Cultivating Community: Gambrell Faculty Fellowship brings the University and a local farm together to sow seeds for a good life.

The day the ribbon was cut on the “Roots of Change” project at Deep Roots CPS Farm, it was easy to imagine a good life.

The sun shone out of a bright blue sky. A golden Palomino horse grazed lazily on the lawn, its blonde mane ruffled by the breeze. Nearby, James Beard Award-nominated chef Greg Collier served up a hearty chicken stew alongside tart pickles and crisp lettuces – all produced from the farm’s grounds.

A community of neighbors, UNC Charlotte students and faculty, and farm advocates chatted and munched as they admired the EcoDome, a vertical farming structure developed, built and installed by a collection of 45 architecture and urban design students under the direction of Assistant Professor of Architecture Kyle Spence.

Some 18 months in the making, the “Roots of Change” project was funded by a Gambrell Faculty Fellowship awarded to Spence through the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute.