MASS Design Group hosted the Bridging Boundaries Special Session of the Mayors’ Institute on City Design in Albuquerque, NM from September 4-6, 2024. The event convened mayors and Tribal leaders in the first-ever Special Session dedicated to supporting Native citizens across the urban-rural continuum.
This session offered a unique and unprecedented opportunity for six mayors and Tribal leaders to come together and discuss ways to bridge the gap between sovereign nations and municipal jurisdictions to better serve Native citizens. Seven experts in architecture, landscape architecture, arts and culture, transportation, urban planning, real estate development, and economic development joined the mayors and Tribal leaders for two and a half days of discussions, exchanging ideas and offering pragmatic advice for each project.
The participating mayors and Tribal leaders brought a range of projects to this session, seeking to address a wide array of challenges and opportunities through improvements to the built environment. Throughout the session, mayors and Tribal leaders were affirmed in their ambitions for their communities, and encouraged to look beyond barriers when envisioning their futures. Participants took away inspiration from groundbreaking work in other Tribal communities and cities; ideas for authentic community engagement processes centered around Indigenous values; strategies for using the design process to promote community healing; guidance for retooling the RFP process to achieve visionary results; and a new network of practitioners, leaders, and communities doing similar work. Participants left with strengthened aspirations and a new set of tools for leading with design.
“Mayors are going a mile a minute by nature. MICD forces us to slow down and really think about a challenge, and surrounds that thought process with expertise.”
Oklahoma City, OK Mayor David Holt
“Attending the Mayors’ Institute on City Design was an invaluable experience that helped me refine my vision for our city’s projects while fostering a deeper understanding of design principles. It also promotes a collaborative environment, equipping leaders with tools to work effectively with stakeholders and communities in shaping the future of our cities.”
Gresham, OR Mayor Travis Stovall
Robust discussions provided each leader with concrete ideas for their project as well as a new understanding of how the design and development process can benefit Native communities. Mayors were introduced to the many facets of the design process by the Resource Team, a group of multi-disciplinary experts whose breadth and depth of experience illustrated how design can generate creative solutions to complex problems.
The session began with a tour of Albuquerque led by host Mayor Tim Keller and Dr. Shelle Sanchez, Arts & Culture Director for the City of Albuquerque, showcasing the city’s unique history and position as a crossroads of Native American, Hispanic, Anglo, and many diasporic cultures. Over the opening reception and dinner that followed, Mayor Keller welcomed the group to the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center (IPCC) alongside its President and CEO, Mike Canfield. (Located on sovereign land owned by the 19 Pueblos of New Mexico within Albuquerque’s central business district, the IPCC campus serves as a gathering place and celebrates the vibrant culture of New Mexico’s Pueblos.) The group was also welcomed by session host Joseph Kunkel, Principal at MASS Design Group and Director of its Sustainable Native Communities Design Lab in Santa Fe, NM; Ben Stone, Director of Design and Creative Placemaking at the National Endowment for the Arts; and Trinity Simons Wagner, Executive Director of the Mayors’ Institute on City Design. While in Albuquerque, the group also explored a series of defining projects and landmarks, from Pueblo Isleta’s plaza and cultural center to the Rail Yard campus redevelopment to the 4th and Barelas community kitchen development.
The session host, MASS Design Group, was founded on the understanding that architecture’s influence reaches beyond individual buildings. MASS (Model of Architecture Serving Society) believes that architecture has a critical role to play in supporting communities to confront history, shape new narratives, collectively heal and project new possibilities for the future. MASS has a team of over 200 architects, landscape architects, engineers, builders, furniture designers, makers, writers, filmmakers, and researchers representing 20 countries across the globe. MASS is a nonprofit design firm that believes in expanding access to design that is purposeful, healing, and hopeful.
Mayors and Tribal Leaders
Mayor Tim Keller | Albuquerque, NM (Host)
Chairman Bobby Gonzalez | Caddo Nation
Mayor Becky Daggett | Flagstaff, AZ
Mayor Travis Stovall | Gresham, OR
Mayor David Holt | Oklahoma City, OK
Chairman Octavio Escobedo III | Tejon Indian Tribe
Resource Team
Dana Bourland | JPB Foundation, New York, NY
Chris Calott | University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA
Lydia Hausle | City of Boston Planning Department, Boston, MA
Sam Olbekson | Full Circle Planning & Design, Minneapolis, MN
Michaela Shirley | University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM
Shyla Spicer | Native Arts & Cultures Foundation, Portland, OR
Audrey West | MIG, Seattle, WA
Photos
The Mayors’ Institute on City Design (MICD) is a leadership initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the United States Conference of Mayors. Since 1986, MICD has helped transform communities through design by preparing mayors to be the chief urban designers of their cities. MICD conducts several sessions each year. For a list of upcoming events, past participants, and more information, visit micd.org and follow @MICDdotORG on social media.