The Sprout Fund - Community Ideation Session, Downtown Pittsburgh, August 8, 2007

August 8, 2007
Photography of community event where participants discussed potential civic improvments and laid the groundwork for grant applications.

sprout fund community ideation event at the heinz lofts

sprout fund community ideation event at the heinz lofts

sprout fund community ideation event at the heinz lofts

sprout fund community ideation event at the heinz lofts

sprout fund community ideation event at the heinz lofts

sprout fund community ideation event at the heinz lofts

sprout fund community ideation event at the heinz lofts

sprout fund community ideation event at the heinz lofts

sprout fund community ideation event at the heinz lofts

sprout fund community ideation event at the heinz lofts

sprout fund community ideation event at the heinz lofts

sprout fund community ideation event at the heinz lofts artist sketching

sprout fund community ideation event at the heinz lofts less shootings

sprout fund community ideation event at the heinz lofts holding up signage

These Community Ideation sessions organized by The Sprout Fund brought out varied members of the community to an unorthodox regional development meeting. Participants were asked to address and list problems in their communities and suggest solutions with the aid of moderated discussion and illustrators sketching out their ideas on the fly. The illustrations helped the participants to literally visualize their ideas which both reinforced the plausibility of the idea coming to realization. Then participants were given the forms to write more elaborate proposals for their ideas and officially submit them to Sprout for review.

Ultimately, $1 million was distributed to 100 projects in all 14 counties of Southwestern Pennsylvania. Initially I worked as one of the illustrators and proudly held the fancy title of graphic facilitator as I traveled to the various towns and meetings. Later, as the projects I had seen in their infancy had made it from proposal to planning to execution, I was hired to document those projects as a photographer.

– nB