SCAD President Shares Design Secrets of Eccentric Southerners

Last week I was lucky enough to attend the Richmond Academy of Medical Alliance Foundation (phew!) luncheon at The Jefferson Hotel with guest speaker Paula Wallace, the founder of the Savannah College of Art and Design. I’m not sure how one goes about starting a college, but in 1978 she did, and now it’s the largest art and design school in the country. Amazing!

Here’s what’s happening at SCAD:

Designer Isabel Toledo (recently of Michelle-Obama-inaugural-suit fame) is coming to the fashion school’s fashion week this year; last year “The Wrestler” premiered at its film festival; through its Working Class program, students actually design for major corporations (they do the photography for the West Elm catalogue, for example); they have an amazing shop of student work called Shop SCAD; and an incredible campus in the medieval town of Lacoste in the south of France. I don’t know about you, but I was totally blown away.

VCU’s Third “Genius” in 5 Years

When sculptor Tara Donovan was awarded a MacArthur “Genius Grant” just a couple of weeks ago, she became the third Virginia Commonwealth University grad to receive the prestigious award in 5 years. Go Rams! Donovan has made a name for herself by transforming everyday, man-made materials into natural entities. Her secret weapon: repetition. In her hands, straws become glaciers, toothpicks become haystacks, tape turns into bubbles. This spring she had an installation at the Metropolitan Museum of Art where she turned Mylar tape into round bubbles, climbing the walls like an infestation.