Building Common Ground, a collaborative co-led by Epicenter, Launches New Community-Led Rural Design Grant-Support Program
Applications are now open for Fieldwork, offering free, hands-on planning and design support for rural and Tribal communities with support from the Mellon Foundation.
Building Common Ground, a national collaborative of design field leaders committed to thriving rural places, announces the launch of Fieldwork, a new program for rural and Tribal communities that provides customized design, planning, and project development support for community-led initiatives rooted in local history, culture, and identity. Applications are due Friday, March 27, 2026. Two participant tracks are available to support projects at different stages of development.
From spring 2026 through December 2027, a national cohort of up to 20 rural and Tribal communities will participate in an intensive, collaborative design and planning process that translates local vision and cultural knowledge into actionable, place-based projects. Fieldwork is intended for rural community leaders and cultural organizations working on projects that tell meaningful stories, honor local identity, and strengthen places where people gather.
Rather than delivering pre-set solutions, Fieldwork works alongside communities to clarify goals, organize ideas, and move projects forward at a pace that reflects local capacity and priorities.
Through the program, the Building Common Ground team will partner with rural, Tribal, and remote communities on architecture, landscape, design, and planning projects, including—but not limited to—the following:
- Restoring or reusing older buildings for cultural uses such as museums, cultural heritage centers, or community gathering places
- Creating or improving public spaces that celebrate local culture and identity
- Designing new museums, cultural centers, archive facilities, or other community-serving spaces
- Creating exhibition spaces or public displays that tell local stories
- Developing collaborative, humanities-driven projects that preserve, interpret, and activate the cultural, historical, and environmental significance of specific places
Up to 20 selected communities will receive support to:
- Plan and design cultural and civic spaces rooted in local context
- Engage residents and partners in shaping project direction
- Strengthen project readiness through planning activities, funding strategy, and leadership development
- Work alongside peer communities facing similar challenges and opportunities
Groups that meet the following criteria are encouraged to apply:
- Communities with a population of 35,000 or less
- 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations, fiscally sponsored groups, municipalities, or Tribal governments.
- Individuals are not eligible to apply.
Building Common Ground especially welcomes applications from communities that have historically had limited access to design or development support. If your project helps your community share its history, culture, or identity, we want to hear from you.
“Fieldwork begins with showing up and listening. Rural leaders bring vision and lived knowledge, our role is to support them with time, tools, and steady partnership,” said Matt Smith, Co-Founder and advisor for Building Common Ground.
Fieldwork is supported by a grant to Epicenter from the Mellon Foundation’s Humanities in Place program. The initiative builds on 17 years of Epicenter’s work in rural Utah as well as decades of lessons from the Citizens’ Institute on Rural Design (CIRD), a former program of the National Endowment for the Arts that supported rural communities for over three decades. Fieldwork adopts the cohort and workshop model of CIRD, while offering longer-term engagement and deeper project development support.
For more information, visit bcg.studio
About Building Common Ground
Building Common Ground (BCG) is a national collaborative of rural designers, leaders, and advocates working to strengthen rural and Tribal places through community-centered design and planning. Co-led byEpicenter (Green River, Utah) and To Be Done Studio(Washington, D.C.), BCG helps rural communities and organizations move from idea to action, working alongside to translate local vision and cultural knowledge into actionable, place-based projects. Learn more at bcg.studio.