In 2024, I partnered with the Bartholomew County Public Libraries for their 125th anniversary. I developed three art based activities inspired by their archives, which interpreted different elements of the library’s history:
1) Coloring sheets of the county’s bookmobile.
2) A Henry Moore doll was launched at a library birthday party. Party attendees could sew dolls in the image of Cleo Rogers, IM Pei, and/or Henry Moore.* You can learn more about the birthday celebration via the link.
3) Coloring sheets to interpret 9 stories of the Hope Library. These coloring sheets would also serve as templates for appliqué embroidery and/or quilting.
*Cleo Rogers and IM Pei dolls were created in 2019.
In April 2023, the Cincinnati Preservation Association's staff and board participated in a strategic planning retreat. A three year plan was adopted November 2023, and a subsequent one-year check-in occurred in November 2024. The one year check-in for Cincinnati Preservation’s strategic plan. We were able to celebrate the significant progress made to accomplish their strategic plan, reflect on next steps, and tweak the plan to reflect the organization’s priorities. A staff retreat will be hosted in 2025, to further support the strategic plan goals.
Learn more about the strategic planning process via this link.
Athena F. Richardson and I were honored to support Jawana Jackson's dream. We supported Jawana Jackson as she explored how the Jackson Home and her family’s story should/could be preserved. We examined every option possible to achieve Jawana’s goals of using the home and its contents as an international educational tool for social innovation and civil rights history.
Athena and I listened, researched, and worked with Jawana to create “the blueprint” to find the next caretaker of the Jackson Home.Learn about the next chapter of the Jackson Home at Greenfield Village.
As the Dana Crawford Historic Preservation program works to assess its academic pedagogy and structural systems to support preservationists of diverse backgrounds, it is important to consider the program's positionality within the State of Colorado’s preservation needs, its context within preservation academic programs, and to consider professional opportunities for graduates from the program.
Phase 1: Programmatic assessment to develop a recruitment and student support services plan/toolkit.
Phase 2: Implementation of recruitment and student support services plan/toolkit
This project is ongoing.
Led development of a strategic plan for the Mid Atlantic Regional Moving Image Archive, which focussed on organizational capacity growth, funding identification, and research into equitable organizational frameworks.
This cutting edge nonprofit institution is on an exciting growth trajectory, which will support community needs across the Mid Atlantic.
Community engagement leadership for the development of the Bozeman Landmark Program. Developed a layered engagement strategy, which included youth engagement materials, temporary signage, pop-up events, and more. Learn more about this work by reading the program’s initial guidance document.
Work done in collaboration with Community Planning Collaborative and Mulberry History.
The 2020 Crafting Herstory workshops were developed with the following goals in mind:
1) Cultivating a new perspective on a craft often associated with women
2) Developing an understanding of voting rights history, with a focus on the ephemera/messaging created as a part of advocacy campaigns
3) Empowering people to be advocates for themselves and others in present day
To continue learning about this project, please visit this link. This project received an Excellence in Consulting from the National Council on Public History in 2021.
When art intersects with historic preservation/public history, MAGIC HAPPENS. Amy Martin's Cemetery Maps series is one of these instances.
It was a joy to draw St.Philips Cemetery & Church, because I truly view this site as an example of historic preservation being a tool for acknowledging past harm and working toward healing. Thirteen+ years ago, I was a summer intern at Old Salem, and led tours through this space - it’s safe to say the site/ historic district was fundamental to shaping my preservation views.
The Untitled Bess McDole Prather Project is an exploration into the life of Nina Bess McDole Prather.
“The fact that her work has resulted in the establishment of two clinics, both backed by lay groups, shows that she has reached and interested the right people.”
That simple sentence from a letter about Bess Prather’s work as a field agent for the Birth Control Clinical Research Bureau (1935-1937) brought forth the core questions of the project. How was Bess an effective advocate and how did that impact cause ripple effects felt today? What did her life look like before her work as a field agent; in what direction to Bess’ life go after that work?
A big thank you to Community Planning Collaborative for inviting me to be a contributor to the Florida’s Historic Preservation Toolkit. It was a pleasure to contribute illustrations and text to these resources. Use this link to learn more and to read digital versions of the toolkit.
This project was recognized by the Tallahassee/Leon County Historic Preservation Awards for Preservation Education
Historic Preservation: An Introduction to Its History, Principles, and Practice has become a fundamental book in understanding historic preservation.
Authors Norm Tyler, Ilene Tyler, and Ted Ligibel recognized the growing need to write a third edition of the text and invited me to be a contributor. I loved the collaborative process of writing the third edition of Historic Preservation: An Introduction to Its History, Principles, and Practice.
It was an honor to utilize my work experience to assist in the text updates.