What’s up guys! My name is Jonny Gagnon and I am a rising sophomore in the Civil and Environmental Engineering department interested in Architecture and Engineering, Urban Planning, and Visual Art. I am a proud member of Butler College- who loves Benny the Bee- and on campus I am involved in the Aquinas Institute, the PICASSO Art Club, and will be an OA leader this year.
I got to spend my summer in Bridgeport, CT where I interned with the nonprofit Groundwork Bridgeport through the PICS program. Groundwork Bridgeport is a community-based organization that seeks to revitalize the post-industrial city of Bridgeport, CT through education, environmental stewardship, and creative placemaking. What I admire most about Groundwork is that it not only seeks to address the issues of the physical environment, but it also recognizes the importance of improving the overall social well-being of the community (aka it does more than just “plant trees”). Thus, Groundwork focuses on programs that foster connections- from highschoolers participating in the eight week long service-learning program to the group of older ladies who frequent our newly formed walking club- all with the intention of forming individuals who are conscious and confident in finding ways to improve their home.
My main role in the organization has been to promote Groundwork’s mission and programs through marketing and graphic design. I started my internship by designing a template for a new magazine/journal that Groundwork intends to publish on a quarterly basis. Then, I transitioned to designing flyers, lawn signs, and other promotions for the inaugural year of the Bridgeport Film Fest. The ultimate goal of these tasks was to change the narrative of the city, first, by inspiring current members of the Bridgeport community to come to love their city as they grow in knowledge about its history and are exposed to stories that break up the stream of violence, poverty, and corruption, and second, by reaching an outside audience, telling stories of what has made Bridgeport so great and ways it is currently seeking to improve itself so as to invite others into this urban community that has accrued a negative reputation following its loss of industry.
I am so grateful to have experienced this internship in-person, staying with a host family in Bridgeport, where I became familiar with the seascape, landmarks, and people that make up this city, and I know that I have taken a little piece of Bridgeport back with me.
My Summer with Groundwork Bridgeport
