Design Research Symposium: Conversations by Writers Room

Design Research Symposium: Conversations with Keyssh Datts, Sequoyah Hunter-Cuyjet, Victoria Huggins Peurifoy, and Kia Weatherspoon

Introduction

In April 2022, Second Story Collective co-hosted a Symposium with the Design Research MS program. The interdisciplinary event explored concepts of home, co-design, and the power of story to create connections across difference. Keynote speakers Kia Weatherspoon and Sequoyah Hunter-Cuyjet of Determined by Design shared how their work is inspired by history, fashion, and nature; and how their advocacy for Design Equity continues to shift the affordable housing narrative, making interior design a standard for all. After their short talk and workshop, they sat down with Writers Room members Keyssh Datts and Victoria Huggins Peurifoy at the URBN Center where a student-led crew filmed both interviews. What follows are excerpts from their conversations together.

Kaleena Lettich

Victoria Huggins Peurifoy interviews Sequoyah Hunter-Cuyjet with Ibrahim Kamara (Drexel ’22) and Jeremiah Brooks (Paul Robeson ’22) on film crew

Sequoyah Hunter-Cuyjet in Conversation with Victoria Huggins Peurifoy

Victoria Huggins Peurifoy (VHP): What’s your favorite of all the design techniques that you’ve learned? Sequoyah Hunter-Cuyjet (SHC): I don't think I have a favorite. I like a lot of things. I think actually my non-interior background has made me a stronger designer. My studio artwork and my political science and anthropology work made me much more interested in people. VHP: You know, during the conversation that we had upstairs [at the keynote] you were talking about story. Whose story? SHC: Oh, good question. I always like to place myself in the context of all of these multiple stories…I was born and raised with my mother’s people. So, I start with that. I’m Shinnecock, so I come from a tribal nation and so I’m very much a we, not an I.

Design Research Symposium: Conversations

I think actually my non-interior background has made me a stronger designer. My studio artwork and my political science and anthropology work made me much more interested in people. Sequoyah Hunter-Cuyjet

Design Research Symposium: Conversations

I have a homeland and a territory. My father's people, actually, my paternal grandmother lived in Philadelphia and she met my grandfather here. He went to Temple School of Dentistry because it was one of the programs that was an integrated and non-segregated program. And they come from the Philadelphia area, my grandmother being Lenape...When I start to talk about my story, I really do go into who I am, who my people are...that’s sort of how I know to unfold myself. My mother was born and raised in Queens. She spent her summers on the reservation. My father was born and raised primarily in Bayonne, New Jersey but spent his summers and holidays here in Philadelphia cuz that's where both his sets of grandparents lived. My dad went to Brandeis University. He studied African American Studies and my mother went to Bennington, and she studied Anthropology. My dad as a kid used to spend his summers in Sag Harbor, which is about, maybe 10 miles from the Shinnecock Reservation. So as my parents grew up spending their summers about 10 miles away from each other, now, they never knew each other. It wasn't until they both moved out to Long Island. Design Research Symposium: Conversations

When I start to talk about my story, I really do go into who I am, who my people are...that’s sort of how I know to unfold myself. Sequoyah Hunter-Cuyjet

Design Research Symposium: Conversations

My father moved to Bridgehampton. He was very interested in supporting an early childhood center to create opportunity for working moms. And to further the opportunity of young Black kids to have an educational learning environment rather than this tradition of being stuck in front of the television at someone's house. My mom came to the reservation to do additional anthropological work as she was getting her master's. And that's how they met. VHP: I’m listening to everything that you’re saying — the different directions your parents went in as opposed to the direction that you went in. This might be my last question, but if you had a whole city block and you could create your own little city in that block, what would you like to see there? SHC: Well, I think that it would be something that would be not just for any particular person or group of people. There would be access to food, to all the traditional things you need to feel comfortable — like pharmacists, salon, barber. And cuz we’re in a city block, we have to go up.

Design Research Symposium: Conversations

You know, for me, making sure you have the people who wanna be there, who are willing to give and respect and look out for their neighbors. I would wanna make sure that the people who lived there weren’t constantly closing their door and saying, well, that’s none of my business. Sequoyah Hunter-Cuyjet

Design Research Symposium: Conversations

But making sure that that block is selfcontained. And for me, I would love to make sure that this little special neighborhood would have outdoor space, as well as be sustainable in its energy use. It would be completely self-sustaining. That’s what I would want. So, if the whole city had a blackout, this little community would be standing on its own. You know, for me, making sure you have the people who wanna be there, who are willing to give and respect and look out for their neighbors. I would wanna make sure that the people who lived there weren’t constantly closing their door and saying, well, that’s none of my business. Right? VHP: They’re a community. SHC: It's a community.

Design Research Symposium: Conversations

Kaleena Lettich

Kia Weatherspoon in Conversation with Keyssh Datts

Keyssh Datts (KD): Okay, I guess can you tell us your name, what you do and where you at? Like, how did you get here? Kia Weatherspoon (KW): Yeah! KD: Like, this moment in space. KW: Absolutely. So, my name is Kia Weatherspoon. What do I do?

I create

spaces for people that reinforce their value in humanity. I also run a business where I allow people to show up as their whole selves. And we seek out specifically people of color in the creative space, so their history and culture can be reflected in design...How did I get here to this point? I trust the path and the process. And I realized to be a business owner, I did not have to have everything figured out...I think I got to being a business owner for almost a decade by realizing if I do the work — like, if I tangibly do Design Research Symposium: Conversations

If I do the work — like if I tangibly do the work and keep working the process — anything is possible for me. Kia Weatherspoon

Design Research Symposium: Conversations

the work and keep working the process — anything is possible for me. So that’s how I got here. KD: Thank you. I hear you talk about your connection to the community. I really admire that. How did you have like, a coming-to, conscious moment where you said, “Now I’m gonna switch to focus on community?" Was there a pivotal moment that shifted your consciousness? KW: I will say, I think there are things that happen in your life that you don't know will guide you. So, one of the big things for me was when I was young, my brother was incarcerated for 15 years and me and my family had to go in and outta jails and prisons to visit him. And I remember viscerally how that felt for me as just a visitor. I would start to think about how it felt for all the other people traversing through that space. The men, the guards, the family members, and that just kind of sat with me, right? It just sat idle. I would go on and get my degree in design and I would do the path that is typical. YYou work for a luxury firm, and you do luxury work, but that wasn't feeding my soul.

Design Research Symposium: Conversations

I think there are things that happen in your life that you don't know will guide you. Kia Weatherspoon

Design Research Symposium: Conversations

So I quit that job...and I did a nonprofit project for domestic violence survivors. It was 12 women and 32 children. And when I walked into the room, they kind of were like, “Yo, we don't need this, sis. Like this isn't a value to us.” And in doing that, it just kind of took me back to thinking about like my people in spaces that were inhumane or less than. So we immersed these women in the design process, and it went from, “We don't need this,” to “Man, somebody would do this for us? I thought this was stuff I could only see on TV. Is this something I could do one day?” And when we finished the project, this woman came up to me and she said, “Miss Kia when I walked into this room, I realized change was possible for me.” And it reminded me, the people who need access to well-designed spaces the most, they don't have it. They don't know they need it. And they don't have an advocate. And I knew that was the time to build my practice all around being an advocate for my people. That's when it happened.

Design Research Symposium: Conversations

Be unafraid to ask questions and find a circle of people who look like you, who are doing the work. Kia Weatherspoon

Design Research Symposium: Conversations

KD: What advice would you give for somebody trying to come up and break into whatever space they want to get into? KW: My greatest superpower is that I’m a Black woman and I show up that way every day. ...I believe education equals opportunity, but that also doesn’t mean go get a bunch of degrees. So I keep saying be unafraid to ask questions. I know enough about real estate to be dangerous because I’ve built relationships with my development partner, clients.. Partner with people who do the work, be unafraid to pull them aside to ask the questions that might seem mundane. Like, “Could you break that down for me?” Be unafraid to ask questions and find a circle of people who look like you, who are doing the work. And don’t be afraid to show up as yourself. I don’t code switch. I don’t do any of that. This is exactly how I show up. And this is the only way I know how to be. And that’s enough in the white spaces. Advocate for yourself and be your own hero.

Design Research Symposium: Conversations

Contributors

Keyssh Datts is a community organizer, photographer and multimedia creator and producer. They use their love of history, Black studies, and hip-hop to create art that uplifts. Their work has been centered around gender identity, gentrification, and gun violence. Sequoyah Hunter-Cuyjet is the Vice President of Determined by Design. She is a culture cultivator with a unique ability to breathe narrative into any design, giving voice to community, people and places. With her diverse art and culturally-rich background as well as her multidisciplinary design experience, she is a multifaceted design professional who can help partners address any project challenge. As a designer, she has range that comes from an appreciation of various cultures and histories. For Sequoyah, every style and aesthetic has meaning and purpose — not one greater than the other.

Victoria Huggins Peurifoy recently completed her bachelor’s degree at Peirce College, focusing on organizational leadership. She is an author, poet, and spoken word artist. She facilitates a poetry and discussion group of senior citizens, and she co-facilitates a story writing group called the Best Day of My Life So Far. She is a mother of 3 and a grandmother of 8. She is a TRIPOD writer-in-residence (2017-22).

Contributors

Kia Weatherspoon is the President and Founder of Determined by Design. The design voice of impact and change— Weatherspoon, NCIDQ, ASID, has spent the last 15 years defying every design stereotype. The most damaging — interior design is a luxury reserved for a few. Her voice, advocacy for Design Equity™, and design practice have shifted the narrative, making interior design a standard for all. Kia is challenging the lack of these standards in economically challenged communities. Her presence and leadership have created ripples, prompting housing developers, agencies, and industry partners in economically challenged communities to not just take notice of her work—but to do better.

Book Design and Layout: Patty West Editors: Valerie Fox and Lauren Lowe ’17 Film Crew: Jeremiah Brooks, Ibrahim Kamara ’22, and Jeremy D’Amico ’24

Second Story Collective is a collaborative venture of Drexel’s Writers Room. This collective of artists, activists, architects, and West Philadelphia residents is united by a vision: shared living space and shared stories can create a foundation for meaningful co-habitation.