Angie Rainey Design

Statement of Intent for MLA program: The many roles that form my identity are artist, designer, entrepreneur, mathematician, community organizer, and mother. I alternate with ease between a tactical mathematical left brain and a bravely creative and deeply seeing right brain. My background in sculpture and contemporary art practice enables my mind to approach a design problem with unconventional and imaginative eyes. However, my logical project manager’s mind influences the creative process with solutions that are well-reasoned and achievable. I have a diverse set of experiences in many sectors of the economy: municipal government, nonprofits, social services, small business, web-based business, cooperatives and farming. My property management business involves interior design to renovate historic apartments, creative work that brought me joy. While the interior design work satisfied my desire to engage in creativity, I knew my life’s work needed to be directly connected to healing the planet. I continued to paid attention to the other things that sparked my imagination. I have realized that landscape architecture pulls together biology and ecology, along with the design of spaces to be enjoyed by humans and many other species. It was a lightbulb moment: My calling is a design profession that combines my passion for the natural environment with my joy and talent in art and design. I am on a mission to co-create with the planet to invite spaces with an emphasis on presence and experience in resistance to modern consumerism. I have been called strongly to use my talents, to work bravely to honor the splendor of life on earth. I want to design landscapes that have a job: whether it’s to educate and inspire humans, slow down and filter water, or create food and habitat for crucial species. I am excited to learn how to integrate ecology principals into the built urban environment. I want to sustain the divine design that the earth already possesses. I see naturally occurring processes that hold solutions, right beneath our feet and in the branches above our heads.