Description
Designed and led C.O.D.E. (Cultural Origins Design Exchange), a participatory research and community activation initiative exploring how Nashville's cultural ecosystem connects, collaborates, and creates shared impact. Developed as a community-based engagement process, the project used storytelling, participatory art, and facilitated dialogue to gather insights into the relationships, experiences, and cultural narratives that shape the city's creative landscape.
In partnership with the Black Mythology Project, participants were invited to contribute their personal and cultural stories through an interactive art experience, generating qualitative research on the connections, barriers, and opportunities that exist across Nashville's diverse cultural communities. The project created a space for community members to engage as co-creators of knowledge, rather than simply research subjects, ensuring that lived experience informed the findings.
As the first phase of a broader ecosystem activation effort, C.O.D.E. helped uncover patterns of collaboration, strengthen cross-cultural relationships, and generate insights that can inform future engagement strategies, storytelling initiatives, and community-led ecosystem development.
