Anya Shcherbakova is a Russian-American designer and educator based in Richmond, VA (USA). Her work is centered around deepening human connection to place through tools like map-making and generative art to translate one’s experience. She uses participatory processes to guide urban design initiatives with a social impact.

For the past decade she’s worked in multidisciplinary design practices seeking to improve quality of life and lectures on co-design principles that build collective power and solve complex issues. After graduating from VCUarts in Graphic Design and Media Studies in 2015, she worked at PLAYLAB, INC. a globally recognized creative studio realizing a range of ideas through design, strategy, and production. She’s directed programs at Storefront for Community Design, a nonprofit center making design services and resources accessible to all and taught mOb studio, an experimental design course at VCUarts that pairs students with hands-on experience in community-engaged projects. Currently, she operates her own design practice, Studio AYS, and collaborates with people and organizations on projects that explore and activate the spaces we dwell in.

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