Recap: Members Only: Private Tour of “Design for the Common Good International Exhibition”

This exciting members only tour in partnership with the Center for Visual Art – Metropolitan State University of Denver took place on Monday, January 31st and Tuesday, February 8th. Lisa M. Abendroth, Curator and MSU Denver Professor, led DAF and CVA members on a private tour of the Design for the Common Good International Exhibition. This tour was free for DAF and CVA members.

About the exhibition: The exhibition showcased public interest design projects from six continents and 22 countries. Public interest design champions the direct involvement of communities and stakeholders in the design of buildings, environments, products and systems. It is a practice that advocates for transferrable knowledge, evolving processes and activating participation while tackling complex issues. These projects feature community-centered processes led through participatory design, education, research and design evaluation.

Richly documented through artifacts, photography, plans, videos and design process graphics, the exhibition tells the individual and collective stories of projects selected from within the five international design organizations that comprise the Design for the Common Good network, including a curated selection of regional works. Exhibited according to key issues each project addresses, the Design for the Common Good International Exhibition brings the extraordinary value of public interest design to the forefront where projects across the globe share a profound connection to the social, economic and environmental fabric of life.

About the tour guide: Professor Lisa M. Abendroth is the curator of the Design for the Common Good International Exhibition. Her research focuses on public interest design and the social, economic and environmental impacts created with, and within, the contexts of underserved people, places and problems. Her pedagogy is committed to community-led design practices that embolden access and equity. She is a SEED (Social Economic Environmental Design) Network co-founder and co-editor of two books in Routledge’s Public Interest Design Guidebook series.