Reimagining Beauty as Essential Infrastructure
Home Ground Lab is a creative research and storytelling initiative housed within Clark University’s Integration and Belonging Hub. We work at the intersection of aesthetics, justice, and the built environment—exploring how beauty functions as a vital form of infrastructure in spaces often overlooked by traditional design and policy systems: shelters, transitional housing, and communities shaped by displacement or marginalization.
Our Mission
We believe that beauty is not decorative—it’s fundamental. It’s how people ground themselves in place, reconnect with dignity, and recover after systems collapse.
Through community-led research, participatory design, and narrative practice, we collaborate with residents, students, and institutions to:
- Uncover and elevate aesthetic practices that support wellbeing and social connection in marginalized housing environments
- Facilitate inclusive placemaking rooted in cultural pride, spatial justice, and trauma-informed care
- Translate insight into action, offering concrete strategies for developers, policymakers, and aid organizations who seek to create environments where people feel at home
What We Do
Participatory Research
We work alongside residents to understand how people use beauty—color, texture, light, layout, art—to create a sense of belonging. Our methods include visual analysis, dialogic approaches (interviews, focus groups, collaborative meaning-making), and arts-based engagement.
Co-Design & Facilitation
We collaborate on community-engaged placemaking processes, providing training, facilitation, and implementation support to housing partners and service providers seeking to transform their spaces.
Storytelling & Public Projects
From creative campaigns to practice guides, we publish resources that shift how beauty is understood and prioritized in emergency response, residential design, and community development.
Academic and Student Collaboration
Our work is deeply integrated into Clark’s academic ecosystem. We engage students through internships, applied research, and studio classes—creating real-world learning opportunities while advancing community impact.
Why It Matters
In many housing systems, aesthetics is treated as optional. But research shows that beautiful, culturally resonant environments support mental health, community cohesion, and even housing stability. We’re helping developers and cities reimagine what’s possible when beauty becomes part of the blueprint—not an afterthought.
Get Involved
We welcome collaboration with:
- Students eager to apply their skills in research, design, or community practice
- Funders looking to support innovation at the intersection of housing, healing, and the arts
- Housing developers and practitioners seeking to create trauma-responsive, resident-centered spaces
- Community leaders committed to reimagining the environments they call home
Stay up to date: Follow us on LinkedIn and Substack
To explore partnership or internship opportunities, contact us: info@homegroundlab.org
#BeautifulResistance: Global storytelling campaign
We’re collecting stories, photos, and creative submissions that show how beauty appears in places of crisis, transition, or rebuilding.
Beauty Praxis: A 7-day Practice Guide for Changemakers in Unsettled Times
We created this 7-day guide in response to a growing sense of collective unraveling—especially in the wake of the targeted dismantling of aid, housing, and education infrastructures. It’s designed for people navigating burnout, rupture, or reentry. Each day blends story, reflection, and sensory-based practice.
We specifically developed it for:
- Displaced humanitarian workers wondering where to go next
- Activists and organizers trying to stay human in the face of erasure
- Anyone asking, “How do I keep going?”