Graham projects is Hiring an Urban Designer & Placemaker

Graham Projects Hiring Urban Designer & Placemaker
Graham Projects Hiring Urban Designer & Placemaker

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 to improve and activate public spaces with creative placemaking projects. Our works include pavement murals, traffic calming art installations, neighborhood plans, transforming vacant lots into public spaces, and using digital and manual techniques to design and fabricate artistic outdoor wayfinding, furnishings and structures.

The Graham Projects team is looking for an Urban Designer & Placemaker with a passion for working with communities to enhance public spaces through sustainable urbanism, public art, urban planning, and community advocacy. 

Click here to download position description.

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 Urban Designer & Placemaker will have strategic and logistical control over their assigned projects, actively shaping the entire project process of community engagement, design, and construction. As a member of our company leadership, this role plays a pivotal part in Graham Projects’ growth, requiring the candidate to be hands-on and influential. Projects will primarily take place in Baltimore City, Maryland and surrounding states, requiring a candidate with reliable transportation and the flexibility to work nights and weekends.

This role demands a passion for walkable urbanism and public art, cultural competency, collaborative management, digital prowess, and physical resilience. The ideal candidate will be comfortable leading community engagement in a range of diverse settings. They will be extremely organized as we collaboratively track the progress of projects. As a skilled designer they will efficiently create 3D CAD models, scale plans, compelling renderings, and fun graphic designs across a range of print and digital media. In bringing our projects to life, they will move heavy objects, operate power tools, climb ladders, direct volunteers, get paint on their clothes, and install public art and placemaking in the heat and cold. 

Responsibilities

Lead the Creative Placemaking Process

  • Draft project proposals and estimates
  • Develop public art and placemaking 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 public art and placemaking projects using SketchUp, Layout, Canva, and Adobe Creative Cloud: 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

  • College Degree in landscape architecture, urban planning, architecture, design, visual art, 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 geography 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 SketchUp, Layout, Canva, and Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, Lightroom, and InDesign.
  • Intermediate woodworking power tools use and safety protocol.
  • Experience with digital fabrication such as 3d printing, laser cutting, and CNC routing is a plus.

Workplace & Schedule

This position is primarily work-from-home for design tasks, which usually take place during typical business hours. Community engagement and installations require some evening and weekend work, especially during our busy season from April through October. A company design studio and fabrication workshop is currently under development. Access to the shared workspace is estimated to begin 2025.

Compensation and Benefits

  • $50,000 – $60,000 / yr commensurate with experience
  • 7 days of flexible PTO plus 7 paid typical holidays off 
  • Flexible work environment: work-from-home and in the field
  • Healthcare monthly stipend or optional salary equivalent
  • Retirement savings account

To Apply

Graham Projects is an equal opportunity employer and strongly encourages candidates of diverse backgrounds and experience to apply. Send your resume, cover letter that details your interest in the position and your experience, and links to documentation of urban design, public art and/or placemaking projects you have worked on to info@grahamprojects.com. Include “Urban Designer & Placemaker” in the subject line. No phone calls, please.

Washington post Story on Graham Projects

Graham in Washington Post headline over aerial of Hyattsville traffic calming art project
Graham in Washington Post headline over aerial of Hyattsville traffic calming art project

Thanks to Ian Duncan and the Washington Post for profiling Graham Projects Public Artist and Founding Principal Graham Coreil-Allen and showcasing our recent project in Hyattsville, Maryland, as but one example of how public art can help calm traffic and improve pedestrian safety! We are deeply honored and thankful for the story.

Last week the Federal Highway Administration officially allowed pavement art within their newly updated design manual, the Manual for Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD). With this new guidance and an increasing body of data showing the positive safety and economic impact of asphalt art and placemaking, Graham Projects hopes that more state agencies like the Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration and local municipalities will start allowing such creative projects in the public right of way.

Click here to read the full Washington Post article!

Aerial photos by the City of Hyattsville, Graham Coreil-Allen portrait by Bonnie Jo Mount / The Washington Post, all other photos by Graham Projects

Graham in Washington Post quote about Hyattsville installation
Graham in Washington Post quote about public art for pedestrian safety
Graham in Washington Post quote about artwork integrating with traffic calming bump outs
Graham in Washington Post quote from the City of Hyattsville on the success of asphalt art
Graham in Washington Post quote by Graham with portrait of Graham immersed in Hyattsville street art

Graham Projects on BmoreArt

BmoreArt Collaboration Graham Projects hand holding magazine
BmoreArt Collaboration Graham Projects hand holding magazine

We are honored and humbled to have our public art for pedestrian safety featured on the cover of BmoreArt’s latest print journal. Edited by longtime Baltimore arts ally, artist, and writer Cara Ober, the “Collaboration Issue” features stories about “artists whose practice invites others in, organizations who prioritize collective action, and institutional entities willing to elevate local partners.” Thank you to critical raconteur and stalwart flâneur Michael Farley for writing the piece on our work: “GO PLAY IN TRAFFIC: Graham Projects Reimagines More Joyous Streets”.

Bravo to the entire BmoreArt team for producing such a gorgeous publication and hosting an amazing release party at the marvelous George Peabody Library. Props to the BmoreArt Publication Designer Tony Venne for the always outstanding layout. 

Special thanks to the Reservoir Hill Improvement Council for bringing us in to create our community-inspired Seasonal Turn traffic calming art at Whitelock and Brookfield.

Click here to read the article!

Click here to get your copy of the BmoreArt print journal.

BmoreArt Collaboration Graham Projects Graham, Michael, and Cara in Peabody Library
BmoreArt Collaboration Graham Projects title spread
BmoreArt Collaboration Graham Projects install team preview
BmoreArt Collaboration Graham Projects quote preview over Druid Hill Canopy Crosswalk
BmoreArt Collaboration Graham Projects quote preview over Remingtopo
BmoreArt Collaboration Graham Projects spread preview featuring Allover Eyes project

2020 Challenges & Innovations

Curbside Commons Harford & Rosekemp Midblock Crosswalk
Curbside Commons Harford & Rosekemp Midblock Crosswalk

2020 proved to be an unprecedented year of challenges and innovations for Graham Projects. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic several of our public art and civic engagement projects were either cancelled or significantly delayed. Remaining projects were significantly slowed by the need to take precautionary measures in conducting community engagement and installation of our works. From these challenges arose new opportunities for remote creative collaboration and physically distancing activations of public space. We are proud and appreciative of having so many amazing partners who continue to help us improve cities through public art and civic engagement. Below are a few highlights of our work this year and the folks who made it all possible.

Make Place Happen COLORoW drawing sample

In May we responded to the limitations of in-person engagement posed by the COVID-19 pandemic by collaborating with Tobey Albright and Mollie Edgar of Hour Studio to create the online placemaking toolkit, Make Place Happen. The Make Place Happen website offers resources for “Do-it-Yourself Urbanism” and/or participating with Graham Projects’ current placemaking efforts. The most exciting feature is COLORoW, a coloring book-like web app for drawing your own artistic crosswalk or pavement mural. 

Design for Distancing Curblet Commons perspective

Also in May, we responded to Neighborhood Design Center’s “Design for Distancing” call for ideas to help businesses along Baltimore’s main streets safely reopen using spatial distancing outdoor public space enhancements. The Graham Projects Curblet Commons design kit transforms an on-street parking lane into an accessible, safe, and inviting pedestrian space including creative ADA curb ramps, modular barriers, and physical distancing stencils. Out of over 160 submissions, the Curblet Commons open source accessibility designs were one of ten selected for the Design For Distancing Guidebook. This free guidebook provides COVID-19 safe placemaking inspiration for businesses, cities, and people worldwide on how to safely reopen and improve their own public spaces. Click here to download the free Design for Distancing Guidebook.

Curbside Commons First Friday evening gathering

Soon after seeing our designs accepted into the Design for Distancing guidebook, we partnered with Hamilton-Lauraville Main Street, Property Consulting, Inc., LANNINGSMITH, and Annie Howe Papercuts to secure a large design-build commission transforming three blocks of Harford Road into a place for safe pedestrian gathering and neighborhood shopping. Our Curbside Commons Design for Distancing project converted a parking lane into a public space for community, shopping, services, and culinary encounters along Hamilton-Lauraville’s main street, Harford Road. Design for Distancing is a tactical urban design initiative of the Baltimore Development Corporation and Neighborhood Design Center intended to help small businesses in Baltimore reopen without compromising public health. We met with the adjacent small businesses to understand their needs to stay open while maintaining physical distancing and other COVID-19 precautions. In response we delivered outdoor seating, distancing markers, event space, pedestrian and wheelchair accessibility, public art, signage, bicycle parking, and artful wayfinding.

Collington Square Oak Wisdom crosswalks aerial

After a marathon of fall install, we managed to find a few more warm enough days to fit in one last exciting project – the Oak Wisdom art crosswalks in Colling Square. During pre-COVID community engagement, we learned that the Collington Square community of East Baltimore holds a 200+ year old Swamp White Oak tree as its symbol. Working with resident input, we designed the “Oak Wisdom” traffic calming art crosswalks and Collington Square Neighborhood Association street pole banners are inspired by looking up through those sanctuary leaves. The street pole banners elevate neighborhood identity by showcasing a positive symbol for the area – the beloved centuries-old tree that stands magnificently atop the hill in their local park. The art crosswalks and “bump outs” provide a welcome gateway to Collington Square while slowing down aggressive car traffic, improving street-crossing safety for its residents who rely on walking to get to school and work.

Behold the Land of Transportation Innovation

Baltimore Banner Vista

Baltimore Banner Vista

Join us July 4th, 4:30-6:30pm, for the official opening of Art on the Waterfront, a group show of temporary public art featuring the Baltimore Banner Vista. The Baltimore Banner Vista showcases the city’s past and future transportation innovations converging around Middle Branch Park. Participants are invited to sit at a marked spot on the fire pit ledge to see the life-size “postcard” blend into the surrounding landscape. The vista banner evokes the history of transportation manufacturing in Port Covington by depicting Ross Winans’ famous Cigar Ship constructed across the Middle Branch in 1858. The banner also features the proposed Baltimore-Washington Superconducting Maglev Train as well as a speculative anti-gravitational flight craft. The Baltimore Banner Vista inspires wonder and possibility for transportation advancements within this spectacular view of Baltimore City.

Click her for more photos of the installation: https://grahamprojects.com/projects/baltimore-banner-vista

Art on the Waterfront
Middle Branch Park, 3301 Waterview Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21230
Opening Reception: July 4, 2018, 4:30-6:30pm, followed by music by DJ ”Derrick Jennings” and Jonathan Gilmore, then fireworks at 9:30pm
On display July 4 – September 28, 2018

Art on the Waterfront features Becky Borlan’s Prisms, which pays homage to Baltimore City’s harbor and history of sailing; Graham Coreil-Allen’s Baltimore Banner Vista, which highlights the city’s past and future transportation innovations; Ashley Kidner’s Pollinator Hexagon, which draws attention to the importance of pollinator plants; and Matthias Neumann’s Basics #24, which explores an abstracted notion of form, space and utility in public sculpture.

Art on the Waterfront is produced by the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts and supported by the Baltimore City Department of Recreation & Parks, South Baltimore Gateway Partnership, the City of Baltimore, and the Baltimore Casino Local Development Council.

Creating Places with People: 2017 Year in Review

171014 Mondawmin Crossings Reisterstown Rd

171014 Mondawmin Crossings Reisterstown Rd

2017 New Public Sites infographicAs 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.

Read More…

Periscope Public Art for Central Ave

Periscope site perspective SE final

Periscope site perspective SE final

FGLA’s Interactive Periscope Public Art for Central Avenue approved by Baltimore City

The Baltimore City Public Art Commission approved FGLA’s public art concept for an interactive Periscope tower and plaza at the intersection of Central Avenue and Pratt Street. This work is the percent-for-art commission part of the Central Avenue streetscape project. The Periscope’s angled mirrors will make it possible for people walking by to see elevated views of the neighborhood. Its color, form, and integrated plaza are inspired by local waterways, including City Springs, Harford Run, and the Patapsco River. The 25’ tall Periscope will be constructed of cast-in-place concrete, colored plexiglass supported by a welded frame, and surrounded by a plaza of integral color concrete. Inscribed on the obelisk pedestal will be the names of the three local water bodies that makeup the watershed where the Periscope stands.

The triangle crossing at Pratt Street offers a unique opportunity for a truly public, plaza-like place along Central Avenue. The angled intersection provides panoramic views of Baltimore’s diverse pasts and futures. From this vantage one can see historical rowhomes, public housing in transition, public art, and ongoing development up and down Central Avenue. The view facing east frames City Springs school, which takes its name from a spring that once existed where its athletic field now lays. Synthesizing these views, Periscope will stand as an obelisk-like monument to water in place and pedestrian oversight. Inverting the hierarchy of Baltimore’s omnipresent blue surveillance lights, the tower will empower pedestrians with elevated views of their surroundings while colorfully evoking the water cycle of precipitation, collection, and flow.

Periscope will be fabricated and installed in 2019.

Falon Graham Land Art (FGLA) is the public art team of Falon Mihalic and Graham Coreil-Allen.

Follow our public art process on instagram and twitter: @falonland @grahamprojects #publicart4centralave #fgla

Periscope site perspective SE night

Periscope nighttime view facing southeast.

Periscope streetview with mirror reflection

Periscope street view perspective featuring periscopic mirrors reflecting a nearby building.

Periscope site plan

Periscope plan feature blue integral color concrete plaza.

Dancing Forest is Live at Artscape!

Dancing Forest

Dancing Forest

Dancing Forest preview

[UPDATE: Click here to see the full documentation photos!]

Come down to the Artscape Charles Street Trail this weekend, July 21-23, to explore Dancing Forest, a kinetic environment of inflatable trees emblazoned with trail markers identifying Baltimore’s many classic places, features, and customs. Participants are encouraged to walk among and explore the the animated trees as they undulate in the sky. Up close, one will find an array of urban trail symbols, such as benches, snowballs, bikers, and buildings. Internal LED illumination of the sculptures allows nighttime exploration. Combining spectacular movement with urban wayfinding symbols, Dancing Forest creates an exciting, playful environment meant to inspire participants continue exploring Baltimore’s many intriguing places.

The Charles Street Trail is located on Charles Street between Penn Station and Lanvale Street.

Click here to learn more about Dancing Forest and its trail markers. Post your pictures to social media using the hashtag #DancingForest @grahamprojects for likes and retweets!

2016: Making Place Happen with People

NPS Five Points Denver - Graham speaking

NPS Five Points Denver - Graham speaking

Since going full-time for Graham Projects I’ve had the honor of investigating, activating, and improving numerous public places in Baltimore and beyond. 2016 was a great year for making place happen with inspiring people. I am thankful.

  • At the invitation of the Waterfront Partnership, Melvin Thomas and I made a 103’ long Harbor Hopscotch.
  • My New Public Sites – Five Points Denver walking tours and immersive map installation went gangbusters at RedLine’s 48 Hours of Socially Engaged Art Summit. Along the way, I was honored to share the megaphone and learn from half a dozen local speakers.
  • With support from BikeMore and Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, my home street Auchentoroly Terrace got a temporary Footprints Crosswalk to help pedestrians better connect with the Druid Hill Park Farmers Market.
  • Working with an inspiring network of cultural organizers across Baltimore, I helped lead Citizen Artist Baltimore get-out-the-vote vote efforts. Bigly surprises aside, we informed local candidates of the values of our city’s diverse arts and cultural communities and educated voters on the importance of local races and ballot initiatives.
  • I was honored to be invited by Baltimore Heritage to join their board of historic and cultural preservation advocates. I’m excited to be working with them on saving Baltimore’s most meaningful places.
  • I had a fun time making water loop while redesigning Dance & Bmore’s website. May I do the same for you?
  • The Public Art for Central Avenue Streetscape project continues. Falon Mihalic and I are busy closing in on our final design for a 25’ tall, pedestrian-empowering Periscope. Stay tuned for the full announcement and renderings…