Graham Projects seeks a creative and dedicated individual to join our team as a Landscape Architect or Public Artist + Project Manager. If you’re passionate about working with communities to transform public spaces through placemaking, public art, and traffic calming, this role is for you.
Graham Projects is a Baltimore-based design-build agency making cities more inclusive and livable through public art, placemaking, and civic engagement. Building on backgrounds in public art, urban design, ecology, and neighborhood advocacy, Public Artist Graham Coreil-Allen (he/him) and team produce participatory projects in the service of pedestrians and places. We collaborate with communities via participatory public design processes. Our works include pedestrian-safety street murals, quick-build traffic calming installations, interactive sculptures, transforming vacant lots into public spaces; and designing and fabricating artistic outdoor wayfinding, furnishings, and structures.
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Job Description
This full-time salaried position is based in Baltimore City, Maryland and the employee must live in the Baltimore metro area. Reporting to our Founding Principal, the Landscape Architect or Public Artist + Project Manager will have strategic and logistical control over their assigned projects, actively shaping the entire process of community engagement, design, and construction. Community-based projects will primarily take place in Baltimore City, Maryland and surrounding states, requiring reliable transportation and the flexibility to work nights and weekends.
This role demands a passion for walkable urbanism, public art, cultural competency, collaborative management, construction coordination, and hands-on and installation. The ideal candidate is comfortable leading community engagement in a range of diverse settings. They will be extremely organized as our team tracks the progress of projects. As a skilled designer they will efficiently create 3D CAD models, scale plans, compelling renderings, and joyful graphic designs across a range of print and digital media. Some hands-on installation work is expected as part of our culture of design-build praxis. In bringing our projects to life, the candidate will sometimes move heavy objects, operate power tools, climb ladders, direct volunteers, get paint on their clothes, and install projects in the heat and cold.
Responsibilities
Lead the Creative Placemaking Process
- Draft project proposals and estimates
- Develop public art, placemaking, and traffic calming design concepts
- Engage in client / community relations
- Procure materials and track budgets
- Maintain shared project management files
- Generate construction and installation plans
- Lead installations and community build days
- Help document the design-build process
Organizational Skills and Collaboration
- Practice meticulous organizational protocols while staying nimble in project execution. Track project progress using shared Google Docs / Sheets / Drive, Asana project management platform, email, and Slack.
- Collaborate with clients, stakeholders, other artists and designers, project managers, and community members on project design development.
Communication and Engagement
- Engage in public speaking and networking opportunities.
- Attend client kick-off meetings, lead interactive engagement events, actively participating in fast-paced project-related communication.
- Actively build and maintain relationships with clients, community leaders, and sector partners.
Design and Documentation
- Design placemaking, public art, and traffic calming projects using SketchUp, Layout, and Adobe CC: Illustrator, Photoshop, Lightroom, and InDesign.
- Clearly articulate ideas, conceptualize design directions, and review progress with the Founding Principal and/or Director of Operations at key stages for feedback and approvals.
- Craft and contribute to the design, writing, and review of project-related documents, photos, video, social media, and reporting.
Implementation
- Draft and submit applications to initiative municipal site plans reviews.
- Draft, submit, and tenaciously follow up on permit applications.
- Order supplies and coordinate deliveries.
- Collaborate with subcontractors on support services and fabrication needs.
- Work closely with the Director of Operations on scheduling installations.
- Manage logistics, coordinate with the install team, lead community volunteers, and participate in installations.
- Assist with photographic and video documentation of installations.
Qualifications
- Preferred experience: 5-7 years of demonstrated skill in creative placemaking, urban design, community engagement, project management, business development, creating concepts through construction drawings, hands-on public art / placemaking installation, and construction review.
- Bachelor’s or Master’s Degree in landscape architecture, visual art, urban planning, transportation; OR equivalent experience and skills related to the described responsibilities.
- Passionate about cities, walkable urbanism, public art, and placemaking.
- Creative designer, maker, and problem solver.
- Flexibility with work schedule and tasks as company services evolve.
- Ability to work independently with at times limited direction, making decisions based on company principals and project goals.
- Ability to meet tight timelines, prioritize among competing needs and opportunities, and simultaneously manage multiple projects.
- Demonstrated ability to secure projects, whether through earned relationships, grants, or RFQs/RFPs.
- Interest in staying informed on local transportation, planning, and social justice issues. Comfortable with tactfully discussing challenging topics with community members and government officials.
- Experience with planning and running public events such as in-person and virtual workshops, charrettes, community meetings, tabling at festivals, etc.
- Knowledge of Baltimore City culture and neighborhoods is a plus.
- Technical Proficiency with:
- Project and collaboration software including or similar to Google Docs / Sheets / Drive, Asana project management platform, Slack, and Zoom.
- Design software including AutoCAD, SketchUp, Layout, Canva, and Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, Lightroom, and InDesign.
- Experience with woodworking power tools and/or digital fabrication such as 3d printing, laser cutting, and CNC routing is a plus.
Workplace & Schedule
This position will be primarily in-person, working from our design studio and fabrication workshop during typical business hours. Community engagement and installations require some evening and weekend work, especially April – October.
Compensation and Benefits
- $60,000 – $75,000 / yr commensurate with experience
- 7 days of flexible PTO plus 7 paid typical holidays off
- Healthcare monthly stipend or optional salary equivalent
- Retirement savings account
To Apply
Graham Projects is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes applications from individuals of all backgrounds and experiences who share our vision of making cities more inclusive and livable to apply.
Send your resume, cover letter that details your interest in the position and experience, and links to documentation of landscape/urban design, public art and/or placemaking projects you have worked on to info@grahamprojects.com. Include “LA/PA + PM” in the subject line. No phone calls, please.
As we close out 2017 I’m thankful for the numerous neighbors, leaders, artists, and organizations I have had the honor of working with to Make Place Happen in Baltimore and beyond. From championing pedestrian accessibility around Druid Hill Park, to exploring the robust and emerging civic spaces and public art of Arlington County, to colorfully reconfiguring concrete paving for playful action, place is truly what we made of it. Public space is not just constructed out of tactile materials like pavement, landscaping, and benches, but also the intangible – knowledge, organizing, and programming. Through New Public Sites walking tours we poetically re-experienced everyday public spaces while learning from community leaders and civil servants how to affect change at the block level. Artscape showed that streets and bridges don’t have to be just for cars, but can also be spaces for ecstatic pedestrian interactions. Workshops like the Baltimore Museum of Art’s Visioning Home created spaces for inclusively mapping out creative futures for the city. I am inspired by my collaborators who believe that we can expand such temporary zones of autonomy into lasting places of accessibility, well-being, joy, and freedom.
