Growing community in the Valley of the Sun.
Building Community Through Shared Stories
Vitality AZ is a growing collaboration among Arizona residents, developers, artists, city leaders, and academics. Together, we are building a community-led platform for creative placemaking, local organizing, and collective storytelling through local events, communal meals, art, and interactive media.
The aim is to bring neighborhood knowledge, creative practice, technical skills, civic experience, and academic research into a shared process. Residents help set priorities and shape the stories and activities that grow from them.
Arizona Trail
Arizona Trail (currently in Beta) is being developed through a collaboration with artist Robb Tyler. The game centers local stories and characters from Arizona history in a playable world. Players explore Tucson, meet its characters, trade ingredients, and cook dishes that connect the town’s stories and food traditions.
A winning player can rewrite the next player’s quest by choosing the character and dish at its center, passing a new version of the story to the next person.
Trail Tucson · 1887
Select the game to open the player. Move with WASD or arrow keys; press E to interact. On mobile, swipe to move and tap to interact. Open in a new tab.
The Resilience Tree
Shared storytelling also takes physical form in the Resilience Tree. At the Miami Loco Arts Festival in Miami, Arizona, in March 2025, artist Robb Tyler and I worked with approximately 50 residents, who wrote memories of resilience on fabric and tied them to a tree. Their contributions shaped a collective public artwork.
Creative Placemaking Through Events
Arizona Trail and the Resilience Tree invite people to contribute to a shared story. We plan to co-create routine community events with residents and local collaborators across the Phoenix metro area, starting in early 2027.
Drawing on Faithscape, these gatherings aim to create spirituality in secular spaces through shared meals, art, play, and conversation. Vitality AZ’s HomeTown event design brings communal tables, a discussion stage, a library, local art, and social games into a shared space, giving neighbors different ways to connect and contribute.
Local Organizing and Collective Storytelling
Repeated gatherings create a foundation for ongoing local organizing. Community commentary invites residents to share what they want their neighborhoods to do better and helps shape future research and events. The aim is to connect neighbors’ priorities with creative, technical, academic, and civic expertise, with residents helping set the agenda.
My narrative agency framework informs this approach: people need opportunities to interpret their experiences, exchange perspectives, and influence the collective stories guiding their communities.
Explore the broader community platform at Vitality AZ.