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 Letter from the President | Highlights from the President | President's Journal (PDF -- 650K) Highlights from the President SCAD Receives Historic Preservation Awards Coming This Fall: SCAD Scarves, Printed by Hermès Spotlight on Writing President Wallace Meets With Award-Winning SCAD Designers SCAD RECEIVES HISTORIC PRESERVATION AWARDS
SCAD received two new historic preservation awards in recognition of contributions to the revitalization of downtown Savannah and of the example the college has set nationally and internationally. The college was selected as the inaugural recipient of the Georgia Cities Foundation's "Renaissance" award. SCAD Executive Vice President Brian Murphy accepted the award on behalf of the college during the Annual Convention of the Georgia Municipal Association June 22 at the Savannah International Trade and Convention Center. The Renaissance Award recognizes an individual or organization that has made a significant contribution to the revitalization of one or more of Georgia's cities. Georgia Cities Foundation President Mike Starr says, "We recognized SCAD because we think that over a long period of time SCAD has made a significant impact on the revitalization of downtown Savannah through the rehabilitation and adaptive reuse of downtown buildings for a variety of different uses." "SCAD has really been the catalyst for the revitalization of downtown Savannah," says Lise Sundrla, executive director of the Savannah Development and Renewal Authority, who, in addition to Arnold Tenenbaum, a member of the college's Board of Visitors, nominated SCAD for the award. "The college has worked with the city, state and private individuals to improve property values and uses that have brought a vibrant life to our historic district and downtown. The founders of the college saw opportunity where others saw decay." In her nomination of the college, Sundrla cited the adaptive reuse of the Neal Blun Company, a former lumber and carriage factory on Montgomery Street, and the 80,000-square-foot Levy Department Store on Broughton Street. The rehabilitation of these buildings, which now house, respectively, the Digital Media Center and Jen Library, has stimulated growth and renewal around these formerly depressed areas. The Savannah College of Art and Design also received the 2003 National Main Street Award for Civic Leadership from the National Main Street Center (part of the National Trust for Historic Preservation) in recognition of the college's strong commitment to downtown Savannah and the model it provides for an institution's integration into a historic commercial district. The college's innovative re-uses of space are many. In the 2002–2003 academic year, a former railroad freight warehouse became home to the college's sculpture minor. The painting department is located in a former grocery and beverage sales and service center. Among the other buildings that SCAD has rehabilitated are school buildings, hotels, Masonic lodges, theaters, manor houses, warehouses and an armory. However, "it's about more than the buildings," says Susie Clinard, vice president for human resources, who accepted the Main Street award on behalf of the college May 19 in Cincinnati, Ohio. "It's about the leadership. Paula Wallace had the vision to see what historic preservation could mean not only to the college, but for educating future preservationists in preserving their communities and buildings." "I think it's an outstanding achievement," says Crystal Weaver, dean of the School of Building Arts, who accepted the award with Vice President Clinard. "It brought home the impact SCAD has made not just as an academic institution, but as a dynamic partner and leader in the community." The manner in which the college has adapted more than 50 buildings has earned awards in the past from many other organizations, including the Historic Savannah Foundation, the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation, the Art Deco Societies of America, the American Institute of Architects and the International Downtown Association. "SCAD has brought people back into the community," Sundrla says. "Once that happens, there are opportunities for other development to happen around SCAD's development." back to top COMING THIS FALL: SCADSCARVES, PRINTED BY HERMES
This fall President Paula Wallace and the Savannah College of Art and Design will receive a very special delivery from renowned French luxury goods company Hermès: 600 silk scarves designed by SCAD alumna Rachael Knight (B.F.A., illustration, 2002) and 480 cotton ones designed by alumna Marilyn Grace Glastetter (B.F.A., illustration, 1997). The limited edition scarves, meticulously packaged in beribonned yellow boxes bearing the SCAD logo, will be available for purchase in Savannah at shopSCAD. The arrival of Knight's and Glastetter's scarves in Savannah in December represents the culmination of a nearly two-year collaboration between SCAD and Hermès, the 166-year-old saddle-and-leather-goods company. This Franco-American partnership got under way in January 2002 with a school-wide call for scarf design entries. President Wallace was one of two judges who narrowed the field of nearly 50 entries down to 11. Assessing the designs along with her was Hubert Millet, the man who established the link between SCAD and Hermès. Millet is the honorary consul of France in Savannah, and he is also a member of the Hermès board and SCAD's Board of Visitors. The 11 semi-finalist designs were then sent to Paris, where Hermès Président Directeur Général Jean-Louis Dumas selected Knight's design, Salt Marsh, as the first-place entry. Salt Marsh depicts the plant and insect life of a Lowcountry marshland in a brilliant burst of Art Nouveau stylization and color. For the No. 2 entry, Dumas chose Glastetter's design, Savannah, a work that represents a typical Savannah square with an almost Shaker simplicity. Salt Marsh is being produced in three different color schemes—a spring palette dominated by soft greens, a summer palette of burnt orange and a winter palette of slate blue and aubergine. For Savannah, Glastetter chose to keep her building colors true to life, so the scarf will be printed in only one color scheme. President Wallace notes that this project well exemplifies the goals of the college. "The mission of the college is to prepare talented students for careers, and the experience of working with one of the world's premier fashion houses has been invaluable for all those who participated," she says.
In addition, the partnership with Hermès is representative of SCAD's increasingly international profile. Among its other international endeavors, the college acquired a campus in Lacoste, a medieval village in the South of France, in January 2002. And over the past year, SCAD has held three exhibitions in Paris, most recently a mixed-media group show called Pour l'Amour des Chiens ("For the Love of Dogs"). This exhibition was on view at the stately Mona Bismarck Foundation from July 2 through August 30. For the two SCAD graduates whose scarves will be available for purchase exclusively at SCAD, the chance to have a design printed by Hermès represents an important boost to their budding careers. The experience has also touched their lives in ways more profound than career-building, since, as part of their prize, SCAD sent the two young women to Paris last March. In France, Knight and Glastetter were given an insider's view of the production of a Hermès scarf at the company's silk workshop in Lyon. In fact, the brightly colored square of material they saw emerge from a long band of pure white silk was Salt Marsh. For Alabama-born Knight, the opportunity to see her scarf printed in this far-away French city famous for the production of silk and Burgundy wines was, she says, "perhaps the best day of my life." For Glastetter, the highlight of the trip was talking with Président Dumas about her scarf. "He did more than introduce himself. He took the time to sit down with us and look at our designs and comment on our work," she notes. The time Dumas spent with the two young women in Paris also impressed President Wallace. "Monsieur Dumas was exceptionally gracious and giving of his time and advice with these young designers. I am very impressed by his personal involvement with the company that his family founded in 1837," she says. For more information about purchasing SCAD's limited-edition scarves produced by Hermès, call shopSCAD at 912.525.5180. back to top SPOTLIGHT ON WRITING
Over the past 25 years, the Savannah College of Art and Design has successfully prepared talented students for careers in the visual and performing arts, design, the building arts and the history of art and architecture. In addition to providing world-renowned artistic instruction, the college fulfills its mission by equipping students with a broad liberal arts background, particularly emphasizing the importance of strong writing skills. President Wallace feels that development of writing skills and exposure to different types of writing can add significant value to a student's education at the college. "I have found that our students are multi-faceted and are interested in academics as well as all the different art forms," Wallace notes. "The college strives to prepare students for speech-writing, letter-writing and song-writing just as well as we prepare them in the visual arts and design." In keeping with this philosophy, the college initiated a writing minor in 1999. According to Fiona Le Brun, Ph.D., chair of the liberal arts department, the program reflects the college's commitment to writing, which extends to all disciplines. Students in the minor are introduced to a variety of writing techniques, and complete the program adept in several genres and styles. Each student concentrates in one of four areas—fiction, non-fiction, scriptwriting or poetry—while also taking specialized courses outside the concentration, as well as electives in literature. Through the writing minor, students learn to employ the written word as a vehicle for self-expression and a means of enhancing their primary artistic focus. Le Brun describes writing as an art form that is "foundational to the skills of effective communication, critical thinking and the verbal articulation of self and the world around us." She goes on to note that "students preparing for careers in the field of art and design must constantly utilize and hone such skills, as they make and articulate their point of view. A concentration in writing supports students in this crucial endeavor." SCAD writing minors share Le Brun's belief that a multi-faceted writing background offers many advantages. "I have always been interested in writing, so I was excited when SCAD created the minor," says recent graduate Jennifer Gilbert, who majored in photography and minored in writing. "I developed a pattern and a style that will lend themselves to any type of writing I do. I chose the non-fiction track, and if I pursue photojournalism, my studies will be an asset." Writing minors—and other SCAD students who are interested in writing and literature—are provided with opportunities to attend lectures and workshops conducted by prominent writers. For instance, in previous years, the college has hosted accomplished poets, including Maggie Anderson, R.T. Smith, Rodney Jones and Kim Addonizio. Also, Henry Louis Gates Jr., Maya Angelou, Nora Ephron and Edward Albee have spoken at SCAD. Building upon the success of these visits, a schedule of visiting authors who represent a diverse range of literary genres is planned for the 2003-2004 academic year. In addition to benefiting from the insights of renowned literary figures, students in SCAD writing courses are encouraged to publish their finest works in college-sponsored publications. A periodic journal titled Brushstroke showcased student writings in the past, and the publication of Brushstroke's successor—artemis—is forthcoming. The first installment of artemis will feature a collection of short stories and poetry written by SCAD students. The high quality of student work included in such publications reflects the dedicated efforts of faculty who teach in the writing program. They are distinguished scholars and published authors of novels, non-fiction books, poems, articles, essays and short stories. In fact, to celebrate the inauguration of the writing minor, Dr. Teresa Griffis and Dr. John Valentine of the liberal arts department assembled a compilation of literary works by SCAD writing faculty, also including works by other SCAD faculty and staff and guest authors. Design Press published the journal under the evocative title Convergence. As the name suggests, Convergence, and its recently published successor, Convergence 2, blend text with visual images, conveying, as Griffis puts it, "a vivid rendering of completion and balance in the world of art—the symmetry of word and image." back to top PRESIDENT WALLACE MEETS WITH AWARD-WINNING SCAD DESIGNERS
Starting a profitable design business in the current economy is no small feat. Neither is beating out established corporate behemoths like the Ford Motor Company for a prestigious industrial design award. But a group of SCAD students and graduates have accomplished both. And right in their alma mater's backyard! Euforia Design Inc., a Savannah-based design company founded in August 2002 by seven SCAD students and graduates, won an Industrial Design Excellence gold medal for a survival "pod" the company produced. The pod is a medical stretcher that can be used as a raft or transformed into a six-person survival tent and was designed for use in disaster relief, such as flooding problems in Mozambique. The award is considered to be the Oscar of industrial design. Euforia also designed the college's 25th anniversary logo. President Paula Wallace recently spoke with four of Euforia's founders, Joseph Molinaro (B.F.A., product design, pending 2003), Attila Bendeguz (B.F.A., product design, 2000), Justin Pauly (B.F.A., motion graphics, pending 2003) and Daniel Vieira (B.F.A., product design, 2000). President Paula S. Wallace: I'm interested in how you came together. Were you just friends, or do you each have your own areas of expertise? In a calculated way did you bring these skills together or was it more of a "people" kind of thing? Attila Bendeguz: Some of us met at a national industrial design conference in Monterey. We were talking about the economy and how difficult it was to find jobs. So rather than look for jobs when there weren't any, we decided to do our own thing. Justin Pauly: I was not at the conference and didn't know Attila and Joe before our first meeting. We were brought together for very specific reasons so we could each learn to cover all of our bases and to build a company. PSW: Did you set out to win this competition? JP: It was kind of out of left field, beating IBM and such. Pretty nuts. We got to the awards ceremony and people are accepting for Microsoft and then a bunch of kids [us] walk up. It was interesting. Then Bruce Nussbaum, an editor at Business Week, gave a very interesting speech prior to the awards presentation. It was about how the industry needs to change. He said the industry needs to look toward young designers, especially those who are international and speak many languages. He kept asking questions to the audience as part of his speech such as, "How many designers are under 30 in your firm?" Our response was, "All of them." "Do you have a designer that speaks Chinese?" "Yes, we do!" PSW: You were embodying his remarks! Tell me about some of your other projects.
AB: We have a line of in-house products, home accessories, for which we are trying to find sponsors. JP: We've created a line of products on spec for Cirque du Soleil. We're trying to put our in-house products on Web sites and in retail stores, and that's a tedious process to go through. It's been challenging to create from scratch a complete line of products, not just one or two items. Joseph Molinaro: It can be frustrating if you don't have a brand name established. Most of our products are only in the prototype phase. PSW: Have you encountered the frustration of having to "dumb down" your designs? Have you had to compromise on your artistic vision for practical reasons? JP: Not yet. That's one of the great things about being independent. We can say, "Look, this is what we do." We're really trying to promote ourselves as cutting edge. But at the same time we want our designs out there to be useful. Some designs are so "out there," they're just not useful. We want to push the envelope without breaking it. PSW: Can you describe how you conceived the logo for SCAD's 25th anniversary? Daniel Vieira: We wanted to illustrate the role SCAD has played in Savannah and the art and design community over the past 25 years. Right off the bat, we knew that the logo had to be different; it had to not only call attention to SCAD, but also demonstrate a meaning that fit the college. The logo integrates both art and design. The fact that "20" is in numbers and "fifth" is written causes the viewer to think about it for a fraction of a second, since it is not commonly seen. That fraction of a second that it takes for the mind to process the information creates a short-term memory that triggers the brain to remember the college's 25th anniversary. We believe that's why it is so powerful. PSW: What do you see yourselves doing next? JP: Well, we'd like to get one or two Fortune 1000 companies as clients, to get more notoriety. Since we can't afford advertising, it's important for us to get as much press as possible. The competitions are great exposure for us and will hopefully lead us to larger clients. We see ourselves moving forward. It's been less than a year and we're turning a profit. In this economy, I think that's pretty good. We are well positioned as the market's coming around, and I think it's all sort of happening at once. The award's fantastic. We're all young and very hungry, and we've got an incredible work ethic and motivation. I don't see too much that's going to hold us back. PSW: So, now that you have a track record, are you shooting for the same award next year? JP: Absolutely.
PSW: I think you're really smart to incorporate excellent graphic design into everything you do because no matter how well something works, the way it looks is so important. I think sometimes people can either concentrate on kind of the superficial appearance of something or on function, but you're bringing it all together. You're thinking beyond time and space, and you're thinking about things that are probably conceptually beyond where you "should" be right now. But you don't know that you can't do them, so therefore you do them. That's kind of the way the college was founded, and that's why the bee is our mascot—because aerodynamically a bee shouldn't be able to fly, when you compare its body mass to the size of its wings. The college shouldn't have been able to fly 25 years ago. I hope that all of our students and graduates take heart from the college's example. You have good ideas and you work hard; you create products with quality and you throw in some pizzazz. I think you've got the recipe for success. And I think the international composition of your firm is advantageous for the whole creative process, as well as for actually selling and promoting yourselves. I'm very proud of you! back to top |
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