Cultivate the Possible
Participants gathered for one of four Placemakers Union Game Nights featuring New SUM. This table's theme: land use, joy, and cooperative design in the face of climate urgency. Each player brought a goal, a challenge, and their own wisdom to the game board—creating a space of shared vision and possibility.
New SUM @ Placemakers Union Residency at MING Studios
April 2025
This spring, I had the privilege of participating as a guest artist during the Placemakers Union residency at MING Studios, where the evolving New SUM game project was invited into the fold.
The Placemakers Union is a growing collective rooted in the idea that we build better—both physically and socially—when we do so together. Anchored by architectural designers, planners, permaculture practitioners, and artists, the group fosters a culture of third shelf, third space—a term reflecting the joy and necessity of gathering across disciplines to co-create shared environments that are functional, expressive, and responsive to community needs.
Throughout the residency, four New SUM game nights were hosted as interactive events, each allowing for rapid redevelopment of the game. Participants co-created custom themes and prompt cards in real time, reflecting their own experiences and insights. The game board served as both a visual anchor and a collaborative tool—a physical reminder of where we are now, and a space to explore what could be possible. Every player began with the first challenge they faced in pursuing their goals, and we built outward from there, working with the unique gifts and perspectives each person brought to the table.
While I wasn’t able to attend every collaborative night—balancing the start of garden season and foundational work formalizing the Treasure Valley Community Gardens Cooperative—I was moved by what I did experience. The spirit of Placemakers Union has stayed with me. Its integration of form and function, craft and care, continues to influence how I shape environments for collaborative reflection and community-driven change.
This residency wasn’t just about building things—it was about building with.
Sharing is one of the most powerful acts we can undertake.
A major obstacle named during gameplay: Landowner Cooperation. Players explored how trust, transparency, and creative organizing might move us toward community-centered design—and away from extractive development models.
“Land, Joy, and Mutual Aid”: A Placemakers Union Game Night
One of the most dynamic sessions of the residency brought together designers, organizers, architects, and urban stewards for a round of New SUM focused on land access, built environments, and community resilience. Players began with bold goals: from community-funded strawbale developments to ongoing block-party gazebos as cool zones, and permaculture incubators for homegrown villages.
Each goal came with real-world tension. Cards hit the board naming challenges like:
How to secure landowner cooperation
Financing builds outside of traditional lending models
Building trust in underground and mutual aid networks
Transforming lawn culture into biodiversity zones
Creating safe and art-filled public spaces as climate resilience infrastructure
Despite the obstacles, the tone was energized and collaborative. Players explored big questions like:
What if neglected strip malls became hubs of barter and performance?
How could we fund soil-based solutions and mobile garden crews?
What does joyful exchange of resources look like in practice?
🌱 Participant takeaways included:
“Completely and utterly energized by what the game helped us see about our very different, but entwined, goals.” – Jon Clark
“This ignites creativity. I feel inspired to take action.” – Sequoia
“Effortless to connect with like-minded folks. I’d call it the calling of your calling.” – Jamie Somma
Each person left with a thread to follow—whether it was deeper collaboration, a sketch of a shared structure, or a grant idea worth pursuing. This session helped surface not just problems, but possibilities, and reminded us that the work of building community doesn’t have to be so serious that it forgets to be joyful.
“Being disconnected from farmers” — One of the first challenges placed on the board during a special New SUM session with One Stone students. This collaborative game day invited high schoolers to reflect on their winter and spring learnings and envision bold next steps after receiving the City of Boise’s Youth Climate Action Award.
(Photo taken during the Building Boise Community Soil edition of New SUM.)
Building Boise Community Soil: Youth Climate Action Session with One Stone
As part of the residency, we hosted a focused edition of New SUM with One Stone students—members of the Community Read Crew and recipients of Boise’s 2025 Youth Climate Action Award. This session was timed to help students close out the school year by reflecting on their recent efforts and taking a fresh, creative look at the road ahead.
Over the course of the game, players identified real-world challenges like:
Being disconnected from farmers
More people moving to Boise and reducing access to land
Destruction from overconsumption and neglect
The impact of basic grass lawns on soil health and biodiversity
In response, they brainstormed strategies and bold “how might we” ideas—ranging from cooperative yard gardens and compost build days to soil celebration planners and community barn-raising events. They even sketched out structures and outreach tools that could support wider education and deeper connection to local land.
What emerged was a shared commitment to protecting green space, increasing awareness around regenerative farming, and supporting gardens as places of both learning and restoration. Students emphasized that many solutions already exist—but need visibility, access, and joy to truly take root.