WORK: Pro-bono design project & zine
LOCATION: Richmond, VA
PARTNERS: Richmond Land Bank
NBW PROJECT TEAM: Chloe Nagraj, Erica Mutschler-Nelson, Chloe Hawkins, Thomas Woltz
ROLE: Project Manager
DATE: 2021
I initiated a partnership between NBW and the Richmond Land Bank (RLB) to support creative temporary stewardship of 15 land bank parcels in Jackson Ward. To uncover and make visible the history of the site as a thriving Black neighborhood decimated by freeway-building in the 1950s, we organized work days of clearing overgrown brush and invasives, uncovering the historic brick sidewalk, and planting annual flowers that reflected the lost townhouse facades. This reinvigorated land stewardship worked to shift the perception of the cultural and historic value of the vacant RLB parcels, culminating in a successful proposal by the JXN Project to repurpose the parcels as a community hub centered around historical interpretation. The NBW project team documented our historic research and stewardship methods in a zine to inspire similar work in other places, and we continue to support the transition of the parcels to their new stewards as the JXN Project begins to heal the rupture of the freeway through restorative truth telling.
LOCATION: Richmond, VA
PARTNERS: Richmond Land Bank
NBW PROJECT TEAM: Chloe Nagraj, Erica Mutschler-Nelson, Chloe Hawkins, Thomas Woltz
ROLE: Project Manager
DATE: 2021
I initiated a partnership between NBW and the Richmond Land Bank (RLB) to support creative temporary stewardship of 15 land bank parcels in Jackson Ward. To uncover and make visible the history of the site as a thriving Black neighborhood decimated by freeway-building in the 1950s, we organized work days of clearing overgrown brush and invasives, uncovering the historic brick sidewalk, and planting annual flowers that reflected the lost townhouse facades. This reinvigorated land stewardship worked to shift the perception of the cultural and historic value of the vacant RLB parcels, culminating in a successful proposal by the JXN Project to repurpose the parcels as a community hub centered around historical interpretation. The NBW project team documented our historic research and stewardship methods in a zine to inspire similar work in other places, and we continue to support the transition of the parcels to their new stewards as the JXN Project begins to heal the rupture of the freeway through restorative truth telling.
I presented this work at the 2022 ASLA Conference in a session titled "Design Outside Development: Community Land Stewardship and Design" with Jen Toy and Shelby Howard.
See the zine pages below.
