Ashley B. McDaniel (she/her) is an artist, designer, and graduate of Portland State University’s Master of Architecture program. A lifelong artist, she formally studied fine art as an undergraduate at Pacific Northwest College of Art and is a first-generation college graduate with a 20-year background in the social sciences, cultivated both in and beyond academic settings.

Ashley has over a decade of teaching experience in the arts, working with students of all ages—including during her graduate studies—while maintaining her own creative practice. Her work bridges art, sociology, and architecture, with the goal of creating thoughtful, impactful spaces.

For the past five years, Ashley has worked in the field of architecture while residing in the Portland area. During this time, she has gained extensive experience with industry-standard architectural software and adapted her Adobe skills to produce architectural renderings and marketing materials. She also held a research position focused on Permanent Supportive Housing and was an active participant in internal committees and groups within an architecture firm.

Ashley’s architectural interests center on universal design as an overarching philosophy, with particular focus on trauma-informed design, biophilic design, size- and age-inclusive design, and other holistic approaches. Additional interests include third spaces, sustainability, second-responders, and public-interest design. She also gained invaluable experience working at a cross-disciplinary engineering firm within the public works department.

Her core values include authenticity, accountability, and assertive communication. A big-picture thinker and kinesthetic, top-down learner, Ashley views the exchange of knowledge as a symbiotic process. Looking ahead, she is committed to designing architecture that matters—creating spaces that positively impact society. She is eager to apply her diverse skills and perspectives to the evolving field of architecture and excited about the next chapter in her career.