Planning

Pittsburgh International Airport

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

2019 - Present

Client: Allegheny County Airport Authority

The Terminal Modernization Program (TMP) is providing a more efficient and enjoyable experience for anyone coming to, passing through, and departing from Pittsburgh International Airport. Art is a key part of the experience. As a member of the Gensler team, I collaborated with Allegheny County Airport Authority staff, design team members, and stakeholders to develop the TMP public art plan. It features opportunities for integrated artworks, permanent commissions, and spaces for temporary installations.

The new projects will align with the airport’s vibrant Arts and Culture program.

Learn more about the terminal here.

Neltje Center for Excellence in Creativity and the Arts

Laramie, Wyoming

2022 - 2024

Client: University of Wyoming

My relationship with Wyoming started on a road trip with friends in 2003. I have returned almost every year since – when I am lucky multiple times a year.  In 2004, Tiffany Ludwig and I were invited to the Jentel Artist Residency.  We had the chance to meet Neltje, the artist and entrepreneur who founded the residency. Neltje designed Jentel as a gift to artists: a beautiful studio and living space, creative freedom, and immersion in a landscape she loved. I will never forget interviewing her for our project Trappings.

Fast forward almost two decades. Neltje bequeathed her estate to the University of Wyoming. In 2022, I was invited to work with a leadership team at the University to create a strategy to guide the first few years of what came to be called the Neltje Center for Excellence in Creativity and the Arts.  A dream project. The strategy was approved at the end of 2022 and in 2023 Beth Venn was named the Executive Director.

You can read the strategy here: Four-Year Plan Executive Summary

One of the first initiatives of the Neltje Center was a week-long master class and public reading with author Gretel Ehrlich. I was there behind the scenes to help it run smoothly.  When the Neltje Center was awarded funding through Wyoming Innovation Partnership (WIP), Beth Venn, invited me to be part of her team developing the framework for the Arts Work program. I worked alongside Beth Venn, Beth Vanderborgh, and Sharon Louden as we created and tested multiple components of the program.

My focus was to design a startup challenge for projects that supported Wyoming’s creative economy.  All one hundred people who participated in Arts Work professional development workshops were eligible to compete in the Creative Economy Startup Challenge.  A selection committee reviewed letters of interest from applicants and chose thirty finalists.  They were invited to pitch a five-minute presentation about their idea. They were given feedback on their pitches and wrote creative enterprise plans. Ten winning plans were selected to receive $25,000 in startup challenge funds.

Read about the 2024 winners here: “UW Announces WIP Creative Economy Start Up Challenge Winners”

Cross Charlotte Trail

Charlotte, North Carolina

2017

Client: Arts & Science Council

The 30+ mile Cross Charlotte Trail (XCLT) will connect many neighborhoods as a transportation corridor and recreation trail. The Arts & Science Council commissioned Jennifer McGregor and I to work with a team of their regional colleagues to develop the XCLT’s public art framework.

The public art strategy positions the trail to become a new cultural venue for Pineville, Charlotte, and Mecklenburg County. As it threads from the South Carolina border to Cabarrus County, this linear park will be a place to experience temporary and permanent visual art installations and a venue to present music, dance, spoken word, and other art forms. Projects will engage residents and attract visitors, encouraging people to explore and experience every mile of the trail and its adjacent communities multiple times.

San Pedro Creek Culture Park

San Antonio, Texas

2016

Client: San Antonio River Authority (SARA)

When SARA and Bexar County sought to improve storm water management for San Pedro Creek, they chose to develop a new public amenity rather than hide this important infrastructure project. Ricardo Barreto, Jennifer McGregor, and I collaborated on the public art strategy for San Pedro Creek Culture Park.

The plan calls for a limited number of permanent installations and an ongoing series of temporary public art installations and performances. Through our process, the San Pedro Creek Culture Alliance, a group of local and regional community members and artists, was formed to collaborate with SARA and keep this park authentically San Antonio.

Carrie Brown was the first SARA curator to lead the program.

Lancaster Public Art

Lancaster, Pennsylvania

2016

Client: City of Lancaster

It feels really great when a client calls you back for another project.  I had the pleasure of working with the Pennsylvania College of Art and Design in 2008 to write a public art strategy for Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  In 2016, the City of Lancaster asked me to come back to help them develop a ten year public art plan. They had accomplished more than 80% of the strategy.

Who could say no?

Jennifer McGregor and I collaborated on the Lancaster Public Art plan.  Over 300 people participated in community meetings, a survey, and brainstorms about the right direction for public art in this historic city with a vibrant arts community.

Laramie Public Art Plan

Laramie, Wyoming

2015

Client: City of Laramie

I loved the opportunity to work on a public art plan in Wyoming, especially with Jennifer McGregor and Meg Thompson. What great collaborators!  We created a community focused plan that will help guide any entity in Laramie seeking to develop a public art project or initiative. You can download a copy of the plan here. 

It is so rewarding to see a plan document actually be put into practice.  Visit laramiepublicart.org to learn about the Laramie Public Art Coalition and the progress they are making developing educational programs and commissioning works of art. 

A big shout out to all of the members of the public art committee who contributed many hours of their time to guide the process.

City of Charleston Public Art Plan

Charleston, West Virginia

2012

Client: City of Charleston

City of Charleston received an “Our Town” grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to complete a series of ambitious public art activities: develop a collections management system, complete a conservation assessment of the community's public art collection, create a public art plan, and print a guidebook.

I worked with a fantastic, local working group and McKay Lodge Conservation Laboratory, Inc. to make it happen.  

Rose F. Kennedy Greenway Public Art Strategy

Boston, Massachusetts

2012

Client: Rose F. Kennedy Greenway Conservancy

Jennifer McGregor and I collaborated on a public art strategy for Boston's new Greenway, the park that replaced the elevated highway that divided the waterfront from the city. The five-year strategy focused on temporary projects rather than permanent works, enabling the art experience in the park to remain contemporary and visible.

The Conservancy became a reality under the leadership of public art curator Lucas Cowan.

Visit their website for more information and artist opportunities.