Public Space
Grow Ohio Valley, Wheeling, West Virginia. Photograph by Rebecca Kiger, courtesy of the Appalachia Rising editorial team
To promote comparison and synthesis across reports, American Roundtable is organized around five broad themes: Public Space, Health, Work and Economy, Infrastructure, and Environment. Editors of each report were given wide latitude to interpret each theme. Collected below are features that address topics and issues related to Public Space.
Sites of Interpretation | The Africatown International Design Idea Competition
Renee Kemp-Rotan profiles sites and buildings central to Africatown’s story.
Racialization of Space and Spatialization of Race
Craig Wilkins and Renee Kemp-Rotan argue for an embrace of Black identity and design traditions in Africatown.
The Rubric | Engaging Descendants in the Interpretation of Africatown’s Historic Sites
How should sensitive historical sites and artifacts be interpreted? A recent initiative proposed best practices.
A City Built by Hand
Helen Liggett documents how residents of Youngstown and Warren are reimagining vacant land.
Decolonizing Public Space to Reflect an Evolving Region
Artist collective Las Imaginistas reimagine public space, advocacy, and urban planning.
Brownsville West Rail Corridor Study: Designing Public Space in the 21st Century
Edna Ledesma advocates for participatory design in the context of a rail-to-trail conversion.
Racist Symbols in Public Space
Chloe Dotson reflects on what is and isn’t memorialized in the Rio Grande Valley.
A Lasting Effect of Colonization: Detachment from the Built Environment | Pine Ridge
Architect Tammy Eagle Bull addresses how colonization has disrupted the traditional holistic relationship between the Lakota community and their environment.
Pow Wows: A Celebration of One Year, Happiness, Guidance, and Protection | Cheyenne River
Lakota Elder Ben Elk Eagle speaks about the historical significance of pow wows and how traditions have changed.
Flipping the Prison: Projects
Group Project's designers look back on their work with GrowingChange.
Flipping the Prison: Confessional
Members of Group Project consider the ethics of community-engaged practice.
The Work of Faith: A Report on Rural Church Life in the Time of Pandemic
Tanner Capps writes about the relationship between faith and politics at a North Carolina church.
Reflecting on The Farm
GrowingChange Youth Leaders reflect on place, confronting the site of a former prison.
Epilogue: Sea and Sky
Photographer Eirik Johnson captures the landscapes, seascapes, and communities of South Beach, Washington.
Prologue: Sea and Sky
Photographer Eirik Johnson captures the landscapes, seascapes, and communities of South Beach, Washington.
PUEBLO Analysis: An Indigenous Planning Tool for Ysleta del Sur Pueblo
Theodore Jojola and Saray Argumedo translate traditional planning methodologies into values and language meaningful and relevant to Indigenous communities.
Searching for Her Roots in the Borderland | Doña Ana County
Lucia Veronica Carmona narrates her story of life along the US-Mexico border, searching for her identity and improving its communities.
Striking Bodies: Aligning Public Spaces
Aaron Cayer describes the River Valley’s long history of worker protests and strikes.
Body
Our bodies form the base unit for action, empowerment, freedom, and joy, writes literary critic John Freeman.
Your Land: The Transformation of Public Spaces in West Virginia
Merritt Chase discusses three projects rethinking public space across different scales.