Over the years I have been involved in several projects in disadvantaged communities. I often incorporate these projects into the classes I teach. On one occasion I received a modest grant to work with a group of entrepreneurs in an impoverished neighborhood. The area, strategically situated within the city, had gone through an externally imposed planning process intended to catalyze gentrification. The demographic shift put the long-time residents who lived and ran businesses that served the struggling population in peril. The purpose of the grant was to help these vulnerable entrepreneurs capitalize on their new reality.
Students were divided into groups of three, assigned an entrepreneur and given a modest budget to design and build something that would help their business. The idea was that small strategic investments could have an exponential impact. In order to accomplish this, the students needed to have a deep understanding, so they worked for the businesses and studied the neighborhood for more than a month before they were allowed to propose or design anything. The effort was remarkably successful for the businesses and very meaningful for the students. We conservatively estimate that the return on the investment was 16 fold.
One group was assigned to an elderly woman who catered events and needed some upgrades to her kitchen. After the general scope of the project had been determined and a design approved, the students took their client to select the materials and finishes for the project. It did not take long for the students to realize that the aesthetic preferences of their client did not match their own, those presented in the media or pushed in the courses they were taking. They feared loosing control of the design and, quite frankly, the scorn they might receive if they simply complied with their client’s wishes.
Is the client always right? Were the students merely to be scribes for their client? If not, what did they bring to the table? Were the aesthetic sensibilities they were being taught and exposed to superior? Rather than trying to reprogram their client’s preferences or simply acquiesce to their client’s wishes, I encouraged them to search for a strategy that would allow them to absorb and respect their client’s preferences while simultaneously meeting the expectations and rigor of their educational training.
I suggested they look at some of the Gee’s Bend Quilts — one of which is shown here. The quilts were all made by African-American women in an isolated rural Alabama community. The quilts are remarkable and have been exhibited at some of the most respected museums in the country. After examining the work the students realized that many of these quilts incorporated fabrics that on their own would offend their sensibilities, but placed within a particular structure were as impactful and sophisticated as any abstract masterpiece.