community

Getting Into the Weeds

April 13, 2026

The First Congregational Church Hall team has been hard at work!

A church Hall Team members woorks on correcting a building plan.

The Church Hall Team presents by powerpoint to Andrew Berman.

We had an insightful meeting with Andrew Berman, Founder of Andrew Berman Architect. He guided us to critique and define the look of the hall from the outside, as well as to refine a universal point of entry into the First Congregational Church’s front door. With Andrew’s comments in mind, we marched forward with a clear organizational strategy for the look and layout of the building.

2x6 Decking is held up behind a pieece of 3x12 Glue-Laminated Timber.

Two members of the Church Hall Team workshop with Pete Landon and Mike Newman.

The following week, we met with Mike Newman, Architect and Co-founder of SHED Studio in Chicago, Pete Landon, founder and Principal Architect of LBBA, and Katrina Van Valkenburgh, Managing Director of Corporation for Supportive Housing, Central Region, in Chicago. Mike, Pete, and Katrina further guided the organization of the interior of the church hall with further suggestions of adequate materiality.

We had the opportunity to show the First Congregational Church Hall design to all the members of the LOEB Fellowship from Harvard University! The LOEB Fellows gave useful advice on the presentation of the project. Later that same week, we met with much of the congregation for the first time. Updated interior and courtyard perspectives highlighted the big moments of the project. The congregation shared insights on both building layout and universal-access connection between the First Congregational Church and the new Church Hall.

The First Congregational Church Hall Team poses for a photo with their clients.

After meeting with the congregation, we checked in with landscape architect Mary Margaret Jones with Hargreaves Jones. Mary gave her advice on the new schemes and on viable plants for both the courtyard and surrounding site. Then, we got into the dirt and talked about site grading and watershed.

The First Congregational Church Hall team had our first executive review of the semester. We received feedback from Rural Studio faculty and teaching staff, of course, but also from Rusty Smith, Associate Director of Rural Studio and lead of the Front Porch Initiative, and Justin Miller, Head of Auburn University CADC’s School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape. We showcased the design and received valuable feedback on key building details and eventual construction sequencing.

Photos of materials are strewn about, sitting on top of pieces of decking and glue-laminated timber.

The Church Hall team meets and workshops with Amanda Loper.

After Spring Break, we were able to meet once more with Amanda Loper, Principal Architect with David Baker Architects. Amanda shared her thoughts on honing the plan layout as well as on refining the universal access route to the front door of the church. Amanda also gave incredible guidance on drawing inspiration from local environments and conditions for source materials.

Two members of the Church Hall team pass the story-pole to be used with the transit in surveying the site.

Two Church Hall team members use a tape measure to mark out 10x10 squares on the site.

Since Amanda’s visit, we have been working on a new site survey of the church grounds. This refined survey will allow us to make more precise earthwork calculations and inform decisions on foundation details. So, back to the drawing board we go!

The First Congregational Church Hall Team's faces superimposed onto four cartoon flowers.

See you next time! Happy Spring!

Tags: church, community, timber

Summer! (feat. The Smith Park Team)

May 29, 2025

We are so back.

It’s been one month since the team went on indefinite hiatus, but with nothing else to do, what else could they do but come right back to where it all began? After finding success with releases such as, Halloween Reviews, Soup Roast, and now Pig Roast, the band is finally off tour and hitting the Studio to work on something the world has never seen.

Below is a subscriber exclusive look at the process behind their latest project: Smith Park.

Pig Roast: The Tour

After the team’s critically acclaimed performance at Executive Review #1, the world thought, “How could they get any better?” Well, they did and very quickly. Getting right back on track, the team spent countless days and late nights in the Studio perfecting their craft and preparing for their next big show: Pig Roast 2025.

Picture this: the stage is set, the lights are shining, and the crowd is going wild. You are second row, it’s loud, and it’s hard to pay attention to anything but your eyes are fixed to what is right in front of you. There stands the team, microphone in hand, about to blow your mind. Not so hard to picture, right? During the performance, the team showed off everything they have worked on since September, hitting all the highlights. Eventually, they ended the set with a tour of the park showing off their proposed design mocked up at full scale, never missing a beat.

Graduation: The Afterparty

Good times can’t last forever, but they certainly last a long time. Coming off stage, the team could have relaxed, could have phoned it in, but what did they do instead? They got right back on that tour bus headed for Auburn, Alabama. As successful as they were at this point, there was one thing they hadn’t done: graduate college.

In Auburn, they were met with adoring fans all packed into the arena just to get a chance to see them in person. When it was all said and done, the band showed up as students and left as rockstars.

Summer: The New Era

The tour was over. The members all took time off flying across the country on vacation. Fans heard nothing but radio silence.

However, there were rumblings in the press about a possible reunion. Team members were seen together back in Greensboro in the Studio. Soon enough it all came out.

The team was hard at work pushing the project forward even when no one thought they would be. They were familiar with fame and after staring into its eyes, they saw an opportunity—an opportunity to take the bull by its horns and push themselves to the next level. Summer is here, the team is in their new era as “leftovers,” and nothing can get in their way!

Tags: community, rs5thyears, smithpark

All Park and No Bite

October 31, 2024

The workshops have concluded, tears have been shed, and blood has been spilled but finally the new 5th-year teams have been chosen.

(Drum roll please)

TA-DA! We are so excited to introduce ourselves as the Smith Park team! We are: Meghan Tahsler, John Ratley, Trenton Williams, and Amanda Kaase!

Our task is the design and revitalization Curtis Smith park, a neighborhood park located along Highway 69 in Greensboro, AL.

Park it right over there

For some context, Smith Park has been a part of Greensboro since the early 1970s, serving as a hub for baseball, softball, and community events. In the 2000s, Rural Studio worked on the Lions Park projects, shifting many activities. Unfortunately, a tornado led to the park entering a state of disrepair, resulting in its underuse. Our goal, along with the help of the community of Greensboro and the parks and recreation board, is to bring Smith Park back, offering a new type of park experience for the city and the neighborhoods around it.

hand rendering of trees on site in different seasons

When (s)parks fly

For a few weeks, the team dove right into the project, visiting the many parks around Greensboro (Lions Park, Davis Street Park, Curtis Smith Park, and more) to document their conditions in an attempt to learn how they are used, maintained, and designed. The team was also visited by consultants Mary Margaret Jones, David Hill, Julie Eizenberg, Hank Koning, and Roy Decker to help develop early schemes with a special focus on landscape design, material reuse, and community engagement.

In early September, the team held a community meeting event on site at Curtis Smith Park. We came together with the community, ate food, discussed ideas for the park’s future, and learned about the history of Curtis Smith Park and the people who made it what it is today. Our goal is to take all the information we learned and use it in all of our design work moving forward.

Up next for the team, we are steadily working toward halloween reviews at the end of October, with plans to reconvene with the community to begin discussions about our plans for the park.

As for our Halloween costumes, you’ll have to wait and see! To hold you over, a hint: Extinction

students climbing playground net — Hang in there!

Tags: community, designbuild, rs5thyears, smithpark

Newbern Library Summer Reading Festival

June 17, 2022

Last weekend, the Newbern Library brought together kids and community members from across Hale County for the 2nd Annual Summer Reading Festival. This year’s theme was “Oceans of Possibilities,” and it wouldn’t have been possible without the efforts of the library board and a host of volunteers. This year’s event featured ocean-themed crafts, face painting, read-aloud story time, fly-fishing demonstrations, live music, and science activities from both the University of West Alabama and Mississippi State University. The first ever craft market was a new addition this year, bringing in local artists and makers to sell their creations to festival-goers. Rounding out the two-day event were door prize giveaways and a delicious barbeque lunch. All of the activities were a huge hit, and the kids of Hale County are ready to get to reading this summer!

Child and teacher each holding an end of a stretched slinky in front of a group of watching children

Two children learning about robots inside the Beta Box

Cheers to everyone who made this event possible! A big thank you to library board members Mary Jane Everett, Angela Cabil, Andrew Freear, Jean Watson, Felicia Briggins, Freda Braxton, Kaleda Zanders, Betty Tims, and Carolyn Walthall, librarian Barbara Williams, and Rural Studio’s 3rd-year instructor Judith Seaman for planning such a huge event for the community.

Thank you to our current “leftover” students for running the craft and face painting tents; Hale County Extension for providing healthy snacks and story time; Hale County Hospital for running another healthy snack booth; Leah Vaughn with Mississippi State University’s NASA at My Library program; University of West Alabama for bringing out their Betabox activity center; and the McWane Science Center team. Also, huge thanks to Mark Carlisle, Barbara Turner, Kelvin Bell, and Patrick Braxton for lunch; Sweetbriar Tea & Coffee; Emily Neustrom for the music; Frances Sullivan and Bonita Benner for planning the Craft Market; and of course, every single attendee that came out to enjoy the fun! We have such a wonderful community in Newbern! We look forward to more events like these in the future.

Tags: betabox, community, craftmarket, events, mcwane, newbern, newbernlibrary, readingfestival, summerreadingfestival

Spring Dinner Farm Event

April 7, 2022

We had an exciting weekend of excellent food and even better company as we gathered with some of our neighbors here in West Alabama for our first Rural Studio Farm Dinner and Lecture Event!

A wide shot of the long table with guests sat around it and the sun's striking horizontal light projecting spears of light over the heads of the attendees

Rural Studio Farm has grown immensely in the past four years, and we have reached the point where we are refining and improving our practices even as the farm continues to expand. Production has increased each year, and there is no sign of this letting up. By all accounts, we have been successful at achieving the goals we set for ourselves when the farm was reinvented in 2019. Now, we wish to expand the scope of the farm toward engaging more directly with our community, to further develop our productive food system as a resource.

The garlic cloves are beautifully arranged for planting

Three women students display peanut plants they have just pulled, each thick with peanuts to be dried and picked

In order to expand, we felt we needed to establish new relationships and cultivate current ones with others in our community who might benefit from our growth. So we created a small event to bring folks together with a tour of our farm, followed by some introductions to and celebrations of our guests’ work. Most importantly, the evening culminated in sharing a fine, locally sourced meal together, courtesy of Brad Hart who flew in from Santa Fe along with his partner, and Rural Studio consultant, Johanna Gilligan.

A close-up of the sumptuous salad of local ingredients: pears, lettuce, pecans, beets, radishes, and celery leaves

This was an intimate gathering with few students, and it was meant to emphasize smaller-scale efforts in sustainable agriculture and investments in our local food system.

A guest serves herself some exquisite salad as the farm manager smiles, the sun shining brightly between them

A view of the long table tapering into the middle distance with people gathered and eating

An outdoor gathering of people mingle before they are served dinner at a long table

The event unfolded outdoors on a beautiful Saturday evening. The sun shone with a gentle wind as Farm Manager Eric Ball guided our guests around the farm.

People mingle and mill about during an observational period of the farm tour

Guests participating in the farm tour form two rows of people gathered down the twin aisles of the glass-and-steel greenhouse

Then, several of our guests participated in mini presentations about themselves and their work: Sarah Cole from Abadir’s Pastry and the Back Belt Food Project in Greensboro, AL; Meg Ford from Alabama Audubon in Greensboro, AL; Nicole Dugat from Schoolyard Roots in Tuscaloosa, AL; Jamie-Lee Steenkamp from Bois D’Arc Farm in Uniontown, AL; John Dorsey, as well as fellows Maggie Rosenthal, Bess Renjilian, and Ellie Hough, from Project Horseshoe Farm in Greensboro, AL; Olivia Fuller, the commercial horticulture agent for West Alabama, from the Alabama Cooperative Extension System; and Johanna Gilligan, who founded Grow Dat Youth Farm in New Orleans, LA. We also heard from Emefa Butler from C.H.O.I.C.E. in Uniontown, AL and Jovita Lewis, the Hale County Cooperative Extension coordinator. Finally, we were happy to have our friends, and fellow growers, Chip and Laura Spencer from Marion Junction, AL in attendance.