Volunteer Spotlight: 2008 Volunteer and Hall of Fame Awards for NDC Prince George's County

This year, the Neighborhood Design Center is proud to honor three volunteers who have made an extra effort in both the quality and quantity of the pro-bono services they provided for our Prince George's County office.  They are Volunteers of the Year Corey Beasley and Michael Jordan, and Hall of Fame Inductee Seth Harry.

Corey Beasley

Corey is honored for his work on the Artspace Building banners, part of the Gateway Arts District Facade Improvement Project.  The project involved creating a series of banners that would both identify the building as a live / work space for artists but also create an image and gateway feature for the Arts District.  Corey spent countless hours meeting with artists, businesses, and the Town of Mount Rainier to develop designs that were both functional and also conveyed the ideas and interests of the various stakeholders. Click here to see images of the banner project.

Corey is currently employed as a graphic designer at the U.S. Census Bureau.  A graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University with a B.F.A in Visual Communications, Corey has over ten years of design experience working in a variety of creative positions throughout his career.  “I have always been an artist at heart.  Drawing, painting and creating things have always been exciting for me.  Over the years, I have always maintained my goal to give back.  Volunteering at the Neighborhood Design Center enabled me to do just that.  I was assigned to unique projects like banners for buildings I otherwise would not have encountered at my regular job, and it felt great to help others in this capacity.  The Neighborhood Design Center focuses on making communities a better place to live.  Volunteering there was a perfect avenue for me to give back.  I enjoyed the experience immensely."

Michael Jordan

For nearly a year, Michael also worked on several projects in the Gateway Arts District Facade Improvement Program, including Joe's Movement Emporium and Pan Lourdes Bakery.  His assistance addressed multiple components, including signage, exterior paint, banners, and storefront design.  Working on multiple projects, Michael was able to treat each in a unique manner and create facades that expressed the nature of each business.  Click here to see Joe's Movement Emporium and Pan Lourdes Bakery.

Michael currently works as a Transportation Security Specialist with the Department of Homeland Security.  However, his passion is design.  "As a kid I was inspired by movies, comics and music. If I wasn’t drawing in art class then you could find me drawing away during my other non-art classes. After serving an enlistment in the Navy, I returned home and enrolled at Illinois State University where I graduated with a B.S. in Arts Technology.  After college I started my career as print media designer where I specialized in logos, letterhead, business cards, pamphlets and flyers. Shaken and disturbed by the events of 9/11 I put my graphic design career on hold. I now proudly serve as where I work as part of a team dedicated to preventing another terrorist attack. Fortunately I stumbled into a volunteer opportunity with the Neighborhood Design Center, who has given me a creative outlet and the privilege of serving the community."

Seth Harry
As an inductee in the Neighborhood Design Center's Hall of Fame, Seth is recognized for his years of volunteering - assisting over ten projects since he first began volunteering in the early 1990s.  Projects include master plans for Takoma-Langley Crossroads, the Pen Lucy neighborhood, Greektown, and Belvedere Square, design charrettes for Charles Village and Bladensburg Town Center, a commercial corridor study for Rt. 40 in Rosedale, and an adaptive reuse project for the First Street Foundry in Laurel.  Most recently, Seth developed plans for the expansion of the Hyattsville Volunteer Fire Department.

"I started volunteering with NDC shortly after I opened my practice in 1992, with the intent of using it to get better connected with my community.  Though our practice has grown considerably over the years, and has focused almost exclusively on work outside of this region, I still appreciate the opportunity to stay connected locally, that my work with NDC has afforded me."

Seth Harry is the Principal and founder of Seth Harry and Associates, Inc., Architects and Planners.  He is a licensed architect with over twenty years of in-depth experience in the design, master planning, and implementation of traditional neighborhood developments, large-scale mixed-use developments, urban entertainment projects, and waterfront destination shopping, dining, and entertainment complexes, both domestically and abroad.  Seth is currently working on several new communities in Australia and New Zealand, including a new regional urban center, to be served by transit, southwest of Brisbane, and a large infill mixed-use neighborhood in Queenstown, on the South Island, in New Zealand.  In June he will begin work on a master planning a 28,000 acre island off the coast of Vietnam, and will continue to do interesting urban infill redevelopment work in the UK with the Prince's Foundation for the Built Environment, headed by Prince Charles.

Prior to founding Seth Harry and Associates, Inc. in 1992, Seth was Design Director for the late James Rouse’s Enterprise Development Company.  In that capacity, Mr. Harry’s responsibilities included project conceptualization, programming and feasibility analysis, and overall design and master planning, with ongoing design management and oversight.