Community Engagement Session #1

Community Engagement Session #1 - February 2, 2023

At the Community Education Center on Lancaster Avenue, the teaching team and community partners collaborated to host the first mixer around the New Freedom District for Black History Month. 

In it, Dr. Matt & Mr. Muhammad shared visions of the New Freedom District (NFD) as a living heritage, Ellen Neises shared the purpose of Studio+ and the opportunity for the joint studio to build visibility through durable pop-up installations to spur discussion and further envisioning of NFD. 

In multiple formats, the two dozen attendees were Randomly assigned partners in small groups of 6. Then, they were given the prompt: share your answer to question: What is your reaction to "New Freedom District"? What does "New Freedom" mean to you? Where comes to mind along Lancaster Avenue's neighborhoods? Students listened and facilitated group discussions and took notes on index cards. These would inform the design work and the focus of the planning research.