May 2026 | Conservation, Illustration & Art | Independent project
Summary: In May of 2026, the Trump administration moved to convert the historic East Potomac Park golf course into a championship-size area, disrupting and potentially removing the park’s public roads and walkways. As a frequent visitor, I designed and sold T-shirts and posters to raise over $160 for the DC Preservation League, a non-profit that filed to put an emergency stop to construction.
Background
I first heard about the golf course renovation in a birdwatcher group-chat, where people were discussing the Trump administration’s plan to turn the historic East Potomac Park golf course into a championship-level course, with mockups showing current public roads and walkways completely removed. Construction was to begin immediately. Hains Point, a popular and iconic birdwatching area at the end of the park, would be completely closed to further public access should the planned renovations take place. Naturally, birders were outraged at the potential permanent closure.
People were discussing methods of action to stop the construction, with some floating the idea of merchandise. I offered to step in and spearhead design, production, and sales of shirts and posters.
Brainstorming
I sketched multiple possible designs, focusing on the design itself first rather than the product it would go on. I wanted to include symbols of the DC flag, the shape of the park itself, and the phrase “Hands off Hains!” coined by the birders.
Shirt Design
Shirts offer the most canvas space and the potential to spread the message to the greatest amount of people, so after my initial sketches, I focused on the ones that would look best on a shirt.
I wanted the main design to feature a map to show the size and shape of the affected area, including the public road that would be removed. For the sake of time and simplicity, I scrapped initial designs with complicated illustrations. Using the colors of DC’s flag (white and red), I drew a map of East Potomac Park/Hains Point with the phrase “Hands Off Hains!” in the white space of the Potomac River. I used the DC flag itself as a pocket design for the front of the shirt.
I shared the first iteration with the organizer of the DC birdwatchers group-chat, who suggested adding the three DC stars and a bird somewhere on the map. She also asked which design would be on the front, which inspired me to create two versions of the shirt–one with the map design on the front, the other with it on the back. I also offered the final design in three different shirt colors: white, ivory, and black.
Sales & Outcomes
The final product included those different variations, as well as a couple ducks in the water and the three DC stars on the park itself. I opted for a higher quality shirt and lower price point to encourage more sales and more regular and frequent wearing of the shirts. With non-profits and judges already working to stop construction, the biggest need was for awareness and time, not money.
After only one day of sharing the shirt links in birdwatching chats and on social media platforms, I sold 18 shirts and raised over $160 for the DC Preservation League, a non-profit organization that first filed for an emergency stop to golf course renovation.
Summer Delehanty's Portfolio 