Back to School …
Morgan Medley, Freshman Architecture Student at Tuskegee University
It’s time to head back to school and Creative’s XP would like to honor Morgan Medley, founder of blackgirlsDRAW. Morgan is from Raleigh, North Carolina and is a 2021 graduate of Enloe High School. During the fall of 2021, she will be attending Tuskegee University’s Robert R. Taylor School of Architecture and Construction Science as a freshman architecture major and historic preservation minor.
Morgan became interested in architecture during the 9th grade when she was placed in an architectural drafting class and fell in love with the process and imagination behind architecture. Once she got older and realized that architecture was what she wanted to do, she did her research on different architecture types. Her search inspired her pursuit of historic preservation as a minor. Uplifting a community and the history behind buildings is what lights a fire in her eyes.
The Inspiration behind blackgirls DRAW …
Morgan is the founder of blackgirlsDRAW. Her inspiration for blackgirlsDRAW was to expose little girls to architecture in hopes of helping to increase the number of licensed African American female architects. Her inspiration was also driven by being the only girl of color in all of her high school drafting and architecture classes. Morgan states,
“This platform is necessary for the advancement of minorities in architecture, because it lets people know that there are other people like them out here that want to do what you do. It's okay to stand out. You can do whatever it is you set your mind to as long as you stay focused and determined and don't let people's opinions affect you in a bad way.“
Through her efforts with blackgirlsDRAW, Morgan launched a live stream show on Facebook and YouTube called “Black Women in Architecture.” She uses the platform to interview high-profile African American Women Architects. Thus far, she has had the opportunity to interview and meet Zena Howard (Perkins & Will - Principal, Managing Director, NC), Kimberly Dowdell (HOK - Marketing Principal, and Immediate Past President of NOMA), Pascale Sablan (Adjaye Associates Architects - Associate, and founder of Beyond the Built Environment), and many others. She plans to gear up for more interviews this fall. Visit www.blackgirlsdraw.org for links to the Facebook page and YouTube Channel for past interviews.
Her new set of Super Shero Architect Mentors encourage her to press on. They told her when she needed them to give them a call. That has helped her prepare for the freshman year ahead at Tuskegee. She also has a local group of African American Female Architect mentors that she is close to. (See group photo below.) When she needs a lift, she plans to reach out to anyone that has encouraged her.
Morgan’s goal is to expand blackgirlDRAW when she gets to college. She plans to get help from her fellow classmates this fall at Tuskegee University to strengthen the reach of the platform. She would like to start doing face-to-face sessions with the local elementary and middle schools; however, the pandemic will be the deciding factor. Future events will be more interviews and sessions that will be accessible virtually. She and her dad have also discussed developing a seminar sponsored by blackgirlsDRAW where she can invite black women of architecture to Tuskegee to speak while live-streaming the event nationally to current architecture and high school students.
A Question For Our Audience …
“When you look back over your career and experience in architecture school, what is one thing you wish you had done differently? Would you still choose architecture?”
L-R African American Female Architects Terri Canada, Vershae Hite, Morgan Medley, Zena Howard, Zakiya Wiggins
