Community Engagement
The Griot Center
Clarksdale, MS
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Client: Griot Arts Inc.
NOB A+D's Role: Architectural design and community engagement co-lead with Kudzu Collective Location: 250-256 Yazoo Avenue and 258 Yazoo Avenue, Clarksdale, MS Date Completed: project capital campaign is ongoing with approx. $20+ million raised to date; Two (2) Community engagement sessions occurred in April and May 2022. One major goal of the sessions was to address an existing stair on the rear of the building that was used as the "colored" stair, the segregated stair. Project Team: Architecture: Kudzu Collective Interiors: Shine Interior Design Studio Landscape Architecture: Brantley Snipes Landscape Design Project-specific website: The Griot Center |
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About the Project: With the gift of two significant properties on Yazoo Avenue in Clarksdale, Griot Arts is beginning the process of planning a large-scale adaptive reuse project to expand the nonprofit organizations programming and partnership opportunities. The historic 1918 JC Penney Building located at 250-256 Yazoo Avenue occupies three stories, encompassing nearly 21,000 square feet of space. Next door, the historic Paramount Theater Lobby at 258 Yazoo Avenue leads to a 5,000 square foot auditorium where theatrical performances and movies were enjoyed by generations of citizens in Clarksdale.
After a number of years of vacancy, these facilities are ready for a rebirth! Preliminary design is currently underway to plan the transformation of these spaces into a new home for the dynamic youth programming facilitated by Griot Arts. Spaces for art, teaching, theater, and workforce training will soon occupy these historic properties, bringing these once-darkened windows to life again, and lighting the way for a renaissance in historic Downtown Clarksdale, Mississippi.
For more information about the The Griot Center Project click HERE to reach the project website; and for the programming document click on below file.
After a number of years of vacancy, these facilities are ready for a rebirth! Preliminary design is currently underway to plan the transformation of these spaces into a new home for the dynamic youth programming facilitated by Griot Arts. Spaces for art, teaching, theater, and workforce training will soon occupy these historic properties, bringing these once-darkened windows to life again, and lighting the way for a renaissance in historic Downtown Clarksdale, Mississippi.
For more information about the The Griot Center Project click HERE to reach the project website; and for the programming document click on below file.
Griot Arts, based in Clarksdale, Mississippi, is dedicated to nurturing creativity, empowering individuals, and fostering a strong sense of community belonging. The organization's focus lies in arts education and workforce development, two powerful tools for creating a brighter future. Griot's comprehensive arts education programs aim to inspire and nurture the next generation of artists, providing them with the necessary skills to excel in their chosen field and contribute meaningfully to society. Griot Arts believes artistic expression is a powerful force that uplifts communities and creates positive change. In addition to arts education, Griot Arts is deeply committed to workforce development. Griot understands the importance of equipping individuals with the skills and opportunities to thrive in today's ever-evolving job market. Through their various programs and initiatives, this organization strives to empower individuals with the tools and resources they need to secure stable and fulfilling careers.
More info about this exemplary organization can be found at https://www.griotarts.org/
More info about this exemplary organization can be found at https://www.griotarts.org/
“Neighborhood Revitalization through Retrofit of Highway 63B in America's Fastest Shrinking City: Pine Bluff, Arkansas”
Pine Bluff, Arkansas
Client: City of Pine Bluff
NOB A+D’s Role: Architect and community engagement co-lead
Amount: $548,492.00
Project Start Date: Fall 2024
Project End Date: TBD
Place-Based Partners:
NOB A+D’s Role: Architect and community engagement co-lead
Amount: $548,492.00
Project Start Date: Fall 2024
Project End Date: TBD
Place-Based Partners:
- University of Arkansas Community Design Center: Lead applicant, grant administrator, urban designer and planner
- Go Forward Pine Bluff, Inc., a 501(c)3 nonprofit: Co-applicant, community engagement co-lead, and liaison among all regional entities
- City of Pine Bluff: Client, and planning partner through Street Depart and Community Develop Dept.
- Southeast Arkansas Regional Planning Commission/ArDOT: MPO, public transit operator, and facility planning partner/ArDOT—facility owner.
- Pine Bluff Urban Renewal Agency: Quasi-govt administrator of ALICE program, and community engagement partner.
- Pine Bluff Small Business Association: Grassroots org. to promote local trade
- Community Advisory Board: TBD, Appointed on awarding of grant
Olive Street in Pine Bluff is pictured in this Arkansas Democrat Gazette 2022 file photo. (Pine Bluff Commercial/I.C. Murrell)
About the Project: The University of Arkansas Community Design Center + Go Forward Pine Bluff have been awarded a $548,492 grant in the US Department of Transportation 2024 Reconnecting Communities and Neighborhood Grant (RCN) Program. Project partners for Neighborhood Revitalization through Retrofit of Highway 63B in America's Fastest Shrinking City: Pine Bluff, Arkansas include the City of Pine Bluff, the Southeast Arkansas Regional Planning Commission, Arkansas DOT, the Pine Bluff Renewal Agency, and NOB A+D (Architecture + Design).
The planning study supports revitalization of the 280-block historic South-Central downtown neighborhood through the context-sensitive retrofit of Arkansas State Highway 63B. The oversized corridor and the scale of its auto-centric land uses—now mostly large abandoned dead zones—accelerate economic decline in this African American neighborhood, due to corridor desertification rather than congestion. Scenario planning will explore options in right-sizing a 1.2-mile segment of this low-trafficked corridor as an active transportation network spine with urban infill land-use improvements between the downtown business district and the City’s largest employment center to the south—the Jefferson Regional Medical Center. The Pine Bluff project is one of 132 planning or capital projects to be funded in the 2024 program, and the only one from Arkansas. The grant narrative is attached.
About the USDOT RCN Program
The U.S. Department of Transportation has awarded more than $3.3 billion via its Reconnecting Communities and Neighborhood Access and Equity (RCN) discretionary grant program to 132 infrastructure projects in 41 states and the District of Columbia. The agency noted that the RCN program is a combination of the Reconnecting Communities Pilot from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Neighborhood Access and Equity discretionary grant program created by the Inflation Reduction Act.
Grants from both programs seek to “reconnect” communities cut off in the past by transportation infrastructure, leaving such neighborhoods in many cases bereft of direct access to schools, jobs, medical offices, and places of worship. “While the purpose of transportation is to connect, in too many communities, past infrastructure decisions have served instead to divide,” said USDOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg in a statement. “Now [we are] acting to fix that.” For more on this program, see: https://environment.transportation.org/news/usdot-issues-3-3b-in-reconnecting-communities-grants/
The planning study supports revitalization of the 280-block historic South-Central downtown neighborhood through the context-sensitive retrofit of Arkansas State Highway 63B. The oversized corridor and the scale of its auto-centric land uses—now mostly large abandoned dead zones—accelerate economic decline in this African American neighborhood, due to corridor desertification rather than congestion. Scenario planning will explore options in right-sizing a 1.2-mile segment of this low-trafficked corridor as an active transportation network spine with urban infill land-use improvements between the downtown business district and the City’s largest employment center to the south—the Jefferson Regional Medical Center. The Pine Bluff project is one of 132 planning or capital projects to be funded in the 2024 program, and the only one from Arkansas. The grant narrative is attached.
About the USDOT RCN Program
The U.S. Department of Transportation has awarded more than $3.3 billion via its Reconnecting Communities and Neighborhood Access and Equity (RCN) discretionary grant program to 132 infrastructure projects in 41 states and the District of Columbia. The agency noted that the RCN program is a combination of the Reconnecting Communities Pilot from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Neighborhood Access and Equity discretionary grant program created by the Inflation Reduction Act.
Grants from both programs seek to “reconnect” communities cut off in the past by transportation infrastructure, leaving such neighborhoods in many cases bereft of direct access to schools, jobs, medical offices, and places of worship. “While the purpose of transportation is to connect, in too many communities, past infrastructure decisions have served instead to divide,” said USDOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg in a statement. “Now [we are] acting to fix that.” For more on this program, see: https://environment.transportation.org/news/usdot-issues-3-3b-in-reconnecting-communities-grants/
“Reimagine America's Schools”
National, USA
DISRUPT YOUR SCHOOL RAS Process: Disruption: RAS inserts itself into the traditional design process and engages district leadership to determine change readiness and assure overt executive commitment to a modified design process. Design: RAS curates a team of nationally recognized educational design architects who volunteer their support with a non-transactional, ideas-centered consultation and intense three-day design workshop. Change: The outcomes of the workshop provide a redefined vision for the project, with the tools to communicate the design concepts to its stakeholders, and the architects responsible for the design of new learning spaces. RAS Design Team members work with the selected architects to convey concepts and objectives that drive the design vision. Through our engagements, we provide districts with an alternative approach to the traditional design process and tools needed to implement action-oriented outcomes that support change. Our design approach includes:
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Reimagine America’s Schools National Design Team (L to R): Scott Krenner, AIA, Cuningham Group Architecture, Inc.; Ron Bogle, Hon. AIA, Reimagine America’s Schools; Philip Poinelli, FAIA, SMMA; Sarah Weissman Dirsa, AIA, KG+D Architects; Ngozi Brown, AIA, ASID, nob a+d; August F. Battaglia, FAIA, Design Principal Emeritus; Amy Yurko, AIA, Brain Spaces, Inc.; Emily E. Czarnecki, NCIDQ, JCJ Architecture; and Kerry Leonard, AIA, Reimagine America’s Schools. Photo courtesy of Reimagine America’s Schools.
NOB A+D's Role: National RAS Design Team Member
NOB A+D’s Responsibilities: Architect; community visioning and engagement, facilitate and co-lead days 1-3 of RAS charettes As an RAS design team member, NOB A+D has helped non-profit grant recipients Bible Center Church and Wheeling Country Day (WV) design for educational spaces. In the below report, RAS presents Community Schools 3.0, a strategy that integrates the four drivers of change into a comprehensive approach. Over the years Reimagine America’s Schools has convened dozens of leaders in education, technology, design, and politics, as well as students, parents, social welfare professionals, architects, and non-profit and for-profit leaders, to help us imagine America might or should change education.
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Day 1
Upon arriving in your community, the RAS Design Team meets with district leadership for school tours.
In the afternoon, we kick-off the three-day design thinking charrette and education design workshop with a plenary session that includes district leadership, educators, partners, and other community members.
Reimagine team leaders explain the charrette process and present examples of contemporary school design, illustrating the current best thinking in the design of learning spaces. The district then presents its educational program, and the Superintendent makes brief affirmative comments about charrette participation. After the general session, the school design team and Reimagine team meet for dinner and begin the design process.
Day 2
8:00 a.m. The RAS Design Team engages in a full-day charrette with the school team.
Later in the evening, the group meets for dinner to continue their discussions.
The Reimagine Design Team may continue their efforts late into the evening. Although the school team is invited, participation is not required.
Day 3
8:00 a.m. The RAS Design Team engages in a half-day charrette with the school team.
After lunch, the school team presents a summary of the design process in a plenary session, citing the team's findings and results.
The charrette concludes mid-afternoon, at around 3:00 p.m.
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Reimage America's Schools is a National Design Alliance program funded by Schmidt Futures
“Re-Imagining Main Street”
Jacksonville, Arkansas
Client: City of Jacksonville
Design Charette with studioMain
NOB A+D’s Role: Architect; community visioning and engagement (in collaboration with Woods Group Architects)
NOB A+D designed the "Five Points" area of the proposal. Other areas of design were completed by additional team members listed below.
Additional Team Members:
Sarah Bennings - Polk Stanley Wilcox Architects Brandon Bibby - WER Architects Heather Davis - Polk Stanley Wilcox Architects Will Denman - Clements & Associates Architecture James Meyer - Taggart Architects Adam Osweiler - McClelland Consulting Engineers Rosa Sanchez - Clements & Associates Architecture Caleb Tyson - WD&D Architects
Design Charette with studioMain
NOB A+D’s Role: Architect; community visioning and engagement (in collaboration with Woods Group Architects)
NOB A+D designed the "Five Points" area of the proposal. Other areas of design were completed by additional team members listed below.
Additional Team Members:
Sarah Bennings - Polk Stanley Wilcox Architects Brandon Bibby - WER Architects Heather Davis - Polk Stanley Wilcox Architects Will Denman - Clements & Associates Architecture James Meyer - Taggart Architects Adam Osweiler - McClelland Consulting Engineers Rosa Sanchez - Clements & Associates Architecture Caleb Tyson - WD&D Architects
