Cardboard model of The Pickrick storefront with two figures in front

Ideas and the Spaces that Represent Them

A2ru Emerging Creative Summit at Georgia Tech

2025Collaborator2 days

In my second semester as an Elliot Design Innovation Fellow at Kent State, I was excited to be selected to participate as a collaborator in the A2ru’s (Alliance for the Arts in Research Universities) Emerging Creative Summit. It was an awesome experience to meet interdisciplinary thinkers from all over the country in Atlanta and learn how to utilize each other’s specialties to create something new.

Group photo of all summit participants in the CODA building

Combining Disciplines

Meeting at Georgia Tech’s impressive CODA building, my team of two architects, a historian, a scenic designer, a music engineer, and myself assembled around the theme of “Resonance.” Specifically, we explored how ideas resonate throughout time in the areas we choose to inhabit.

View of the Atlanta skyline from the team’s workspace window

Brainstorming

We combined our different perspectives and disciplines to create the foundations of an interactive and immersive exhibition exploring the past, present, and possible future of a building in Atlanta with a complicated history. We had to be resourceful and collaborate efficiently to complete everything on time.

Building

Our project included a hand-painted model, an immersive soundscape created from recordings of the area around us, and a series of interactions designed to connect viewers to the art.

Presentation board reading “Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow?” beside a laptop and model

Presenting

At the end of the summit we gave a quick presentation of our project to our peers and explored it with them. It was exciting to see what everyone had worked on and share our vision with them.