Tya C. Winn
Professional Projects
Key projects and Initiatives I have worked on during my career.
All Black Everything:
Art & Design Blog
This is a side project I have been working on with some peers. I have always enjoyed writing and current events. This blog combines these hobbies with my passion for art and design. Our purpose is to educate, connect, and inspire artists and designers within the African Diaspora.
Each post is focused on some aspect of the field of art and design as it pertains to blacks. Staff members are free to brainstorm, research, and create their own posts, providing a diversity of coverage that includes many disciplines. In the first year All Black Everything has already received a lot of praise and the creators are always brainstorming new ideas and initiatives for the online community.
Community Design Charrette
As a strong supporter of a participatory design process, this project involved residents in a redevelopment plan in their neighborhood. The process was intended to garner the community's desires for a one acre green recreational space to be included as part of a forty six acre development as a community benefit.
A coworker and I conceptualized the entire charrette, designing the workshop itinerary, designing and producing all charrette materials and marketing, and leading focus groups at the event. We created scaled pieces for participants to use and space plan and program the site themselves. This put control in the resident's hand allowing them to use tangible pieces to lead the design process.
Creative Placemaking Initiatives
I have a strong belief that art and design have the ability to transform any place. They represent creativity, innovation and vibrancy and I am all for art and design being used to make urban destinations. The idea of creative place-making appeals to me because of its multi-faceted power of transformation. It transcends all societal boxes and bridges fields to create a place out of something that was underused and overlooked previously.
These are projects I conceptualized, coordinated, and managed to breathe a new energy into existing locations. In the end they challenged what people thought about everyday space in their own lives and changed how people defined and experienced their surroundings.