The design intent of this thesis is to deconstruct the elements of the beer brewing process to allow the public to engage, enjoy, and appreciate the process while dining. It is to create a site for a craft brewery that is local to the neighborhood of The Fan. Allowing the public to engage, cultivate and create enthusiasm for the brewing process. To deconstruct the industrial process of brewing beer to allow accessibility for the public to enjoy the process while eating, drinking, and learning.

Davida Rochlin said, “Nobody thought much about the front porch when most Americans had them and used them. The great American front porch was just there, open and sociable, an unassigned part of the house that belonged to everyone and no one, a place for family and friends to pass the time.” The landscape in which those porches existed has changed. Our traditional views of housing and neighborhoods (single family homes with a cul-de-sac at the end) really aren’t the norm anymore. In the last 10 years more Americans have moved to, and are living in cities than in the past (Lamber, Lisa 2012). Currently, 80.7% of Americans live in urban areas, up 1.7% from 2000 (Lamber, Lisa 2012). With this migration, there has been a surge in renovated, multi-family housing. While this does solve the problem of allowing more families to move back into urban areas, these buildings often have no sense of community or neighborhood. You don’t have neighbors, you simply live next to people. The porch used to be a symbol of community, a sociable space. Neighbors would sit outside and watch kids play and catch up with each other. But both technology and our own self-imposed isolations have lead us to slowly loose touch with our physical neighbors. The intention of this project is to create a community, a neighborhood, within a single building housing multiple families through porches and their variations.

Referred to by Constantin Stanislavski as “My most brilliant pupil,” Michael Chekhov’s approach to acting is founded in an understanding of the artist as a whole being whose thoughts, feelings, desires, voice, and physical body are intimately interwoven. The Michael Chekhov technique trains these aspects jointly while encouraging the actor to fully explore and utilize his or her unlimited, rich, and fertile imagination. I have seen the powerful benefits of this technique as an actor (which I have been utilizing for 13 years) and as a teacher and director (for almost 10 years). In my thesis, I will firstly describe the technique, its principles, tools, and philosophies. I will then delve into the application of the technique in the classroom (utilizing information gathered during my Introduction to the Techniques of Michael Chekhov course taught at Virginia Commonwealth University, Spring 2009, Fall 2009, and Spring 2010), and on the stage (utilizing information gathered during the two VCU Shafer Alliance Laboratory Theatre productions I directed of And Sometimes We Just Listen to Each Other Breathe in Spring 2009, and La Bête in Fall of 2009).

The following is part of a novel in addition to one short story and one piece of creative nonfiction I have worked on over the last three years.

A collection of poems.

A collection of poems

This creative thesis explores the issues of faith, identity, and family.

A full-length collection of poems.

The following poems were written between August of 2011 and May of 2014.

The nature of perception and discernment through an examination of hypotheses and theories considered peculiar in their time but which had at least some popular, scientific or social support.