Cat Kratz portfolio - 2023

CATHERINE KRATZ portfolio of work

Since I was very small, I’ve been obsessed with stories. That photo up there, that’s me at 4 years old, carrying my parents’ 110mm camera, ready to go on “an adventure.” My parents immigrated to the United States in 1983 after I was born in Belgium, and raised me with a keen awareness of culture. Having the opportunity to travel and speaking multiple languages, I began capturing these adventures with a camera, painting with my mom, and writing wild storybooks. Thirty years later, with a BFA in photography, an MA in journalism, and more than 12 years of marketing and communications experience, I continue to tell stories.

CATHERINE KRATZ storyteller kansas city, mo photo circa 1986

AT THE HOUR OF WILDFLOWER WREATHES

photo essay

Kansas City Art Institute

photography, video, multimedia editing

During my undergraduate studies at the Kansas City Art Institute, I began documenting summer trips to Poland to visit my family. It was here that my passion for documentary photography truly took shape.

CROOM

multimedia photo story

University of Missouri School of Journalism

photography, video, sound, multimedia editing, research, writing

In late 2008, Kevin Croom, a 21 year-old Columbia, Missouri native, held three Amateur National MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) titles after fighting for just one year. After photographing his trainer, Robert Hulett, when asked why he fights, Kevin said it was the only thing he has ever been good at. In spring 2009, Kevin fought his first professional fight in Sedalia, Missouri. After spending 6 months with Kevin, at home, at practices, at fights, with Kevin and friends after fights, I created a multimedia piece telling Kevin’s story.

THE NEW POLISH WOMAN

photo essay University of Missouri School of Journalism research, photography, writing, editing, layout

For my masters thesis at the University of Missouri, I spent 6 months studying and comparing the lives of women in rural and urban areas of Poland in 2009 that culminated in a research thesis, “Polish Mother: Women’s Changing Gender Roles and the Media Portrayal of the Roles of Polish Women” and the accompanying photo essay, “The New Polish Woman.” The role of women in Poland has changed dramatically since the country’s turning point in 1989, when the round-table discussions began, leaders of solidarity gambling the fate of their country fueled by determination for freedom. At the time of the fall of communism, 3.7% of business owners were women. By 1998, that number jumped to 37%. This number directly correlates with a new economic and social system in Poland that resulted from those round-table discussions. A transition for women and their roles in society can be traced to the time during and after WWII, when they began to become a major part of the workforce. The change was necessitated by the male populations involvement in the war

(followed by significant losses). Today, the opening of borders and rapid influx of Western influence, new technology, new money and liberal ideas has created new opportunities for Polish women. These ideas have reached rural areas of Poland much slower than urban areas.

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT:

Ewa Wojtatowicz, 29, Real Estate Leasing Manager

Bogusia Kendzierska, 30, Elementary School Teacher

Agata Tyminska, 22, Farmer/Economics Student

Kamila Kobylinska, 28, Architect

“PHRESH PRINTS CO-OP: A KCAI STUDENT ORGANIZATION STEPS OUT INTO THE CREATIVE CROSSROADS”

PR / article Kansas City Art Institute research, writing, story pitch, media relations/coordination

In 2012, the Association Of Independent Colleges Of Art & Design reported that enrollment at art institutions throughout the country was down 30% due to economic turbulence. I proposed writing a series of articles about unique aspects of Kansas City Art Institute’s curriculum.

CONTINUING & PROFESSIONAL STUDIES PHOTOGRAPHY

PR / photography

Kansas City Art Institute

photography, editing

I worked with KCAI’s School for Continuing and Professional Studies to photograph summer camps, art labs and adult classes to use for promotional materials increasing awareness of the departments range of offerings.

KCAI ALUMNI PROFILE: BRADY VEST

digital film

Kansas City Art Institute series concept, video, editing

In 2012, KCAI’s president wanted to promote the college as an institution that excelled at “preparing students to creatively transform the world through art & design.” Simultaneously, enrollment at art institutions throughout the country was down 30% due to economic turbulence according to AICAD (Association of Independent Colleges of Art & Design). As one of three members in the communication department, I proposed creating an alumni profile video series of successful KCAI alumni entrepreneurs throughout the region, illustrating the impact a liberal arts education can have on an graduate’s successful career as an artist.

KCAI ART

&

DESIGN AUCTION SPONSORSHIP FORM

direct mail (annual fundraiser) Kansas City Art Institute, Advancement Office graphic design, writing

While at KCAI, I acted as an interdepartmental consultant and designer, working with administrative staff to conceptualize and produce marketing pieces for various College efforts, including helping to coordinate the annual fundraisers.

COMMUNITY ARTS EMAIL CAMPAIGN

e-postcards

Kansas City Art Institute, Student Services Office graphic design, writing

At KCAI, I worked with the Director of Student Services to create a promotional campaign aimed at increasing enrollment numbers for the College’s Community Arts & Service Learning program.

SYMPHONY SUBSCRIPTION BROCHURE

2014-2015 season brochure

Kansas City Symphony graphic design, print coordination

While with the Kansas City Symphony, I conceptualized and designed print materials for the 2014-2015 season, contributing to a $2.8 million ticket subscription & renewal campaign. Additionally, as print media manager, I managed print services with external vendors for the season materials.

MENDELSSOHN’S

“Music Director Michael Stern is a master of programming.”

2014-2015 CLASSICAL SERIES

OPENING WEEKEND: JOYCE DiDONATO RETURNS!

Friday & Saturday, Sept. 12-13 at 8 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 14 at 2 p.m. Michael Stern, music director Joyce DiDonato,

Zemlinsky’s Psalm 23 the composer’s own cry of despair after being forced to leave Berlin during the Nazis’ rise to power. Also featured is Brahms’ romantic Schicksalslied considered one of his most perfect smaller choral works. Capping off this program is Mendelssohn’s “Scottish” Symphony, a work born of the composer’s visit to the ruined Holyrood Chapel in Edinburgh.

LA VALSE AND STRAUSS

Friday & Saturday, Nov. 21-22 at 8 p.m.

Sunday, Nov. 23 at 2 p.m.

Michael Stern, music director Philippe Quint, violin

RAVEL La valse, poème chorégraphique

BERNSTEIN Serenade (after Plato’s “Symposium”)

SIBELIUS Symphony No. 3

R. STRAUSS “Salome’s Dance” from Salome

Though Ravel denied it, his ever-popular and vigorous La valse has been described as depicting the birth, decay and destruction of a musical genre: the waltz. Award-winning American violinist Philippe Quint takes the stage with what Gramophone magazine calls “a radiant tone and brilliant technique” to perform Bernstein’s Serenade. The program closes with the dramatic “Dance of the Seven Veils” from Strauss’ opera Salome

MASTERWORKS BRAVO OVATION

with Wagner’s Prelude to Tristan und Isolde. Then, German violinist Augustin Hadelich takes the stage to perform the popular Bruch concerto. Schoenberg’s strikingly beautiful Verklärte Nacht is a highly tonal reflection of finding redemption, which sets the stage for Ravel’s passionate and flowing music for Daphnis et Chloé

SEASON FINALE: A HERO’S LIFE

Friday & Saturday, June 19-20 at 8 p.m.

Sunday, June 21 at 2 p.m.

Michael Stern, music director Vadym Kholodenko, piano

CHRISTOPHER Rainbow Body THEOFANIDIS

TCHAIKOVSKY Piano Concerto No. 1 Ein Heldenleben

Tchaikovsky’s famous First Piano Concerto has it all: gorgeous melodies and technically demanding piano lines that only Tchaikovsky could write. Aptly matched for this Russian masterpiece is Ukrainian pianist Vadym Kholodenko.

Arguably autobiographical in nature, Strauss’ Ein Heldenleben includes quotations from his earlier works. Convinced that French horns best expressed heroism, this masterwork calls for eight to complement the large orchestra. Hear the hero’s theme, his battles, ensuing peace, and finally, his retirement from the mortal world.

Michael Stern. Photo by Todd Rosenberg.

“The [Kansas City] Symphony is one of the great treasures of a community that values its arts organizations highly.”

—MICHAEL KAISER, PRESIDENT, JOHN F. KENNEDY CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS

MASTERWORKS BRAVO OVATION

INSTAGRAM FEED

instagram

RMTA (Rees Masilionis Turley Architecture) photography, social media management

While at RMTA I managed all social media accounts, including instagram, and photographed daily events within the office to further tell the story of the firm.

ARCHNOTES

quarterly enewsletter

RMTA (Rees Masilionis Turley Architecture) story generation, web/digital design, email management & execution

At RMTA, I created a quarterly enewsletter called ArchNotes. Each quarter I collected information and wrote stories based on three categories: team play, firm news, and events. All newsletters were headed with recent projects to both enhance client awareness of our current progress and to drive traffic to the firm’s recently re-designed website.

THE BARNEY BUILDING

PR / photography

RMTA (Rees Masilionis Turley Architecture) photography, editing

PHOTOGRAPHY

In 2014, RMTA completed the renovation of a 1950s commercial building in Mission Hills, Kansas. I photographed the building prior to complete photography in order to pitch the project to national publications - the project was published in GB&D Magazine and on ArchDaily.

RMTA, The Barney Building

KC MAGAZINE: COOLEST OFFICES

PR

RMTA (Rees Masilionis Turley Architecture) story pitch, photography, editing, media relations/coordination

Similarly, I photographed RMTA’s offices, located in a 6-story adaptive re-use of a century old milliners warehouse for a story in KC Magazine — a monthly feature about Kansas City’s “coolest” office spaces.

SPRINT EXECUTIVE BUSINESS CENTER GRAPHICS

environmental graphics

RMTA research, graphic design, print coordination

Sprint asked RMTA to develop a design and work with a local printer to install custom environmental graphics for their recently renovated Executive Business Center at the Sprint headquarters campus in Overland Park, Kansas.

ENVIRONMENTAL GRAPHICS Sprint Executive Briefing Center, graphic wall band

INSTAGRAM FEED

instagram el dorado inc photography, social media management

While at el dorado I managed all social media accounts, including instagram, and photographed daily events within the office to further tell the story of the design studio rooted in fabrication and design excellence. I also photographed each new staff member as they joined the studio, adding their headshots to our website and team resumes.

100&CHANGE: MACARTHUR FOUNDATION GRANT

digital film

el dorado inc concept, video production, editing

In 2016, el dorado inc partnered with Synergy Services; Botwin Commercial Development; AL Huber Construction; HR&A Consulting; and Kansas State University College of Architecture, Planning and Design on a submission for the MacArthur Foundation 100&Change Grant, developing a proposal to end youth homelessness. By focusing on four primary goals — safety, financial and emotional resilience, community, and hope — the team proposed a market rate apartment development prototype which would provide trauma-informed support services for young adults emerging from the foster care system in a self-sustaining, replicable, and scalable model. The project’s measurement of success would be based on achievement of the four primary goals. This video was produced in conjunction with the grant application.

EL DORADO E-NEWS UPDATES

enewsletter el dorado inc story generation, web/digital design, email management & execution

Combined with press releases and blog updates, I created special news emails with link backs to longer stories on the el dorado website.

HOLIDAY PARTY INVITATIONS

evites el dorado inc graphic design, email management/execution, event planning

For each event at el dorado — client holiday parties and internal staff holiday parties, special cocktail parties, summer bbq’s, Kansas City Design Week Open Studio — I executed the planning, from invitations, to guest coordination, to food, drink and entertainment planning.

qualifications package el dorado inc strategic response planning, writing, graphic design, submission coordination

In 2017, el dorado responded to an RFQ to the Johnson County Parks and Recreation Department for a qualifications package for a new observation tower at Shawnee Mission Park. Working with the partners and project managers, I created a package that strategically illustrates the studio’s applicable experience range — streetscape projects, bridges, public buildings, and public art — and extensive experience with planning projects that required substantial public outreach and community involvement. The studio was awarded the $1.5 million project and the deciding committee noted that it was the book’s efficacy in communicating el dorado’s capabilities in regard to fundraising and public outreach that made the firm stand out amongst its competitors.

OBSERVATION TOWER AT SHAWNEE MISSION PARK PROPOSAL

209632.03

PLANNING & DESIGN AT EL DORADO INC (CONTINUED)

el dorado is well-versed in leading strong design teams, clients and stakeholders through well-managed design processes for work in the public realm. Our experience ranges from park projects to streetscape projects, to bridges, public buildings and public art. In all cases, the goals are to work closely with our clients and stakeholders to create maximum value within the particular constraints of each project. Our strengths are focused around a dogged pursuit and realization of design excellence, which we are most proud of in our public work. As makers with full steel fabrication capacities, including an ability to fabricate our own structural steel work, we are deeply committed to well-crafted, smartly detailed design solutions. Our excellent communication skills, both verbally and graphically, help us, and our clients, create compelling stories around the work we do together.

March 31, 2017

Richard Findley, Project Manager Johnson County Park and Recreation District 7904 Renner Road Shawnee, Kansas 66219

RE: Preliminary Site & Building Design for Observation Tower Facilities at Shawnee Mission Park

Dear Mr. Findley,

Thank you for the opportunity to submit our Letter of Interest and Qualifications for this project. We are honored to be one of Johnson County’s on-call architects. Our team is a group of consultants that knows this project type well, that is intimately familiar with the process that led to the Johnson County Parks and Recreation District Legacy Plan, and that has a long history of working to esults. Our el dorado-led team includes landscape architects SWT, civil engineers SK Design Group, MEP engineers PKMR, and structural engineers Genesis Structures. We have tentatively included Kaw Valley Engineering for geo-tech engineering.

We look forward to the opportunity to discuss your project in more detail.

Sincerely,

David Dowell, AIA principal el dorado inc david@eldo.us / 816.674.8481

CONTEXT GRAPHICS

miscellaneous project graphics el dorado inc concept, graphic design

For award entries, project proposals and blog entries, I created a variety of infographics and illustrations to pair with other project assets that fully explain the breadth of each project el dorado worked on.

WABAUNSEE COUNTY POPULATION INDEX

1913: Kratzer brothers open general store

1942: Volland train depot closes

1955: post office closes at the general store

1940s: WWII draws residents to military duty & urban factories

1930s: drought, duststorms, Great Depression

1962: last cattle car through Volland 1971: Otto Kratzer passes away, general store closes

1890: Volland, Kansas founded

2014: Building re-opened with a curated exhibit of Otto Kratzer’s photography and films

2012: Patty and Jerry Reece acquire building, re-named Volland General Store

COMMUNITY OUTREACH

Arts-based partnerships and health-based partnerships will help root the project in the community and will leverage local businesses, organizations and individuals who understand the complexities of building consensus as allies in the project planning process.

ADVANCING THE WORK OF WRT

It would be important in a project like this to think about how the projects link to one another as connected experiences. Hardesty Renaissance, an 18-acre brownfield site at the intersection of Independence Avenue and Hardesty Street in East Kansas City is comprised of 5 industrial buildings that will be revitalized in 3 phases. Thinking about the programming of the spaces as well as the space between the buildings was an important part of the preliminary design process to ensure a connectedness across the expanse of the site.

DEVELOPING FLOORPLANS FOR LIVABILITY

The 1 bedroom modules at reStart Housing in Waldo were reconfigured based on the sire and each 1-bedroom unit has 4 rooms to provide both a broader sense of autonomy for residents as well as varying levels of privacy, from the separate bedroom, to the immediate social space within the living room and kitchen, to the “front porch” outside of the unit for neighbor interaction.

Proactively thinking about spaces that aren’t the physical building, from civil aspects such as stormwater management systems to amenities to landscaping, allows for thinking about how to not only evolve secondary spaces but to create a more holistic project.

INNOVATIVE MEANS AND METHODS el dorado is constantly combining design excellence with researching new means and methods of construction to improve design quality and investment value for our clients. 34+ Main represents a highly rational design, with a program calculated from the constraints of modular pre-fab construction.

SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION

Through effective planning, smart, passive heating and cooling design strategies that add no additional cost to construction are possible and provide additional comfort for residents.

FINANCING

LEVERAGING A HISTORY AS MAKERS

Communicating well with contractors to get the most out of project is a core part of el dorado’s history and approach to each project.

PROJECT SCHEDULE PROPOSAL

project graphic el dorado inc concept, graphic design

2016 ARCHITECT 50 ENTRY

award entry el dorado inc graphic design/layout, text, award entry coordination

Each year, Architect Magazine sets out to review architecture firms throughout the United States and determines which rank highest in the categories of business, design and sustainability. In the 2016 Architect 50 Survey, through submission of an extensive survey and portfolio of work, el dorado was ranked the #11 design firm in the United States.

2017 ACSA DESIGN BUILD AWARD ENTRY: PRESTON OUTDOOR EDUCATION STATION

award entry el dorado inc

graphic design/layout, text, award entry coordination

Preston Outdoor Education Station is located at Camp Wood in the heart of the Tallgrass Prairie, one of the most endangered ecosystems in North America. The el dorado inc led Design+Make Studio at Kansas State University designed and built 1,300-linear-feet of trail system integrated into the site with five education stations that engage the environment and locally-sourced materials to focus on essential elements of the prairie over the course of a 5th year capstone architecture design studio. The project went on to win six regional, national, and international awards — an American Architecture Award, Architizer A+ Award Special Mention, AZ A+ Award for Student Work, AIA Kansas Design Excellence Citation for Excellence in Student Architecture, and the Kansas State University Kremer Prize for Outstanding Collaborative Design Achievement.

STATEMENT OF QUALIFICATIONS / PROJECT 12738A

UC Berkeley Moffitt Library Renovation

SUBMITTED AUGUST 1, 2018

SAN DIEGO KANSAS CITY DES MOINES

Capital Projects , Contract Administration University of California, Berkeley contractadmin-cp@berkeley.edu / 510 643 0924

RE: Statement of Qualifications for Project 12738A

Dear Members of the Selection Committee:

On behalf of BNIM and our multidisciplinary team, it is with great pleasure that we submit our response to your Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for the UC Berkeley Moffitt Library renovation (floors 1-3). Our work on campuses from UCLA to Princeton has exposed us to phenomena that is transforming learning and research at every university and college. The reinvention of libraries is enabling campuses to adapt and evolve to meet the rapidly changing needs for every student, faculty member, and school.

We offer the following qualifications that strongly align with your vision for the renovation of Moffitt Library: Long Life, Loose Fit: Central to the long-term success of many of our projects is the concept of “long life, loose fit” addressing future, unanticipated needs through the programming of space in the overall design of buildings. Change is a variable that can be accounted for in design. When spaces are configured with this in mind, they can more easily adapt to future needs. At the Robert E. Kennedy Library at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, California, the five-story brutalist structure will undergo a significant renovation to enhance overall functionality for the 21st-century student experience. The programming process revealed opportunities to consolidate spaces for books, reorganize an indiscriminate network of study rooms, and provide open areas for interaction, all of which allow for future flexibility as needs continue to evolve.

Understanding the Unique User Groups: In addition to our projects at Cal Poly and Georgia Tech, BNIM has worked on more than 45 higher education campuses across the country. Through our experience, we have developed an intimate understanding of the distinct user groups that will be served by our efforts on this project. We have completed academic libraries at Princeton University Lewis Center for the Arts, University of Iowa Seamans Center for the Engineering Arts and Sciences South Annex Addition, University of Missouri School of Music, Kansas State University Seaton Hall Renovation and Expansion, and the Kansas City Art Institute. Additionally, BNIM previously worked on the Biomedical Library at UCLA. We are able to draw from all of this experience—and more—to inform our work on UC Berkeley’s Moffitt Library renovation.

Repositioning the Academic Library for the Modern Age: BNIM recently completed programming and design services for the revitalization of two library facilities at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech). The vision for Price Gilbert and Crosland Tower reflects a growing trend in the evolving nature of libraries. The library is no longer just a place where information is stored in the form of books, but a place where knowledge is generated through collaboration, discovery, and access to the latest digital tools. We are currently applying this principle at the Robert E. Kennedy Library at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo as well. There, our team has extensively studied the library’s current situation and uncovered student and faculty aspirations to establish a vision for its future.

We have prepared the following response based on the request for qualifications and other information provided by the University. The projects selected each embody similar relevant features. Our approach has been developed based on our experience with academic libraries and other learning environments, tailored to the specific needs of the Moffitt Library renovation and the UC Berkeley campus. This is just a beginning of the process, as our team will evolve the approach as we better understand this project and your needs, ensuring a successful end product.

Sincerely,

Steve McDowell, FAIA LEED AP / Principal smcdowell@bnim.com

RFQ: UC BERKELEY MOFFIT LIBRARY RENOVATION statement of qualifications

BNIM research, strategic response planning, writing, layout / assembly, submission coordination

In 2018, BNIM responded to an RFQ for the second phase of renovations at University of California-Berkeley Moffit Library. After tracking the long term strategic plans for the individual campuses of the University of California system and identiyfing desirable opportunities, BNIM leadership made strategic campus visits, sharing metric focused books that illustrated thought leadership specific to the firm. Once the RFQ was released, the team was prepared to assemble a strategic response that would further support the initial introduction to the firm through these visits. The statement was shaped around core concepts that exemplified the firms expertise in programming that reflected contemporary pedagogical trends in the evolving nature of libraries.

$17.4 million

Project Experience

BNIM is currently working on two major renovations at the Kennedy Library at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and the Price GilbertCrosland Tower Library facility at Georgia Tech. BNIM also has completed academic libraries at the Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas State University Seaton Hall Renovation and Expansion, University of Iowa Seamans Center for the Engineering Arts and Sciences South Annex, Princeton University Lewis Center for the Arts, and University of Missouri School of Music. Additionally, BNIM previously worked on the Biomedical Library at UCLA, and completed a research library at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.

As exemplified through the projects highlighted in this section, BNIM not only has experience with multiple user groups connected to libraries sited throughout university campuses, but also with significant library renovations. Employing the Long Life, Loose Fit concept through renovations imparts renewed vitality, density, and connectivity to campuses and communities. It also reveals opportunities to improve overall building performance, improve mechanical efficiency, and update spaces to be contemporary hubs of scholarly knowledge through the most current technology trends. Our experience, when viewed holistically, proves to be in strong alignment with the tasks outlined in the RFQ.

Our work on the Kennedy Library at Cal Poly and the Price Gilbert - Crosland Tower Library at Georgia Tech draws many similarities to the Moffitt Library. Constructed within the same time period and similar in construction type, these two heavily utilized libraries have undergone extensive planning, programming, and study to be eventually transformed into 21st century university libraries. The programming process at Cal Poly revealed opportunities to consolidate spaces for books, reorganize an indiscriminate network of study rooms, and provide open areas for interaction, all of which allow for future flexibility as needs continue to evolve. At Georgia Tech, the design team has restructured the space so that after the renovation, the buildings will have doubled in capacity without increasing their footprint; the 1,250 seats currently in the buildings will grow to 2,360 seats, and energy costs will be reduced by about a third, 80% less than it currently is.

Seaton Hall + Seaton Court Renovation and Expansion

The renovation and expansion strategy for KSU’s Seaton Hall complex connects two historic buildings with new facilities organized around clear circulation the features a north-south oriented “spine” of related support spaces, including classrooms, study space, and offices internally and externally. Large, open interdisciplinary design labs lining the east side of the new building continue the tradition of learning by doing. At the heart of the building is the Design Library and adjacent courtyard. Also in the new building are an auditorium, and a fabrication lab and yard, creating a hub of interdisciplinary interaction. BNIM worked in collaboration with

Imagine: A future designed for equity and opportunity. This is New Orleans 2030.

Our proposed redevelopment plan places the former Charity Hospital and the Spirit of Charity Innovation District (SCID) as keystones of catalytic transformation, providing opportunities for community driven private and public investments that create positive and lasting equity for all New Orleanians.

Imagine: it is 2030. Charity is full of people from across the city. It is a hub of education; innovation; workforce development; market rate, faculty/student, and affordable housing; locally owned retail; and community activity, vibrant uses that serve the surrounding community. Residents find the new Claiborne Corridor providing safe, transit-oriented, and pedestrian friendly access to the SCID, City Park, and the lake via the Greenway. Affordable, quality housing choices are now available for families, seniors, and young professionals, attracted to the assets and vibrant energy emerging from Charity.

Imagine: a place where academic researchers and students from Tulane University, LSU, and others in the industry collaborate in extension lab facilities and are widely recognized for new technologies, practices, and ideas. A place where medical students and medical service providers on 24-hour rotation can meet to discuss case studies over coffee and a sandwich at 3 a.m. A place where grade school students showcase their science fair projects and anxiously await the completion of their new charter school nearby. A place where a family visiting New Orleans learns about the cultural impact a city can have on innovation initiatives and the new technologies emerging from them. A place where community members can receive wellness and nutritional coaching.

In 2030, the Spirit of Charity has created hope, Spirit of Charity Innovation District. Entrepreneurialism of making—creation—is contagious, and one idea founders of these companies are the same people are community members, they are neighbors. We believe our plan has the potential to be the redevelopment of Charity Hospital, we see neighboring sites and can anchor a vibrant Spirit will not stop there.

Through this program, the 1532 Tulane Partners community members for residency within the and entrepreneurial programs. The results would but the SCID, neighboring districts, and city as businesses have been opened, more community Is this not the Spirit of Charity?

RFP: REDEVELOPMENT OF NOLA CHARITY HOSPITAL project proposal

BNIM research, strategic response planning, writing, layout / assembly, submission coordination

In 2018, BNIM worked with a multidisciplinary team to assemble a proposal for the adaptive reuse of the former Charity Hospital in New Orleans. The team proposaled a redevelopment plan that built upon an implementation strategy for the revitalization of the area, dubbed the Spirit of Charity Innovation District (SCID), that was destroyed after Hurricane Katrina. Thoughtfully integrating this site’s nuanced context—surrounded by numerous community members who considered themselves stakeholders for this project—was a primary driver for the proposed program elements that were promoted as keystones of catalytic transformation. Providing opportunities for community driven private and public investments that would create positive and lasting equity for all New Orleanians contributed to the teams selection for the project.

GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE/ ECO DISTRICT/SMART CITY

Organizational Chart

Community Outreach Plan

Embracing the Past and Investing in the Future

The Hawthorne Agency, Inc. will guide our team in the formation of an outreach plan that evokes transparency and promotes diversity, inclusion, and equity. We recognize that the conceptualization of this plan must include an appreciation of the many New Orleanians who still embrace the spirit of their individual perception of what Charity Hospital represents to them, in a non-tangible context. Through them, the spirit of Charity lives and encompasses how they identify their legitimacy as bonified natives of this city. For many, it has been a birthplace, a healing place, and/or a place of departure for friends, neighbors, and “ya mama nem.” It is for these reasons, we are proposing that a balance be established between the physical design of the Charity Hospital redevelopment and the concepts and ideas of the community—building on local cultural assets, preventing displacement, and honoring the many communities that make up a diverse NOLA.

The strategic communications efforts will include a combination of print, electronic, and social media, editorial board meetings, design charettes, coordination with elected officials, community organization and stakeholder events, assistance with content development for the existing website, and a designated telephone information line. Media relations tasks, directed by Monica G. Pierre, will assist in establishing/maintaining open communication with media representatives that facilitates the dissemination of factual project information to the community on a continual basis.

Additionally, we will utilize the resources already available to us, such as the information on economic development outlined by Mayor Cantrell in her “Forward Together New Orleans” transition document, the “Spirit of Charity” master plan study, and the 2017 ULI Advisory Services Panel Report for the redevelopment of Charity Hospital to accomplish the goals of this project. Our resultsoriented strategy is designed to facilitate community support for this cultural landmark in the city’s history.

To successfully accomplish the aforementioned approach, our community outreach plan of action will consist of the following components:

Task 1 - Research

To conduct a thorough review of prior outreach efforts and an assessment of the demographics within the project parameters. Understanding the dynamics of the population and documented stakeholder perceptions will yield a data-driven, inclusive communications process. A stakeholder contact list will be developed and maintained for future correspondence.

Task 2 – Messaging Building on the project narrative that has been established, our team will craft key messages that promote consistency, continuity, and accuracy of information about the project. Tailored to reach and engage diverse stakeholders, the creation of memorable messaging will aid in clearly communicating the project’s objectives in easy to understand language, void of technical jargon.

Task 3 – Core Outreach Tools Since by its very nature, adaptive reuse projects are contentious, the method of educating the community and acquiring their feedback must be ongoing, flexible, and transparent. Therefore, advantageous community outreach and engagement goes beyond minimal public meetings; it is constant and commences prior to any construction activity. The communications strategy will employ a mix of core outreach tools as described on the next page.

“REIMAGINING MOFFITT LIBRARY AT UC BERKELEY”

article / authored blog post BNIM

research, writing, e-news article assembly, blog post

In late summer 2018, BNIM was awarded the programming for the second phase of renovation of Moffitt Library at University of California, Berkeley. In an article written for the quarterly e-newsletter, Mindful, the project was used to highlight thought leadership related to reimagining contemporary academic spaces.

“DESIGNING FOR WELLNESS”

article / co-authored blog post BNIM

collaboration with subject matter expert, writing, blog post

With a history of focusing on the humans within a space, BNIM employs a human-purposed integrated design (HP.id) approach, which shares strong alignments with the WELL Building Standard. To promote the firms leadership in the industray as it relates to human focused design, an article was written in colllaboration with design leadership focusing on the shift in approach to programming interiors.

EVENT PHOTOGRAPHY

PR / photography

BNIM

asset development, photography, editing

While at BNIM, I photographed events within the office to further tell the story of the firm.