NEW YORK SCHOOL OF INTERIOR DESIGN
LAYOUT / New and Notable at NYSID
FALL 2021 | 35
Steelcase Social Innovation Fellowship & Pipeline to Design
NYSID will be bringing continuing education straight to the designers by opening a new space within the New York Design Center, the city’s time-honored resource for fine furnishings. “NYSID@NYDC” will be an institute for interior design education and professional studies that showcases NYSID’s commitment to continuing education in interior design by offering a lecture series, interactive workshops, field coaching, and studio classes. The space will also feature a studio for recording creative content, podcasts, and more. None of this would have been possible without the help and guidance of NYSID trustee James Druckman, president and CEO of the New York Design Center. The space is expected to open in spring, 2022.
NYSID’s Dean/Vice President for Academic Affairs, Ellen Fisher, says, “There’s a crisis in design practice today: students from underrepresented and/or underserved communities often do not pursue a career in interior design because they may be unfamiliar with the field, and do not see themselves included in the design profession. Our communities and clients suffer because important viewpoints are missing from the design process.” Dean Fisher saw an opportunity to do something about the lack of equitable access to design education. She applied for Steelcase’s Social Innovation Fellowship, working with Interim Director of Graduate Studies Barbara Weinreich to craft a proposal called “Pipeline to Design,” which won the fellowship for NYSID. The fellowship was awarded through a jury of industry
NYSID Awards Its First Diversity Scholarship to Chazzten Pettiford
NYSID@NYDC
The New York School of Interior Design awarded the first scholarship from its newly formed diversity scholarship fund last fall, thanks to the generosity of the fund’s inaugural corporate sponsor, Holland & Sherry. Says Daniel Waldron, vice president of Interiors at Holland & Sherry, “An array of perspective is what will lead interior and textile design into our next era of originality.” The recipient is Chazzten Pettiford ’22 (MFA1), a former advertising director who is finally realizing her childhood dream of becoming an interior designer. “The more diversity we have, the more we can change how interior design is seen and practiced,” says Pettiford.
Alexa Hampton & Andrew Oyden Offer Advice on Interior Design’s “DesignTV” NYSID trustee Alexa Hampton and Andrew Oyen doled out sage career advice in an Interior Design’s “DesignTV” interview, with Interior Design Editor-in-Chief Cindy Allen, NYSID honorary doctorate recipient, on behalf of the College. Their interview on the topic of 5 Things I Wish I Knew Before I Started My Career was insightful and entertaining, and garnered 3.9 thousand views and counting. The pair of superstar designers generously offered to participate in a live Q&A for the NYSID community following a special viewing, and 75 members of our community took advantage of this opportunity.
leaders and Steelcase’s Social Innovation Lab, which aims to create more equity in education by empowering changemakers. Steelcase provided NYSID with $5,000 to create a pilot program through the College’s Pre-college program. Starting with a strategic partnership with the YWCA of NYC, NYSID offered its Pre-college Intro to Interior Design course to the young women of the Y. After participating in the regular NYSID two week Pre-college, the YWCA students in the Pipeline for Design cohort continued for another week, working on a design project for the Y’s Family Resource Center, its NYC headquarters. For related news on the Kravet family’s multi-year commitment to send students from Kips Bay Boys and Girls Club to NYSID Pre-college, see the giving section.
STAFF, FACULTY & CURRICULUM
New Course: Frontiers of Sustainable Interior Environments David Bergman, director of NYSID’s Master of Professional Studies in Sustainable Interior Environments, introduced a new and innovative course to the program over the summer. It centered on bringing some of the most cutting-edge experts in sustainability and related fields into the classroom for guest lectures that informed student research. Guests included Caitlin Southwick, executive director of Ki Culture, Eric Corey Freed, senior VP of CannonDesign, Jennifer Cooper, chief commercial officer at International WELL Building Institute (IWBI), Mandy Lee, program manager for centering equity in the sustainable building sector at NAACP, and Kia Weatherspoon, design equity advocate and founder, Determined by Design, and many other leaders in the field. Bergman says, “The students’ research was impressive. The plan is to assemble a few semesters of the students’ findings into a resource for the industry.” This course will be offered again in summer 2022.
Laura Catlan, NYSID’s New Director of External Relations
Sacsha Flowers, NYSID’s New Career Services & Internship Coordinator
Laura Catlan has taken the helm of NYSID’s External Relations Department. Catlan, who has worked with NYSID for several years as a marketing communications consultant, brings her experience as a former director of enrollment communications for Adelphi University, and VP, account director at Grey NY advertising agency to the table. If you’re interested in media or content partnerships with NYSID, reach out to her at LCatlan@NYSID.edu.
Sacsha Flowers, a former fashion designer who worked as an alumni career advisor at The New School, a student success advisor at Parsons School of Design, and a creative talent manager at Alexander Wang Inc., has come on board as career services and internship coordinator at NYSID. She says, “I speak the language of both creatives and corporate hiring departments.”
