Indiana University faculty and students will partner with fifteen organizations this summer to design projects to beautify public spaces across rural Indiana.
This will be the third year of the Rural Placemaking Studio program, which works alongside the ServeDesign Center at the Eskenazi School of Art to connect rural areas with design students and professionals for free.
The designs students will create this year range from a mural in Washington County to redesigning a former school into an entrepreneurship-focused community hub in Perry County.
Other projects include designing trail signage, architectural concepts, and public art installations.
Kyla Cox Deckard is the interim executive director of the IU Center for Rural Engagement. She said pairing design students and rural communities just made sense.
“Indiana University has a wonderful depth of resources when it comes to arts and design, and when the Center for Rural Engagement launched, we looked to those natural strengths,” Deckard said.
After students submit their designs, community organizations take over funding and implementing the projects. Projects that have been installed include a mural in Owen County on the Spencer Pride Community Center.
