Larissa Hawkins
Larissa Hawkins didn’t arrive at social design in a straight line.
And that's exactly what makes her work so grounded. She started as a painter and exhibition artist in Washington, D.C., then found herself drawn into urban farming and health and wellness work before the pandemic reshaped everything. When lockdown hit, Larissa turned inward and forward at the same time, enrolling in graduate school at MICA and discovering a new way to channel her creativity: designing for communities.
Today, she collaborates with the Neighborhood Design Center and a growing network of Baltimore City organizations to create design assets built to last. Her philosophy is simple but powerful — nonprofits deserve tools they can reuse, adapt, and own, without breaking the bank. For Larissa, great design isn't a one-time transaction. It's a living resource that grows alongside the mission it serves.
DesignFest brought that philosophy into sharp focus.
Larissa joined to connect with like-minded designers and to show nonprofits what a real creative partnership could look like. What she took away was something harder to teach: the power of letting go. Her advice to anyone stepping into a community design project is to release expectations, stay curious, and trust the process — even when it leads somewhere unexpected.
Nature is never far from Larissa's work. Whether she’s collaborating on an environmental nonprofit project or sketching ideas in Wyman Park, the natural world is her constant reference point. She draws inspiration from biomimicry, from the Baltimore Museum of Art, and from the everyday energy of communities gathering in shared spaces. Her dream project captures all of it: a residency at a national park, where design, nature, and storytelling converge.