Designer/artist and Fitch Mountain resident Johanna Grawunder will be our guide for a morning hike to stretch our legs, meet other attendees and enjoy some fresh air. Johanna will discuss her commissioned installation on Fitch Mountain, Summit Variations, which consists of five functional sculptures sited around the top of the Summit Trail and (just announced!) we’ll be joined by special guest, Noah Jeppson of JeppsonEGD, who will share the design story behind the park’s interpretive and wayfinding system: a cohesive set of welcome, directional, interpretive, sponsor, and identification signs with tactile/Braille features along the accessible trail, a custom trail map, bilingual interpretive panels, and trail markers. He’ll touch on collaboration with the City’s Community Services Department and the Healdsburg Museum, how the program extends to Villa Chanticleer and the dog park, and the durable materials and standards that improve accessibility, visibility, and consistency across community sites.
Hike Schedule
We’ll gather at 9am at the trail head parking lot where Noah will give an overview of the parks wayfinding design system, and then we’ll hike 3.1 miles up to the top to view Summit Variations. The hike is meanders up with elevation of 800 feet. Moderately challenging hike on a dirt trail, so wear your hiking shoes and proper attire and bring your water bottles! Hiking poles will be helpful on the way back down. It just rained in Healdsburg, so the trail will be muddy. Dress accordingly.
October can be hot, so we’ll beat the heat with a morning walk up the beloved and mostly shaded Fitch Mountain. If you are not familiar with Fitch Mountain, it is a moderately challenging 3-mile loop, and the trail can be quite steep in places. All Trails for reference of route.
Johanna, Noah and a member of the Design Bay Area team will wait approx 10 minutes for attendees to arrive before taking the group on the trail, so please arrive early. Park restrooms onsite.
About Johanna Grawunder
Johanna Grawunder is an architect, artist and designer. Her works cover a broad range of projects, from large-scale public lighting and color installations, architectural interventions and interiors, to limited-edition furniture and light collections for Carpenters Workshop Gallery in US and Europe. She has collaborated with many notable architects and designers, creating custom lighting installations in their projects, and has also designed products for top companies including Flos, Boffi, and GlasItalia.
With an architectural background, she was drawn to the medium of light early on and has tried to incorporate architectural principles and scale, non-precious building materials and high technology light research into her designs.
Her work is included in many museum permanent collections, including the High Museum Atlanta, LACMA, CNAP, SFMOMA, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Art Institute Chicago, Denver Art Museum and Musée des Arts Décoratifs Paris.
With a degree in Architecture from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, she studied and worked with Gianni Pettena and Cristiano Toraldo di Francia of Superstudio in Florence (1984-1985) then moved to Milan to work with Sottsass Associati (1985-2001), becoming a partner in 1989. At Sottsass Associati she was involved primarily with architecture and interiors, co-designing with Ettore Sottsass, many of the firm’s most prestigious projects. In 2001 she opened her own design studio in San Francisco and Milan and currently resides in Healdsburg.
About Noah Jeppson
Based in Healdsburg, Noah Jeppson is an experiential graphic designer and founder of JeppsonEGD. He focuses on wayfinding, exhibition design, and placemaking, shaping how people move through and connect with civic spaces and public places. His background spans integrated branded environments and hands‑on community activation; local collaborations include work with the City of Healdsburg and the Healdsburg Museum. Recent project highlights include wayfinding for Oracle Park, Cal Poly Humboldt, Capitola Wharf, and Costanoa Lodge & Resort. Noah serves on the City of Healdsburg Arts & Culture Commission, helping expand access to the arts and establish the community’s One Percent for Arts program, and he is an active member of the Society for Experiential Graphic Design (SEGD).