A Dream re(Designed)

Workshop + Social Hour with Dr. Marlon Johnson

NOMA Central Texas & AIA Austin’s LGBTQIA+ Alliance present A Dream (re)Designed: Block Parties & Beloved Community Through Third Spaces.

This Workshop and social hour with Dr. Marlon Johnson centered on Playgrounds, Community Centers, & Corner Stores. Each location forms a memory about what it meant to play, live, and connect to our community. However, the loss of these valuable spaces has spurred an increase in loneliness and disconnection from people who are different from us. Dr. Marlon Johnson (Dean of Community Life at Seminary of the Southwest, Owner of Johnson Counseling and Consulting), joined NOMA, and the LGBTQIA+ Alliance to explore the concept of Third Spaces and their importance for POC and LGBTQ Wellness.

Participants engaged in relaxing, imaginative, and soul-searching activities: sketching our favorite childhood third spaces, dancing to let loose, discussing the concept of beloved community through design and development, and learning more about our opportunities to support and advocate for local and regional community third spaces that are on the rise in the Austin and Central Texas area. It was an inpired evening full of good food, lawn games, and wonderful conversation.

A huge thank you to Preservation Austin, who hosted us at the McFarland-McBee House in Austin.