One of the many things on my plate in late November/early December was the application process for Design for America. If you have been following me on Twitter or Facebook, you’ve seen me promote this organization like it was my job. My professor tasked my class to get this organization to Champlain College.
From the website(because I can’t write it better): “Design for America(DFA) is an award-winning nationwide network of interdisciplinary student teams and community members using design to create local and social impact. DFA equips this generation with the mind-set and skill-set to look locally, create fervently, and act fearlessly.”
We are trying to use design to fix Burlington, Vermont basically. I am in a new city where I am learning everyday about it-the good and the bad. If I was in Memphis, I could rattle off twenty things that could be done. It’s different now for me.
By the skin of our teeth, my classmate Cora and I got the application submitted(which consisted of another classmate, Jess, and I asking students to take a picture holding a “I Heart DFA” sign, creating a video of Burlingtonians talking about the good/bad points(classmate Robin and Rachel were the producers of that piece), and then making a poster of the I Heart DFA images). It was a lot to do in two week time frame.
We made it past round one, and on Thursday of this past week, the operations manager of DFA flew out from Chicago to hold a workshop for all those interested in a DFA Champlain. It was powerful to see so many students, faculty, and people from the Burlington community brainstorm, discuss, and produce deliverables of a better BTV in about two hours. We now have to make a two minute video on a month long project for round two, and then we will know in May if we are granted some DFA lovin’.
The director of DFA is from Burlington, and is a hip, hip lady. Will this help with being selecting? It wouldn’t hurt. I hope my classmates and I can leave a legacy at Champlain with this studio. I hope.
My Path is Wide Open 