Kelsey Brown is currently a Master of Architecture student, also pursuing a certificate in Historic Preservation. Prior to beginning the Master of Architecture program, she earned her undergraduate degree in psychology from the University of Houston-Victoria and is interested in the social impacts of the built environment. She also works as a graduate research assistant for UTSA’s Center for Cultural Sustainability and Building Performance Lab, has been a speaker at the Texas Society of Architects annual conference and the Association for Preservation Technology (APT) annual conference, received APT’s Student Scholar Award in 2020, and volunteers at various neighborhood association, Office of Historic Preservation, and AIA events. Her interest in housing accessibility, cultural integrity, preservation, and research has synthesized in UFL’s Westside Community Partnerships Initiative.
Kelsey Brown’s interest statement
“I was born and raised in Victoria, TX, and attended the University of Houston-Victoria where I received my undergraduate degree in psychology. I moved to Austin, TX as soon as I could and it was a breath of fresh air coming from a small city. I saw a lot of change in the years I lived there, though. Rising housing costs and displacement called attention to longstanding racial and socioeconomic inequities in the city. This made me increasingly interested in affordable housing, the character and history of these neighborhoods which were being erased, and how architecture could help instead of perpetuating these issues. I moved to San Antonio for UTSA’s Master of Architecture program and immediately noticed the early signs of gentrification that I witnessed (and didn’t realize at the time) in Austin. All of this has propelled my studies at UTSA, especially in Dr. Petrov’s Master’s Thesis Prep class. Conversations with him about my personal interests and the Westside Community Partnerships Initiative brought me to do an independent study course with him to take a deeper look into these topics and work more closely with the Urban Future Lab. Through UFL, we’ve been able to discuss these complex issues and collaborate as a think tank on how to approach solutions. It’s an incredible opportunity to be part of this interdisciplinary team where we can work toward preserving affordability, preventing displacement, and maintaining the unique character of the historic Westside neighborhood.”
Nicole Chavez is currently a graduate student at St. Mary’s University studying policy and public administration. She is also Public Relations Coordinator at the Urban Future Lab (UFL). Nicole’s perspective is formed by 15 years of experience in communications, media and public relations, community relationship management, outreach, and fundraising. Her views on public service were shaped through her experiences working with the UFL. The lab’s projects are a testament to representation, and they uniquely form her perspective as a future policy advisor and strategist. Nicole has lived in San Antonio for more than 15 years and is originally from Albuquerque, NM. Her undergraduate degree is in communications and journalism from St. Mary’s University, where she is currently the Assistant Director of Stewardship.
Nicole Chavez on public service and her 2021-2022 UFL Internship
“By actively involving citizens in collective and imaginative thinking, public programming, and community building, the Urban Future Lab (UFL) developed foundational tenets and practices centered on inclusion, transparency, and common interests. This allowed us to establish roots in the communities we worked with, build trusting relationships with community leaders and residents, and let projects unfold as they will without predetermined outcomes. We aspire to move beyond engaging with the community to simply hear their concerns and instead begin instigating and transparently implementing systemic changes addressing disparities that have been raised for generations. I’m looking forward to our next chapter working on UTSA’s Westside Community Partnerships Initiative, in which Dr. Petrov hopes to take strategies employed by UFL to further strengthen the university’s cultural empathy and connection with the people living in some of San Antonio’s most economically underserved neighborhoods. I’m excited to be working with this talented interdisciplinary research group of interns to develop a strategic proposal for the university and the Westside.”
Luis Escalante is currently a full-time graduate student at the University of Texas at San Antonio. His interests are in the fields of finance, economics, and urban theory. He was born in Kansas but was raised around the U.S. (to include San Antonio) and Europe. Luis has lived in San Antonio for the past three years and has come to appreciate the rich culture and history of the city. His undergraduate degree is in finance from the University of Maryland. Luis is currently pursuing a master’s degree in urban and regional planning at UTSA.
Luis Escalante on the Building Trust Research Group and UTSA’s Westside Community Partnerships Initiative
“At the beginning of the Fall 2021 semester, my friend Karla told me about a seminar class she was taking, taught by Dr. Petrov, that was exploring the relationship between San Antonio’s Westside community and UTSA. It sounded fantastic, and so I enrolled late into the class but I quickly caught up to speed. I was super invested in the class throughout the semester and saw the potential of it in terms of my own educational growth and its potential for real-world exploration. I heard about the Urban Future Lab through Dr. Petrov and talked with him about their previous and ongoing work. I think what UFL is doing is highly engaging and thoughtful. After a few conversations with Dr. Petrov over Zoom, and my progression through the seminar class, he told me I’d be a great addition to an interdisciplinary group at UFL, to work on a strategic proposal for the university and the Westside. I accepted and have currently had great conversations and write-ups with this group. Doing this while taking my other courses was perfect, as my studies in the urban planning program overlapped with this project. I was in a housing policy class this fall semester and started to approach the project in this light: to consider housing and policy. Being part of UFL has added another strong layer to my educational strength, despite it being only the beginning of my studies. Everyone in this group approaches this project from different fields which produce intensities when our approaches overlap, or when they differ, we find alternatives.”
Karla Ruiz is a full-time master’s in architecture student at the University of Texas at San Antonio. She holds an associate degree in interior design and a bachelor’s in Fine Arts from the University of las Americas Puebla in Mexico. Karla is a professor at the department of interior design at Ensign College in Salt Lake City, Utah, teaching software classes (Revit, AutoCAD, Sketchup, and Adobe Suite). Karla also has experience as an architectural/civil drafter, and she is currently doing an Internship for the Urban Future Lab.