Join Storefront’s Advisory Council: Nomination form now open

Storefront for Community Design’s Advisory Council is a group of enthusiastic community members who are passionate about community voice, equitable design, and collaborative partnerships. This is a newly forming group that will supplement the Storefront team and board’s skills and help advocate for Storefront’s mission. The Advisory Council is also a great steppingstone for non-profit board service.

The nomination form is now open for the Advisory Council and will close on May 27, 2022 at 12:00pm. Review of applications and selection of members will take place in June. The first meeting will take place in July.

The Advisory Council’s purpose:

• Provide technical expertise or advice in areas such as youth education, design education, architecture and planning, finance, fundraising, community building, event planning, advocacy, etc.

• Help to spearhead and/or fundraise for a special project or event

• Provide an independent sounding board for the Board of Directors

• Serve as an advocate for the organization

The Advisory Council will include up to eight (8) community members and will meet quarterly (min. 4 times per year; 2 hr. meetings). Members of the Advisory Council are also encouraged to attend board meetings or join a committee if interested. Committees include communications, finance, development, and programs. If you have questions, contact us.

10 | A Vision for the Future

[10 Years, 10 Stories of Impact series]

View fullsize

image: In 2016 FRED (Free Reusable Everything Desirable) was born as a vehicle for connecting communities and dispersing needed items. Camden Whitehead (shown in gold) was challenged to a headstand competition in exchange for items to the community.

From the first impact story that celebrated Storefront’s founding to the last story that detailed a community driven design process, it is evident that Storefront for Community Design’s impact has been witnessed across the City of Richmond. In ten years, our programming has grown from a single design assistance program at a neighborhood level to multiple programs at a city-wide level.

In 2021, Storefront announced the selection of our new Executive Director making this an ideal moment to reflect upon the progress we’ve made and establish a vision moving forward that adapts to the changing landscape of our communities. Over the past six months, we’ve been writing a strategic plan that will be our roadmap through 2025 and we are excited to launch it this spring. As we turn our attention to the next 10 years, we asked founding members of Storefront for Community Design and VCUarts mOb studio three questions to highlight past achievements and share their vision for the future of our programming.

image: a mock bus shelter designed by mOb studio students

Q1: What was the initial vision for Storefront for Community Design and mOb studio?

Design is active and client-based. For design students, it should be local, national, and international. mOb studio and Storefront for Community Design’s collaboration connect Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) to the community and allows for students to get closer to where design becomes real and necessary.
- Kristin Caskey


Our vision for Storefront was to form an organization that connected the design community of Richmond with people who might benefit from design resources but were either unaware of those resources or unable to pay for those resources (or both). Storefront was intended to be a trusted, neutral party that was not working for commercial interests or the city, though both developers and the city would often participate in Storefront events.
- Andrew Moore


Initially, I thought Storefront would be primarily a presence at a neighborhood level that would provide access to assistance from design professionals for people who would otherwise not avail themselves of that help for things like addressing code violations/maintenance issues or needing help with ADA-type accessibility.
- Jim Hill

“We hoped to show the community what design is by making public the processes, joys, and habits of designers. We hoped to unleash the power of design to imagine a city that could exist but did not exist at that time. We hoped to become a generator and a center for a growing design community in the city.”

— Camden Whitehead

image: collecting community feedback for the beautification of Six Points commercial corridor in Highland Park

Q2: What has been the most impactful contribution that Storefront for Community Design has made to the community?

The General Demotion/General Devotion competition and the Recovery by Design program were both inspirational ways to extend the reach of our mission in an important way. I think, however, that the development of Six Points Innovation Center (6PIC) might be the biggest on-the-ground project Storefront has accomplished, for both bricks-and-mortar and programming.
- Jim Hill


Discovering the ways that design can heal racial divides in the City of Richmond. Revealing the superpowers of designers to help the city wonder and to imagine and make visual an environment that does not exist or an environment in need of adjustment.
- Camden Whitehead


Storefront’s largest impact has been to enable individual residents and neighborhoods to have a voice in the city, speaking the language of design. At the individual level, community members have understood how good design, applied to their properties, can benefit both their interests and the larger community. At the neighborhood level, communities have seen how an organized workshop can transform ideas into reality.
- Andrew Moore


Storefront and mOb studio have made a space for students at VCU to live closer to, and better understand their neighbors. A way for students to serve the place and people where they live, and act on projects which expand design into places and lives where it may not have been. Students find that design lives everywhere and is not a reality show. Many of our former mObians find that the impulse to serve and work in community or as collaborators drives what they choose to do for work.
- Kristin Caskey

“It has planted seeds for young designers to step into the profession with a redefined and reawakened understanding of how design can impact needs that aren’t aligned with profit driven motives to better serve humanity.”

— mOb studio faculty

image: Andrew Moore volunteering at a community workshop in the Carver neighborhood

Q3: What is one new thing you would like to see Storefront for Community Design achieve in the next 10 years?

A small school of community engaged design, where recent design graduates work with elementary, middle, and high school students to share their superpowers of design and help them identify and undertake projects in Richmond neighborhoods. Also, we need a place/shop that is equipped to prototype and build our work.
- Camden Whitehead


In the next ten years, I would love to see the physical footprint of Storefront expand into other areas of the city, partnering with local neighborhood stakeholders to realize the benefits of good design at a hyper-local level.
- Andrew Moore

“I would like to see Storefront continue to help communities build capacity, but I would really like to see Storefront find a way to mentor students from underserved communities helping them explore design and public service education and career opportunities.”

— Jim Hill

image: Storefront’s City Builders youth meet with mOb studio to learn about their semester designs. Storefront’s vision for the future includes enhanced design opportunities for youth and young adults.

---

A huge THANKS to our founders who took time to share experiences and insights with Storefront for Community Design and mOb studio.

• Andrew Moore, Senior Principal / Studio Director at Glave & Holmes Architecture, SFCD Founder

• Kristin Caskey, Associate Professor, VCUarts Fashion; Design Director, Kloth Studio; mOb studio Founder

• Jim Hill, SFCD Founder

• John Malinoski, mOb studio Founder

• Andrew Moore, Senior Principal / Studio Director at Glave & Holmes Architecture, SFCD Founder

• Camden Whitehead, Associate Professor, VCUarts Interior Design, mOb studio Founder

Here’s to 10 more amazing and impactful years!

---

WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT!

We can only continue because of your generous support that makes it possible for Storefront to continue connecting community members to design tools and resources. In honor of our 10th anniversary and to ensure future funding, we are laying the foundation for the next 10 years of community impact. Money raised will be invested in a variety of ways that, taken together, are designed to increase Storefront's mission and programming that will bring positive change to Richmond communities over the next 10 years.

---

10 YEARS, 10 STORIES OF IMPACT

Follow Storefront for Community Design’s 10 Years, 10 Stories of Impact series to learn more about our impact over the last ten years and check out a timeline of milestones for an overview of our work.

01 | Storefront is Born
02 | Ms. Thompson’s Kitchen
03 | mOb + Storefront = ❤️
04 | Recovery by Design
05 | A Celebration of Community Design
06 | Designing an Innovation Center
07 | Building a Brave Space
08 | General Demotion / General Devotion
09 | Community Driven Design Process
10 | A Vision for the Future

Save the Date for #storefrontcelebrates

We’re throwing a party and YOU are invited!

There will be food, music (inside and out), other First Friday happenings, and of course—let there be cake! Mark your calendar, you don't want to miss it. Do your friends a favor and share the invitation using #storefrontcelebrates so they can be part of the fun.

Join us for the festivities on May 6 from 5:30-9:00pm at 205 E. Broad Street.

View fullsize

SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

Thank you to our current 10th Anniversary sponsors! Your sponsorship is making a difference in our community. There's still time to become a sponsor. Click below for sponsorship benefits and opportunities.

09 | Community Driven Design Process

[10 Years, 10 Stories of Impact series]

View fullsize

image: Stakeholder and community engagement (credit: Citizen HKS)

A community driven design process aims to create a NetZero hub for the Highland Park Community through Re-Imagining Benefield.

The WHY

In early 2018, Ryan Rinn, then Executive Director of Storefront for Community Design and Nick Cooper, then Director of Citizen HKS, sat down to talk about how two organizations could come together and support a Richmond community in need. Ryan quickly guided the conversation to an under-served community on Richmond’s North Side that Storefront had been invested in for years but needed a substantial project and process to continue to empower the youth and serve as a catalyst for change and hope.  Re-Imagining Benefield was born.

View fullsize

image: Stakeholder and community engagement (credit: Citizen HKS)

The WHAT

Through a robust community engagement process and a unique co-live/co-work programmatic model that will incubate local businesses on the first floor and provide mixed income; co-living housing above, the project will be the new community center for Highland Park and be a model for similar process transformations across the country.

“Through deep listening, Citizen HKS and Storefront for Community Design have perfectly captured the desires, goals and dreams of the community in Re-Imagining Benefield. Upon completion of the project, it will be a place community members can truly call their own”

— Megan Rollins, CEO at Boaz & Ruth

View fullsize

image: Stakeholder and community engagement (credit: Citizen HKS)

The HOW

Re-Imagining Benefield is a project designed by the community of Highland Park FOR the community of Highland Park.

“Family, affordable, innovative, community and equitable” were key words that drove the design of the project because they were emphasized by community members of the Highland Park neighborhood through community workshops, town hall meets, interviews, surveys and an overall robust community engagement process that spanned 18 months and continues through the special use permit process today. Storefront for Community Design served as a catalyst for connections and making sure every community stakeholder was heard throughout the process, embodying a true inclusive design process.

Building program catered specifically to the community’s needs and a defining building set back request [preserving the intimate scale of Meadowbridge Road] were key design outcomes established by the community during the engagement process.

View fullsize

View fullsize

image: Existing conditions at Six Points (top image); community vision for Six Points (bottom image - credit: Citizen HKS)

The IMPACT

The Fundamental driver for the planning of the first floor was built on adaptation and growth for the future. Both in terms of youth attaining business acumen but also in terms of spatial flexibility between what exists today and what we can only predict will happen tomorrow as what we define as successful retail will always evolve. The two floors of mixed-income housing above, along with the collaborative working environment housed on the first-floor are significant contributors promoting social equity within the project and for the community as a whole.

Using an existing collection of buildings as the bones of the first floor and the existing character of highland park to influence the addition, the ecosystem of the place has informed the design. Adaptive Re-use in nature is the most resourceful approach to architecture you can take so the project seeks to preserve the historic Spanish Art Deco structure while integrating a maker space, local businesses, and a collaborative workshop space on the first floor. This workshop is planned to serve as a hub for education by being open to the community.

It was important from the outset that we needed to be as environmentally responsible as we were being socially responsible, so a path to NetZero was established as a guiding principle for the work. This is planned to be one of the first NetZero projects in Richmond and will be a place for education around the steps it takes to create a more resilient and sustainable future for all.

View fullsize

image: Key impact numbers

“Re-Imagining Benefield was a project that stood out for engaging the neighborhood in positive discourse on its future, helping to give voice to community concerns, and translating problems into concrete and lasting solutions. Clearly the design team brought a high level of passion and commitment to making a difference”

— Carl Elefante, FAIA, 2017 President of the AIA

---

WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT!

We can only continue because of your generous support that makes it possible for Storefront to continue assisting with community driven design processes like Reimagining Benefield. In honor of our 10th anniversary and to ensure future funding, we are laying the foundation for the next 10 years of community impact. Money raised will be invested in a variety of ways that, taken together, are designed to increase Storefront's mission and programming that will bring positive change to Richmond communities over the next 10 years.

---

10 YEARS, 10 STORIES OF IMPACT

Follow Storefront for Community Design’s 10 Years, 10 Stories of Impact series to learn more about our impact over the last ten years and check out a timeline of milestones for an overview of our work.

01 | Storefront is Born
02 | Ms. Thompson’s Kitchen
03 | mOb + Storefront = ❤️
04 | Recovery by Design
05 | A Celebration of Community Design
06 | Designing an Innovation Center
07 | Building a Brave Space
08 | General Demotion / General Devotion
09 | Community Driven Design Process
10 | A Vision for the Future

Recapping Our Fall City Builders Design Workshop; Spring Registration Now Open

Did you know that a well-designed place enhances your health? 

Storefront for Community Design is excited to launch our City Builders Design Workshop this spring. We are seeking youth and young adults ages 13 -18 who are inspired by real world projects that make positive change in their neighborhoods. Come research, discover, and design resources with us this spring!  

Are you inspired by design and creativity? 

Are you passionate about health and wellness?

Are you interested in innovative ways to create change in your community?

Become A City Builder!

Want to learn more about Storefront’s Design Education?

---

Learn more about our Fall ‘21 Session on Food Access

When the pandemic began, Storefront for Community Design and community partners at Six Points Innovation Center (6PIC) pivoted programming to virtual school and distributing and delivering food to it’s youth residents in the City of Richmond. Due to public school closures many students were learning virtually from home which also meant youth were eating at home rather than at school. Storefront partnered with Richmond Public Schools to make 6PIC a hub for families to make it more accessible for our youth and their families to receive pertinent school information and resources. During this time many families and youth became more aware of the limited access to healthy food in the city.

In September of 2021, schools reopened and not even a month after … Richmond we have a problem. Parents expressed their concerns about the school meals being provided to their students. The Richmond Times Dispatch reported that parents weren’t happy with the meals provided to their students and petitioned the school board to find out what was going on. At the same time our Youth Innovation Director, Kai Banks, was preparing to restart the City Builders Design program, heard the concerns from teachers and parents and thought, “what about our students?”

“I wanted to know what our students were experiencing, teach them more about how the school and food system worked, and empower them to think creatively and design solutions. Fresh off of working in the community around food access concerns in general it seemed only right to focus our attention on food access in our community.”

— Kai Banks, Youth Innovation Director

Residential Security Map, Visit To City Hall’s Observatory Deck

With Kai’s knowledge of the history of Richmond and redlining, she understood the results that it had created, food deserts. According to the Richmond 300 insights report, food deserts are areas in which there is a lack of fresh and healthy food options within a reasonable, convenient distance. Normally, these food deserts are full of fast food restaurants and convenience-type stores but are lacking grocery stores or supermarkets. Some typical methods traditionally used to try and eliminate these deserts are: improvements to the business climate, more participation in WIC(Women, Infants, and Children) or SNAP(Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) programs, increased public transit in order to take people to the food, increased education about healthy food choices in public schools, and partnering with nonprofits to affect policy change at a state or federal level.

The City Builders Design program is designed to teach youth residents about urban planning and design. It is used to educate them on how cities work and plan for the future, while looking at historical events that created the conditions that cities are today. At the end of the program, youth work together to design a solution to the challenges that they feel is impacting their communities. 

Breathing Places Exhibit At The Valentine Museum

The semester began in October with an observation and discovery period. During this period students conducted a community planning analysis for the Northside, visited urban gardens and food locations in the area, and surveyed community members. Their findings revealed that 3 out 5 students did not have access to transportation. They also discovered that there weren’t any major grocery stores within a 5 mile radius of 6PIC. The students also discussed school lunches and their own likes and dislikes.

The second half of the semester students learned from experts in their prospective fields around land use, policy, and urban planning. The speakers ranged from Ebony Walden, an urban planner, Richmond Food Justice Alliance, a community organization, and Maggie Walker Community Land Trust, a housing non-profit in the city. City Builders’ participants went on a field trip to the Valentine Museum and City Hall observation deck to learn more about the historical context of green spaces and other development in the city of Richmond. Lastly, the students had an opportunity to visit VCUart’s mOb studio students and engage in the design process.

City Builders Design Concept for Northside Healthy Food Map

In the final weeks, City Builders’ participants collaborated with a design professional to create a vision for a North Side food access map for residents to be able to locate urban gardens, smaller markets/stores that provided healthy food access, and community pantries in the area. By the end of the semester they learned that the school's meal selection had some to do with nutrition and a lot to do with policies on the state level. One of the students even expressed she was ready to speak with the Virginia Department of Education to advocate for meals in schools!

Are you a designer interested in helping our City Builders create a final version of their map? Please feel free to email hello@storefrontrichmond.org.

About City Builders Design Workshop
The vision of the City Builders program is to engage the next generation of designers and grow urban youth leaders and equip youth for career success, civic engagement, and creative expression. The program focuses on real world projects in the built environment and encourages youth ages 13-18 to research, discover, and design resources for community members across Richmond. City Builders advances civic power through place-making projects and neighborhood-based skill building in program areas.

Notes from the Field: February Program Highlights

Storefront for Community Design connects community members to design resources through our low-cost design and planning assistance programs and design education programs. Check out our February Notes from the Field learn about recent updates from our programs.

---

Design Education: City Builders Design Workshop

Storefront for Community Design 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. Learn more about City Builders Design Workshop.

Fall Session
Illuminating Youth Voices

The Grand Illumination returned to the James Center this year but that wasn’t the only illumination. A group of 12 emerging designers visited the James Center to engage in a design brainstorming session. Storefront for Community Design partnered with Baskervill, Saving Our Youth, and Commonwealth Catholic Charities for a City Builders Brainstorm for Youth Supportive Housing on December 16. The youth had a lot to add to the conversation around housing and the youth hub that is being developed in the East End. After the brainstorming session, youth were able to tour Baskervill’s office and afterwards eat dinner and speak with staff members of the architecture firm. The design education workshop was an opportunity for youth to engage with professionals in the design field and uplift their voices during the design process.

image: City Builders brainstorming session at Baskervill with Commonwealth Catholic Charities

Celebrating Community Culture

Kwanzaa is a celebration of community, family and culture, established as a means to help African Americans reconnect with their African roots and heritage. The word Kwanzaa is a Swahili word that means "first" and symbolizes the first fruits of the harvest. It is celebrated for 7 days with a principle for each day from December 26 to January 1. Storefront for Community Design and community partner, UntoldRVA, kept with the five-year tradition and hosted Kwanzaa this year in a Covid friendly way. On the second day of Kwanzaa, Kujichagulia or self determination day, volunteers helped to prepare, distribute, and deliver 40 (Zawadi) boxes with healthy food items and education about Marcus Garvey. UntoldRVA and community members collaborated on this project to uplift the voices of our fall semester participants who were working to address food access challenges in the North Side.

In honor of Mama Shakila one of the founders of this community tradition.

Registration for spring City Builders Design semester is now open!

Do you know youth or young adults ages 13-18 who are interested in design and creativity? Learn more and apply today!

---

Low-cost Design and Planning Assistance:
Design Session

Storefront for Community Design 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. Learn more about Design Session.

A New Space for Host of Sparrows
This winter, Storefront volunteer Jessie worked with Heather, founder of a community-driven aerial circus, in envisioning their new space in Manchester. Jessie created a conceptual interior design and provided Heather with a better understanding of the typical construction process.

image: A design review meeting at Storefront’s office downtown

image: Conceptual interior rendering by Storefront volunteer Jessie Gemmer

Parks and Recreation Resource Center
In December, mOb studio wrapped up their Fall 2021 semester projects. This student team worked in partnership with Parks and Rec to "redesign an empty room into a bright and colorful workspace" at the Annie Marie Giles Center at 1400 Oliver Hill Way. The concept, "a continuous line that unifies and directs the program", was born out of conversations with Parks staff and led to a custom shelf design that gave structure to the space.

“Exploring what community design means, by helping the Parks and Recreation Resource Center build out their work space, was such an incredible opportunity.”

— Jenna Bramblet, mOb studio

image: Rendering showing individual desk space and collab table (Jenna Bramblet, mOb studio)

---

Low-cost Design and Planning Assistance: Community Engagement

Storefront for Community Design provides community engagement strategy and convenes workshops that inspire community members to take action, leverage their creativity, and realize a shared vision that strengthens our neighborhoods. Learn about Community Engagement.

Highland Grove Community Engagement
Last October, Storefront for Community Design kicked off a community engagement initiative with Better Housing Coalition (BHC) and community partners to receive feedback from residents, homebuyers, and local businesses on the Highland Grove community plan. Highland Grove is a 33-acre, true mixed-income subdivision encompassing the redevelopment and revitalization of the former Dove Court and Carrington Gardens Northridge public housing complexes and Virginia National Guard in Richmond’s North Side.

Storefront and community partners held a virtual meeting in mid-October to introduce the project and hosted two community events in early December where residents came to learn about the project, provide feedback for the community plan, grab a bite to eat, and meet their neighbors. Even with the unusual weather that provided warmth one day and freezing temperatures the next, we had a great turn out.

In early January, Storefront compiled feedback and ideas from the community events and launched a community survey. We had over 125 community members provide feedback and we are currently reviewing this information, along with what we heard over the last four months, to develop a final design guide and recommendations that will be handed over to Better Housing Coalition, the developer of Highland Grove, to use as they develop the community plan.

image: Highland Grove community engagement events at Six Points Innovation Center (6PIC)

Reconnect Jackson Ward & Chamberbrook Kick Off
There have been a couple new projects that have kicked off in the new year. Be on the lookout for more information in the coming months as Storefront collaborates with community partners to provide community engagement services for Reconnect Jackson Ward, a feasibility study to utilize community input to assess infrastructure options to reconnect Jackson Ward and Chamberbrook, a movement dedicated to re-establishing the Chamberlayne and Brookland Park Corridor.

08 | General Demotion / General Devotion

[10 Years, 10 Stories of Impact series]

View fullsize

image: General Demotion/General Devotion exhibition at the Valentine

Richmond’s Monument Avenue has been a showpiece of our city’s ambitions since its inception, and a source of controversy for just as long. Designed during the City Beautiful era, its wide boulevard, grassy median, and grand architecture reflect the principles of urban city planning aesthetics, while also celebrating the Lost Cause narrative that fit hand-in-glove with the overt racism of the Jim Crow era. Since then, Monument Avenue has remained a target of strong feelings and, for better or worse, a defining symbol of our city.

Storefront for Community Design began programming efforts focused on Monument Avenue in 2015, following the racially motivated shooting at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, SC. Storefront, in partnership with VCUart’s middle Of Broad (“mOb”) studio, sponsored a design education program and panel featuring Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Michael Paul Williams, architectural historian Calder Loth, and Bill Martin, Director of the Valentine. 

View fullsize

image: mOb studio design poster for people’s choice voting (left); ballot box at final exhibit at the Valentine (right)

The issue gained renewed urgency in the summer of 2017, in the wake of the violence of the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville. Storefront, once again in partnership with VCUart’s mOb Studio, decided to take a different approach by engaging not just local Richmonders, but the design community at large to reimagine Monument Avenue.

Storefront proposed a juried design competition, coined “General Demotion/General Devotion”, intended to facilitate constructive discussion about the future of Monument Avenue and guided by the principle that "good design has the power to offer nuanced, multi-layered and hybridized representation of the built environment in places where conventional discussion has failed."  

Funded in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, the competition attracted entries from an international cohort of design teams. Registration opened in April 2018 and concluded at the end of that year. A total of 68 entries were submitted from four different countries and 11 different U.S. states. Concurrent with the juried design competition, the team also sponsored "Monumental Youth," a design workshop curriculum encouraging high school students to re-imagine Monument Avenue.

“It’s a long journey but we think that this particular issue — how do we remember — is really important.”

— Bill Martin, Director of the Valentine

View fullsize

image: Jurors’ Award for Scale and the People’s Choice
Design Team: Shane Neufeld and Kevin Kunstadt

View fullsize

image: Jurors’ Award for Context
Design Team: Archie Lee Coates IV, Jeff Franklin, Anya Shcherbakova, Phil Gibson, Dillon Kogie

View fullsize

image: Jurors’ Award for Intervention
Design Team: Lori Garrett, Robert Riddle, Neil Walls

View fullsize

image: Jurors’ Award for Programming
Design Team: Pratt Institute Group #2

In 2019, the Valentine Museum hosted an exhibition featuring the 20 top entries as selected by the jury, and the four winning entries were announced in November 2019.  

One of the winning entries, from an international team of graduate students at the Pratt Institute, focused on reimagining Monument Avenue as a community engagement corridor, proposing an inclusive series of educational and recreational programming along Monument Avenue. The People's Choice Award, based on more than 2,000 votes cast by visitors to the exhibit at the Valentine Museum, recognized a submission from a Brooklyn-based design team that reimagines Monument Avenue as a Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Memorial.  

“Looking at the winners, all of the proposals and the public response, it’s clear that design has a central role to play in moving forward, and this competition is where that difficult work starts. ”

— Camden Whitehead, Associate Professor of Interior Design at VCUarts

With the removal of the Confederate monuments on Monument Avenue in the last two years, General Demotion/General Devotion has proved to be more than just a speculative exercise. Storefront continues to be engaged in public planning efforts regarding the future of Monument Avenue, and we look forward to helping the community shape what comes next for Richmond’s most iconic thoroughfare. 

View fullsize

image: "Monumental Youth," a design workshop curriculum encouraging high school students to re-imagine Monument Avenue (left); design idea from a youth participant (right)

---

Learn more by downloading a final booklet developed by Storefront for Community Design and the mOb studio detailing the project background, timeline, events, and award winners. A huge thank you goes to the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the Valentine, and all of our community supporters who made this design competition a success!

---

WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT!

We can only continue because of your generous support that makes it possible for Storefront to continue providing design education opportunities like the General Demotion/General Devotion design competition. In honor of our 10th anniversary and to ensure future funding, we are laying the foundation for the next 10 years of community impact. Money raised will be invested in a variety of ways that, taken together, are designed to increase Storefront's mission and programming that will bring positive change to Richmond communities over the next 10 years.

---

10 YEARS, 10 STORIES OF IMPACT

Follow Storefront for Community Design’s 10 Years, 10 Stories of Impact series to learn more about our impact over the last ten years and check out a timeline of milestones for an overview of our work.

01 | Storefront is Born
02 | Ms. Thompson’s Kitchen
03 | mOb + Storefront = ❤️
04 | Recovery by Design
05 | A Celebration of Community Design
06 | Designing an Innovation Center
07 | Building a Brave Space
08 | General Demotion / General Devotion
09 | Community Driven Design Process
10 | A Vision for the Future

Spring 2022 Volunteer Opportunities

View fullsize

Are you passionate about community voice, equitable design, and collaborative partnerships? Storefront for Community Design provides ongoing volunteer opportunities in our low-cost design and planning assistance programs and design education programs. We are seeking volunteers with varying interests and expertise to help us this spring, so don’t be bashful to get involved! Upcoming opportunities include:

1. Design Education - City Builders Design: Help us develop the design education curriculum and/or participate in our spring youth semester program.

2. Community Engagement and Events Planning: Become liaisons for engagement initiatives and/or help us plan our 10th Anniversary community celebration.

3. Design Session: Provide one-on-one advice, conceptual sketches, and plans of actions throughout the year.

See below for more information. If you are interested in volunteering, be sure to sign up by Thursday, January 27. If you have any questions, please email hello@storefrontrichmond.org. We look forward to hearing from you!

---

Volunteer Opportunity #1
Design Education: City Builders Design

Storefront's Design Education program is planning to build a new roadmap in 2022 that will provide consistent programming in the future. In addition, the City Builders Design program will kick off in the spring and encourage youth ages 13-18 to research, discover, and design community resources. We are looking for volunteers who are interested in helping us develop the design education curriculum and/or participate in our spring youth semester program.

---

Volunteer Opportunity #2
Community Engagement and Events Planning

Storefront is participating in exciting community engagement initiatives in Jackson Ward and the North Side in early 2022. In addition, Storefront is planning our 10th anniversary celebration that will take place in the spring. We are looking for volunteers who are interested in becoming liaisons for engagement initiatives and/or help us plan our 10th Anniversary community celebration.

---

Volunteer Opportunity #3
Design Session

Storefront’s Design Session provides one-on-one advice, conceptual sketches, and plans of actions. Volunteers demonstrate qualifications in the planning and design field and offer guidance on a volunteer basis. Once you are on the Design Session volunteer list, emails will be sent throughout the year with specific project volunteer opportunities. If you have already signed up to be a Design Session volunteer, no need to sign up again. Be on the lookout for future emails and opportunities to volunteer.

Five Ways to Get Involved in 2022

View fullsize

This year has been a big one! We brought on new team members, rebooted programming, and began building our 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 connect community members to design tools and resources and engage the next generation of designers.

We've got big things in store for 2022! Until then, enjoy your holiday season and consider supporting Storefront in the new year through the following opportunities.

---

Become a volunteer 

Did we mention we've got big things happening in 2022? We are seeking residents and professionals who are passionate about community voice, equitable design, and collaborative partnerships to join us. We have exciting community engagement initiatives in the city's Downtown and North Side neighborhoods and will be planning for our 10th anniversary celebration. In addition, we are exploring new opportunities in our design education programming. Join us in the new year!

---

Design a community gathering space 

We're still looking for a volunteer(s) to help bring a resident's idea of creating an intentional community gathering space to reality. Do you have landscape design experience and would like to help imagine what a community backyard space would look like? Sign up today and let's work together in January! 

---

Join our Design Directory

Storefront's Design Session Studio assists community partners with the conceptual stage of a project or idea. For the next steps of the design process, the Architecture, Engineering, Construction, and Design Directory aims to provide a resource for aspects of design projects that go beyond the scope of Storefront's program. Help us build our community of design professionals.

---

Apply for low-cost design assistance

Are you a resident, non-profit organization, small business, or city staff with a design idea related to improving the quality of life in Richmond? If so, check out our new program menus, get connected to our low-cost design and planning assistance program, and let's work together in 2022! 

---

Share your insights

Do you know of a resource that would benefit community members helping to shape our city that should be shared more widely? Storefront is planning to open source knowledge on community design and projects in the built environment. Help us collect community resources for our toolkit.  

---

07 | Building a Brave Space

[10 Years, 10 Stories of Impact series]

image: Kelli Lemon, owner of Urban Hang Suite

“I have secured a building-
and it’s a vanilla box, now what?”

— Kelli Lemon

How it Happened

This is the question owner Kelli Lemon found herself asking in 2017 when looking for ways to take her dream of opening a café and make it real. Through a few fateful conversations and connections, Kelli was introduced to Ryan Rinn, Storefront for Community Design’s past Executive Director. Kelli later applied for Design Session, Storefront’s one-on-one low-cost design and planning assistance program. We were able to walk Kelli through a conceptual design study that ultimately helped take her passion and vision and bring it to life.

Interview Part 1: How it Happened

“It was very humbling, it was very inspiring. Storefront facilitates the outcome.”

— Kelli Lemon

Reaction to Storefront’s Process

Once Kelli talked through her needs with Storefront, we connected her to a volunteer architecture team (Citizen HKS) who took her through the Design Session process. Storefront volunteers developed concept sketches and precedent images, or mood boards, that would kickstart her process to build her idea into reality.

Interview Part 2: Reaction to Storefront’s Process

“This is a Brave Space, because
we are really challenging the norms…”

— Kelli Lemon

The Impact

Urban Hang Suite opened its doors in fall 2018 at the corner of 3rd and Broad Street of downtown Richmond. Today it operates as a social hub for Jackson Ward, the Arts District, and Downtown; an area Kelli endearingly refers to as ‘the 3 corners where culture meet’. 

Kelli is grateful that the concept helped her transform that vanilla box into a constant conduit for conversation and connection. She refers to the cafe as a “brave space” that celebrates humanity by embracing diversity. When asked how Storefront was integral to bringing the café to life, Kelli had the following insights:

Interview Part 3: The Impact and What you Should Know about Storefront for Community Design

Storefront is proud to have partnered with Kelli and Citizen HKS. We continue to cheer on the success of Urban Hang Suite where Kelli and her staff are paying it forward by changing the Richmond community one cup of coffee at a time!

About Storefront’s Low-cost Design and Planning Assistance

Storefront’s low-cost design and planning assistance program includes our Design Session Studio and Community Engagement Studio. Since 2011, we have completed over 325 design sessions and over 25 community engagement initiatives. Over the past decade, this program has provided hundreds of Richmonders design and planning assistance at a low-cost that is subsidized by our generous supporters.

Are you a resident, youth or young adult, non-profit organization, neighborhood, or City staff member with an idea and interested to get connected to our low-cost design and planning assistance program? Storefront recently launched a new program menu for our low-cost design and planning assistance program to make it easier for community partners to get involved. Learn more about Storefront’s programs today.

---

WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT!

We can only continue because of your generous support that makes it possible for Storefront to continue providing low-cost design and planning assistance. In honor of our 10th anniversary and to ensure future funding, we are laying the foundation for the next 10 years of community impact. Money raised will be invested in a variety of ways that, taken together, are designed to increase Storefront's mission and programming that will bring positive change to Richmond communities over the next 10 years.

---

10 YEARS, 10 STORIES OF IMPACT

Follow Storefront for Community Design’s 10 Years, 10 Stories of Impact series to learn more about our impact over the last ten years and check out a timeline of milestones for an overview of our work.

01 | Storefront is Born
02 | Ms. Thompson’s Kitchen
03 | mOb + Storefront = ❤️
04 | Recovery by Design
05 | A Celebration of Community Design
06 | Designing an Innovation Center
07 | Building a Brave Space
08 | General Demotion / General Devotion
09 | Community Driven Design Process
10 | A Vision for the Future