With a healthy dose of participatory theory blended with hands-on practicality, I work to create spaces where everyone feels heard and welcome. I've worked in both rural and urban communities as Property Manager and Eco Educator at Ross Creek Centre for the Arts in Canning, NS, and as a Neighbourhood Project Designer (NPD) with Every One Every Day Kjipuktuk in Halifax. As a NPD, I coordinated the Community Build Trailer to bring Halifax's North End residents together to vision, design, and build collaborative projects that help shape the identity of their neighbourhood. I facilitate urban design with a focus on relationship building and decolonization through a unique approach to neighbourhood reconciliation. As Property Manager and Eco Educator with Ross Creek, I maintained 20 buildings and a 175 acre landscape, which included tasks such as beekeeping, organic food growth, trail building, maple syrup production, outdoor and environmental education, alongside general tinkering and fixing.
Arbour and Info Hub
Bill Fenton Community Garden
I facilitated the collaborative design and build of this double-sided bulletin board with integrated seating and a roof, and this garden arbour alongside the community garden, with support from OSO planning + design and the team at Every One Every Day.
foodartnature Experience
Co-created with local artists, ecologists, tourism experts, and myself, the FAN experience at Ross Creek Centre for the Arts brings visitors on a night hike through old-growth forests and explores house-made charcoal drawing.
Shape This Space: Wije'winen
Mi'kmaw Native Friendship Centre
I worked with my colleagues at Every One Every Day, OSO planning + design, and the Mi'kmaw Native Friendship Centre to co-create spaces that cultivate Indigenous identity in the urban environment. The project includes Powwow Dancer Murals, Mi'kmaw 8-pointed star raised garden beds with tulips corresponding to the colours of the Medicine Wheel, a native food and medicine garden, and places to sit and gather.
George Dixon Lending Library
George Dixon Community Centre
After an engagement I facilitated with the George Dixon Youth Program, the group collectively wanted to build a free lending library for the park adjacent the community centre. The group co-designed the Dr. Seuss' Lorax theme and together painted and assembled the pieces of repurposed plywood I precut.
Concert Toms to Drum Kit
As a drummer, I love the unique look and sound of unconventional kits. With the help of a fellow drummer in Wolfville, we restored and repurposed 1970s Ludwig concert toms from the Parrsboro Citizen's Band to turn them in to a 3-piece folk/rock kit for touring and recording. The rack and floor toms maintain their single head look for a dead sound, to be light weight, to pack easily, and to honour their origins.