Volunteers work on the construction of a student-designed, multipurpose garden shed at the Charles S. Gilpin Community Farm. (Photo by Steven Casanova)
There’s no doubt Richmond has changed over the past several years. From 2010 to 2018, the region’s population increased by 12%, ranking as the 44th most populous metropolitan area in the nation, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. This increase has led to many exciting ventures, from new restaurants to renovated parks. As a city, how can we ensure that everyone reaps the benefits of our growth?
In 2011, Storefront for Community Design, a Richmond-based nonprofit design center, came into existence as an answer to some of these complex questions. Co-founder Burt Pinnock remembers conversations with planners, builders, educators and politicians who were interested in bringing an accessible design resource to Richmond.
“There are residential neighborhoods in historic districts where you have certain requirements to fix the home,” Pinnock explains. “These districts are in some of the more economically challenged communities, where they don’t have resources to hire architects ... to add a ramp to their house, for example.”
“Design provides a vision rather than a … volatile position.” —Camden Whitehead, co-founder, Mob Studio
In collaboration with community partners and volunteers, Storefront offers conceptual work, planning, landscaping, building and designing. The group strategically plans its outreach through affordable design assistance, youth empowerment and community advocacy.
Opening night of an exhibition at The Valentine featured the ideas proposed by the finalists in a national competition to conceptually reimagine the statues on Monument Avenue, sponsored in collaboration with the Storefront for Community Design and Mob Studio. (Photo courtesy Storefront for Community Design)
Block Blitz, Storefront’s recurring beautification effort, organizes volunteers and supplies to clean buildings and add plantings in communities such as Brookland Park, Spring Hill, Fulton Hill and Westhampton. However, the bulk of the organization’s projects stem from a program called Design Session, an affordable application-based design service. According to the program’s manager, Anya Shcherbakova, the services are available to all and not just those who can approach an architecture or design firm.
“Some people don’t know these resources exist,” Shcherbakova explains. “That’s where we come in, to support that knowledge and also learn from the community.”
One way Storefront bridges this gap is through its youth empowerment programs. In 2017, Storefront opened the Six Points Innovation Center (6PIC) in Highland Park in collaboration with Saving Our Youth, Groundwork RVA, Community 50/50, I AM MY LIFE, Untold RVA and Art 180. With their name representative of a prominent six-point roundabout in the community, 6PIC uses a “City Builder Model” to empower young residents to facilitate change in their city.
The program doesn’t shy away from the tough issues the community faces. Recently, 6PIC collaborated with Saving Our Youth and RVA Eviction Lab to present projects about Richmond’s growing eviction rates. Richmond has the second highest eviction rate in the country at 11%, according to RVA Eviction Lab.
Participants have also partnered with GroundworkRVA, a nonprofit focusing on green construction and urban agriculture, to design and place trash cans in the neighborhood. Kim Gomez, resource mentor at 6PIC, says giving the youth more control over these projects has helped develop a sense of community ownership, which she hopes can inspire them to create a version of Richmond they can see themselves in.
“Youth have a little more of that energetic charge to make that change,” Gomez says. “Sometimes, as adults, we need that.”
At its Broad Street location, Storefront partners with VCU’s Middle of Broad (Mob) Studio, a class within the School of the Arts. Students in the course work directly with the community, taking on projects ranging from a design-build for Gilpin Court’s Community Farm to interactive recipe walls at the VCU Health Hub in Richmond’s East End.
Most notably, Mob Studio and Storefront collaborated with The Valentine in a national design competition, “Monument Avenue: General Demotion/General Devotion,” to reimagine the statues on Monument Avenue. Four winners were awarded, and finalists had their work featured in a 10-month exhibition at The Valentine, which ended last December.
Mob Studio also hosted a series of community forums to discuss proposals and ideas for Monument Avenue. For Camden Whitehead, associate professor at VCU and co-founder of Mob Studio, tackling this tough issue through the lens of design allowed a more productive conversation to take place.
“Design provides a vision rather than a ... volatile position,” Whitehead explains. “[When you] have 70 visions in front of people, they end up talking more about their vision and not that their grandfather fought in the Civil War.”
Aside from producing groundbreaking work, Storefront also recognizes the achievements of other designers, big and small, through the annual Golden Hammer Awards in partnership with Historic Richmond. Students from Mob Studio designed the trophy awarded to winners in renovations, green design and affordable housing.
“It’s hard to make things,” Whitehead says. “We want to recognize not only when people make them, but make them well.”
Having recently appointed new Executive Director André Taybron, Storefront is positioned to begin a new phase. Taybron says he is excited to lead Storefront as it continues to help improve the quality of life in Richmond through design and planning.
