Thirteenth International Conference on The Arts in Society

Abstract

The purpose of this project was to experience and experiment, develop and facilitate a critical community engagement effort between three entities: Cornish College of the Arts, a nonprofit organization called The Eureka Institute, and the City of Sandpoint in Idaho. Methods were quantitative and qualitative, centering around the theme of affordable housing and place-making. The Eureka Institute hosted 20 Cornish students at their 42-acre retreat center in Idaho to design several pop-up wellness clinics as built hypothetical visual models which were then given to Eureka’s board to support its mission of life-long learning and leadership. Additionally, students researched affordable housing and place-making by working with the City of Sandpoint and collaborating on a case study for human-centered design to establish a site plan for living, education, recreation, and trade. Cornish students interviewed the Mayor of Sandpoint and city staff to learn about critical issues that the city faces. Interview research was combined with classroom theory of integrated living systems design toward site planning for a sustainable and affordable future. Through immersion, discourse, experimentation, and discovery, traditional approaches to problem-solving become permeable to artistry and innovative design practice, and vice versa, resulting in unexpected and contextually grounded concepts for 21st-century place-making.