AIGA Baltimore recently held a collaborative workshop called Ideas for Action at the St. Francis Neighborhood Center. This was an opportunity for a diverse group of medical researchers, community outreach workers and leaders, as well as designers and undergraduate and graduate design students to work together to address social concerns in the Baltimore community.
Bernard Canniffe, Professor and Chair of Design at the Minneapolis College of Art, guided the group of 13 through a series of activities, exercises, field trips and brainstorming sessions. Canniffe feels these workshops are a way to use design to engage locally and through ripple effect, generate an impact nationally. The diverse backgrounds from each of the participants allowed topics to be viewed from multiple perspectives. At times, this proved to be challenging, but in the end the group created a strong network to initiate community projects in the future.
This event is hopefully just the beginning for this group. AIGA Baltimore looks forward to seeing what projects might evolve and hopes to be an active partner with the community to make Baltimore a better place for all.
From left to right: Bernard Canniffe, Javier Rios, Ande Campbell, Michelle Stidham, Laura Evans, Michael Trush, Noel Cunningham, Aura Seltzer, Yvonne Hardy-Phillips, Barbara Bates-Hopkins, Nick Hum, Pat Tracey, Nick Sprouls and Brian Ghiloni (not pictured: Malcolm Rio and Alissa Jones)