Rural Placemaking Studio Webinar Series: Featuring Krista Nightengale, Better Block Foundation

Join the IU Center for Rural Engagement's Rural Placemaking Studio for insightful conversations featuring experts, practitioners, and leaders passionate about community arts engagement and the activation of public spaces in accessible ways. 

About Krista Nightengale

Krista Nightengale began her career in journalism when she stumbled into the fascinating world of urban design. She discovered the Better Block Foundation, an international, urban design nonprofit that educates, equips, and empowers communities and their leaders to reshape and reactivate built environments to promote the growth of healthy and vibrant neighborhoods. In her eight years at the Better Block, Krista has worked with neighbors in more than 80 cities to rethink streets, turn parking lots to plazas, and identify the barriers keeping communities from enjoying their public spaces. The work has resulted in economic development, calmed streets, and has lowered crime rates. But most importantly, it brings neighbors together. Krista has built hundreds of digitally fabricated benches, kiosks, and survey stands. She uses social media to educate around placemaking and transportation, and she’s a pretty adequate drone operator (as long as there’s no wind).

Krista is on the Dallas Comprehensive Land Use Committee, on the steering committee of Big D Reads, a board member of Philanthropy Kids, past-president of the Dallas Architecture and Design Exchange board, former AIA Dallas Board Member, City Lab High School Foundation Advisory Council, Emerging Leaders in Philanthropy cohort for Communities Foundation of Texas, former executive board of the New Leaders Council, former member of the Dallas Police Department Community Advisory Board, former member of the Dallas Commission on Homelessness, former TEDxSMU steering committee, and a graduate of Leadership Texas.