Kisha Patterson, RA

Kisha Patterson is a historic preservation architect, artist, and activist practicing in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Earning her BS in Architectural studies at Florida A&M University and her Master of Architecture degree from SUNY Buffalo, Patterson is passionate about reusing buildings.  She revitalizes our cities to promote economic development, environmental responsibility, social justice, and sustainable growth- without sacrificing cultural and architectural heritage. 

Working as an intern with Robert Traynham Coles FAIA, Patterson was challenged to re-envision a decaying theater on Buffalo’s East Side. She works to establish the Hamlin Park Historic District, where Patterson’s father grew up, and where she spent her childhood summers.  Her involvement with Buffalo’s historic landscape continued with the new South American Rain Forest Exhibit at the Buffalo Zoo and several Buffalo Public School renovations. This work came while working as an intern architect at Foit-Albert Associates, as she was working toward her Master's degree.

Patterson began work under Kisha Patterson Architect LLC, an architecture firm dedicated to people-first and community-centered architecture in the Western Pennsylvania and Western New York regions. Additionally, she describes herself as a “visual and installation artist drawing homes, painting sidewalks, trying to understand the places we live, the margins, the overlapping of the genres, the interstices.” [1]

Aside from her work as an architect, Patterson has developed artwork about Western New York and Pennsylvania’s (particularly Pittsburgh) African American neighborhoods and the meaning and legacy of displacement.

In 2023, Patterson’s work was featured in the Burchfield Penney Art Center’s  “Stay Gold” community art party. Her Home Values installation at this event explored the rootlessness caused by housing inequities. When discussing this particular installation and the works included in it, Patterson stated:

“What makes a ‘Home’ when, like myself, and many African American women, struggle to own a home or even rent and keep an apartment? This new work includes my ‘Apartment Installation,' sketches and prints from my ‘Home and Other Horizons’ series, and an interactive ‘Housing Values’ card game. What does home mean to you?” [2]

[1] "Kisha Patterson artist biography," Burchfield Penney Artist File.

[2] "Kisha Patterson upcoming events," Burchfield Penney Artist File.