Design program to benefit TF project

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), in partnership with the Housing Assistance Council, is pleased to announce the 2023 communities taking part in this year’s Citizens’ Institute on Rural Design.

Thompson Falls is one of eight communities selected for a Local Design Workshop. The multi-day design workshops will offer hybrid in-person and virtual sessions. These communities will then receive a design book that contains the design concepts and suggested resources from their workshop, as well as support through webinars, web-based resources, and customized follow-up support after the workshop.

Additionally, Thompson Falls will join 17 more communities in the Design Learning Cohort in which leaders receive training in rural design and creative placemaking, coaching on facilitation techniques, assistance navigating funding opportunities, and one-on-one technical assistance on their community design project.

Kaniksu Land Trust (KLT) applied for the grant, with support from local agencies including the Forest Service and Community Development, to help plan and design the land known as the Orchard, near the Mule Pasture trail system in Thompson Falls. Kayla Mosher, Recreation and Outreach Coordinator with Kaniksu Land Trust, said at the end of the rural design process, the community will have a final design book and plan for the area. “We completed the survey last year of community wants, and the top amenities requested were biking trails, walking trails, outdoor education space, picnic pavilions and cross country skiing,” Mosher stated. “That’s our starting point for the planning and design.” She added that more community engagement will be incorporated as the project progresses.

“These projects exemplify how communities can come together to leverage design, enhancing quality of life, economic vitality, and civic infrastructure,” said Maria Rosario Jackson, PhD, chair of the National Endowment for the Arts.

Since 1991, the Citizens’ Institute on Rural Design has worked in communities with populations of 50,000 or less to enhance quality of life and economic vitality through planning, design, and creative placemaking. To date, the NEA has engaged more than 120 communities in all regions of the country.

The Local Design Workshop in Thompson Falls will focus on the Orchard Project, helmed by the Kaniksu Land Trust, which links outdoor recreation with conservation. Using community input from a public survey in 2022, this collaborative effort seeks design assistance to create trails, pavilions, parking, and educational spaces in the Orchard on Columbia St, in particular for the use of local youth. This process will continue to engage the community and gather input, and result in a site plan for the future.

“We plan to engage with local neighbors, the community, U.S. Forest Service, and experts in design, restoration, and landscape architecture. The goal is to create an agreeable plan for how the space can be used for outdoor recreation, especially for youth in Thompson Falls,” stated Mosher. For more information on this program announcement, visit arts.gov/news or rural-design.org.