Environmental Design

Laura Ingalls Wilder Elementary

Laura Ingalls Wilder Elementary honors the prairie writer whose "Little House" stories immortalized homesteading life in De Smet, SD. The community's connection to the Wilder family runs deep, so continuing their story through this new elementary school was a natural fit.

House forms show up throughout the interior—pitched "rooflines" that nod to the architecture of Wilder's time. Corridors include "Little House" breakout spaces with angled openings. Natural materials reinforce the connection: wood furniture and finishes, earth-toned paint colors, a cloud-shaped ceiling feature in the library.

Tessa, an interior designer at CO-OP Architecture, laid out a rough idea for a wall mural. I took that idea and ran with it. The corridor piece maps the family's travels alongside the author's most famous lines: "The real things haven't changed. It is still best to be honest and truthful; to make the most of what we have; to be happy with simple pleasures; and have courage when things go wrong."

CO-OP Sioux Falls Stairwell

The initial design for this project started with some solid work by one of CO-OP’s architects, Becca Woytassek. I made a few changes so certain elements of the design played off the placement of other elements of the stairwell (railings, lights, stairs, etc.), and we even went through a round of color changes before landing on this specific black. Then I worked with HenkinSchulz to get them the files at their preferred specifications, like any print project.

Faulkton Trojans Wrestling Room

I worked with Senior Interior Designer Alanna Eggers and the Faulkton School District to create something for their wrestling practice room that would let the athletes know that they are warriors and it is time for action. Here is the final selection and a few of the other options that we delivered.

Jacobson Plaza

Working alongside interior designers and an architect at CO-OP and a few of the folks at Confluence, I developed wall art concepts for the restaurant and bar area of Jacobson Plaza in Sioux Falls. While the ultimate client, the City of Sioux Falls, ultimately moved in a different direction as the building's design evolved, the concepting process resulted in some work that I really enjoyed.

We explored a few distinct directions, but two really sang to me. The first leaned into how the plaza functions year-round—splash pad in summer, jungle gym in spring and fall, ice skating in winter. I developed a series of Olympic-style pictograms that felt playful enough for kids while representing all four seasons through distinct color schemes. The idea was to create something that matched the energy of a space designed for year-round activity. The second concept used loose, colorful illustrations of recognizable Sioux Falls landmarks woven together with elements from the city's flag design.