While working for Studio Dig Architects in Ventura, California I was on a team that was focused on a  master plan study for redeveloping Montecito Boulevard in the City of Sierra Madre, California.

As a part of that work, we looked at how the city might adaptively reuse an existing former cannery building and an existing former aircraft parts manufacturing plant.

Our "Big Idea" was to reuse the two buildings and convert the shared parking area into a public space for events in support of the arts, artists, or a farmer's market.

We decided to reuse the cannery building as affordable artist studio spaces to support an existing growing local artist community, and to reuse the manufacturing plant as a community arts center for the existing residents of Sierra Madre linked together by a public outdoor plaza.

The idea being to stimulate a dialogue between practicing artists and the community and to inspire new artists to emerge from that conversation.