For many decades, the University of Tennessee College of Architecture and Design has viewed the entire state as its laboratory. The creative energy and expertise of the college are applied to the real problems confronting Tennessee communities. No single person, nor design center, nor strategic plan can explain the evolution of this academic/civic collaboration. From different perspectives, faculty and students addressed the challenges within local communities, moving ideas from the school into the public arena. Acknowledging the convergence of bottom-up/top-down influence, design ideas can persuade communities to consider new alternatives for the future.