recently launched a new strategic plan that will focus on more community-driven design. The organization plans to serve over 200,000 residents in Richmond through community design over the next three years.

 

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Note: to sign up to volunteer, follow this link to complete the form.