Launched in Fall 2021, SCAD SERVE Design for Good brought together students from the university’s top-ranked degree programs in Atlanta and Savannah to research and formulate design solutions for two of Sweet Auburn Works’ keystone initiatives, the design of the newly launched SPARK Innovation Lab, and developing a comprehensive visual communication strategy and enhanced business plan for famed neighborhood institution Sweet Auburn Bread Company and its Owner and Pastry Chef, Sonya Jones. 

For the Sweet Auburn Bread Company project, SCAD students conducted an entrepreneur and business assessment, then collaboratively formulated a strategy providing Chef Sonya with innovative recommendations for storefront buildout, interior bakery redesign, marketing and branding, and visual communication strategy to help Sweet Auburn Bread Company reach new heights. The inventive and inspiring business design solutions developed by SCAD students will be formally implemented by Sweet Auburn Bread Company in the coming months. 

SCAD SERVE’s Design for Good curriculum, in partnership with Sweet Auburn Works, will continue throughout the 2022 academic year as SCAD students produce innovative design solutions to support the continued development of the SPARK Innovation Lab, a hybrid community/retail/office space intent on supporting local entrepreneurs housed in the renowned historic Odd Fellows Building at 220 Auburn Avenue.  

“SCAD SERVE concentrates SCAD’s considerable design-for-good actions with purpose and intention,” said Dean Ballas, Senior Executive Director of Design for Good. “Students engaged in our Design for Good courses exemplify verve, design expertise, and academic prowess via incredibly meaningful solutions that improve quality of life. The impactful outcomes of the Sweet Auburn Works' SPARK Innovation Lab and Sweet Auburn Bread Company Design for Good courses are two notable examples of SCAD's community-focused design-for-good philosophy in action.”  

Designated a National Historic Neighborhood, Auburn Avenue in the heart of downtown Atlanta was home to Atlanta’s highly prosperous Black community and concentration of Black-owned businesses, financial institutions, churches and entertainment venues from the 1920s to 1950s. A cornerstone of the Black community, Atlanta civil rights leader John Wesley Dobbs—known as the unofficial “mayor” of Auburn Avenue—often commented that the street was paved in gold and affectionately dubbed the district “Sweet Auburn,” a moniker that lives on today.  

In addition to the neighborhood’s home as the city’s Black entrepreneurial and entertainment epicenter, Sweet Auburn is cemented as an iconic place in American history as the birthplace of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, who was raised in the community along with many other civic, religious, and business leaders who have shaped Atlanta and the New South. Over time, the neighborhood fell victim to depopulation and disinvestment, and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1976 to help protect its legacy. Despite the designation, Sweet Auburn has recently been identified as one of America’s Most Endangered Historic Sites.  

“Despite those setbacks, the resurgence of Sweet Auburn will be guided by creativity, talent, empathy and an insistence on excellence,” said LeJuano Varnell, Executive Director of Sweet Auburn Works. “Those are also guiding principles that the young professionals from SCAD’s Design for Good courses have brought to the community.”   

Bank of America is an integral partner in the revitalization efforts of the Sweet Auburn neighborhood, by providing grants of up to $25,000 per business to local entrepreneurs through the Sweet Auburn Works Accelerator Fund. This grant is part of the company’s five-year, $1.25 billion commitment to advance racial equality and economic opportunity by supporting minority entrepreneurs.  

Through SCAD SERVE’s Design for Good course, SCAD students and faculty will continue to collaborate with Sweet Auburn Works and the neighborhood’s vital flagship entrepreneurial ventures. The ongoing design projects continue to pay tribute to the strength of Atlanta’s Black history, create conditions for a more equitable future, and pave the way for Sweet Auburn’s rebirth and next generation.  

Additionally, SCAD SERVE has expanded the Design for Good course curriculum into 2022 with new clients and projects offering SCAD students the opportunity to research and design projects focused on creative community-centered solutions for new clients including the Decatur Cooperative Ministry in Atlanta, and Family Promise of the Coastal Empire and the Savannah Tree Foundation in Savannah.  

For more information about SCAD SERVE, please visit www.scad.edu/scadserve.