14th Annual Reshaping Award Nominations are live

ROCHESTER, NY – July 29, 2025 – Community Design Rochester announces its 14^th Annual Reshaping Rochester Award nominations. These awards recognize exemplary design and activism achievements that impact people, neighborhoods and communities. The nomination process begins in July and culminates with the announcement of winners at a special program in November at the Memorial Art Gallery.

The Design Awards recognize projects that demonstrate design excellence and contribute to enriching the public realm.  The public is invited to nominate projects completed in the past five years and within the nine-county Finger Lakes region that is served by Community Design Rochester.  Projects can include new construction or the adaptive re-use of existing structures.

There are four design award categories: one for large projects, one for medium projects, one for small projects, and one for a student project. 

The Activism Awards celebrates the importance of civic spirit, persistence, and determination that translates visions into reality.  It recognizes individuals or organizations that are going beyond conventional boundaries to achieve a transformative idea or process that positively impacts a neighborhood or community in the greater Rochester region.

Individual citizens, organizations, neighborhood leaders, and students (in either K–12 or higher education) are all eligible for the award.

Nominations for the awards will be drawn from within the nine-county Finger Lakes region surrounding Rochester, NY that is served by Community Design Rochester (CDR), and will be accepted from the general public.  A jury of individuals with diverse backgrounds will determine the winners.

Nomination Forms (online & physical versions available) accepted now through Sept 16, 2025.

● All nomination materials may be submitted via online nomination forms:

● Link to online Design nomination form: https://forms.gle/ZZi7cgKf6eGvRQMy5

● Link to online Activism nomination form: https://forms.gle/A8Mafg7bjfRHKci66

● OR: emailed admin@rrcdc.org, hand-delivered, or mailed to Community Design Rochester, 1115 East Main Street, Door #3B (Box #61), Rochester, NY 14609.