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Alumni Spotlight: Nicole Hilton’s Legacy

Art & Design, Alumni, Architecture, Alumni Profiles, ,

Nicole Hilton BArch 2007In May 2014, Nicole Hilton was notified that she had passed the Architect Registration Examination (ARE), making her the first African American female graduate of the LSU School of Architecture to become a licensed architect.

The honor of being LSU’s first female African American to obtain licensure couldn’t have gone to a more worthy individual. Nicole was one of the original charter members for the LSU chapter of the National Organization of Minority Architecture Students (NOMAS). She served as the organization’s first president from its establishment in 2005 through her senior year, joining forces with AIAS, and she became a national representative of the NOMA Board of Directors. Nicole earned an honorable mention in the OJ Baker design competition and was a recipient of the Simpson Strong Tie Scholarship. Upon graduation, she was awarded the Alpha Rho Chi medal, which nationally recognizes students for academic excellence, promise of professional merit, and leadership.

After graduating with a Bachelor of Architecture in 2007, Nicole accepted a position at McAfee3 Architects, a female-owned, African American firm with headquarters in Atlanta. Nicole excelled under the mentorship of Cheryl McAfee, FAIA and CEO, and John Busby, FAIA. During her IDP training at McAfee3, she obtained her LEED AP certification and gained a valuable, well-rounded experience working in a small firm.

She wanted to lead her own projects, “to be thrown out there to sink or swim,” which led to her position as a designer and project manager at Chasm Architecture in Atlanta. For more than two years, she has worked under the mentorship of architecture alumnus Nathaniel Clark (BArch 1996), AIA, NCARB, president of Chasm. Her work experience has included a variety of projects in aviation, higher education, commercial, civic, and religious architecture. As a registered architect in the state of Georgia, Nicole is currently leading projects for the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and Fort Valley State University. She is a member of AIA and has maintained her affiliation with NOMA.

 

In Nicole’s experience the most significant challenge for minorities in the profession is being placed in a position to make an impact and have a voice. “The key is for those in the profession to make a conscious effort to have a diverse project team. Excelling at your job will help others find it common to work with you as a counterpart. Focus on having a high-quality skillset; don’t limit yourself to only what you’re exposed to; and position yourself so that your voice is heard,” Nicole advised.

Nicole’s achievements are truly an inspiration to others in the profession. “I have excelled beyond the norm and am a professional because of the School of Architecture’s constant requirement of excellence, intense preparation, and balanced education. The school’s and the college’s intentional efforts to make diversity in architecture, art, and design—especially as a Southern school—are remarkable and important.”

QuadWinter2015_Cover_WEBThis alumni spotlight is an excerpt from the article, “Diversity by Design,” published in the winter 2015 issue of Quad: The LSU College of Art & Design Magazine, coming to your doorstep in January 2015. Read Quad online at ISUUU.

 

EQUIPPED: An Inside Look at Daniel Willson’s Studio

Students, Publications, Interior Design,

QuadWinter2015_Cover_WEBEnjoy this excerpt from the winter 2015 issue of Quad: The LSU College of Art & Design Magazine, coming to your doorstep in January 2015. Read Quad online at ISUUU.

EQUIPPED

Daniel Willson, BFA 2012/BID 2016

DanielWillson_SliderEquipped_Studio_WEB

  1. I always have at least one hoodie in my studio. It gets cold up here during the hot months, and during the cold months it’s handy if I need to make a food or supply run outside of the building—and for when my girlfriend, who is majoring in landscape architecture, visits me in my studio.
  2. I use a small whiteboard for sketching out quick space-planning solutions or other design ideas. I photograph anything I like if I need to see it again.
  3. Pliers, steel wire, and glue are a few staples I use when creating models.
  4. I order samples of things I like even if I’m not using them for a project—who knows what you might need later?
  5. A T-square, a ruler, and a scale are all necessary drafting supplies.
  6. I recently received a BFA in sculpture and made these gears for a large sculpture installation that was part of my capstone project.
  7. I made this model and 3D print for a prototyping exercise in a components course this semester.
  8. I picked up this saxophone sculpture at the art market downtown. I like to keep images and artwork around my space to keep me inspired.
  9. I don’t like to rely too heavily on computer-generated images of spaces, so I use Prismacolor pencils, watercolors, drafting pencils, vellum, templates, and other supplies for renderings. Hand-drawn elements add a personal touch to presentations that can’t be replicated.
  10. I use my laptop for everything. I run design and 3D-modeling software as well as Microsoft Office Suite and other applications.
  11. General office supplies are nice to have around. You have to stay organized in this program or you’ll go nuts!
  12. I always have a Moleskine on my person or in my book sack. I use these pocket-sized gridded books in place of large sketchbooks. (Yes, I draw on the covers.)

Daniel Willson obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts with a focus in sculpture and a minor in art history from the LSU School of Art in 2012. He is currently in the third year of the interior design program at LSU and expects to graduate in 2016 with the designation of Distinguished Communicator from the Communications across the Curriculum program. CxC is a unique academic excellence program that helps students refine communication skills specific to their chosen field of study. Upon graduating from LSU (again), Daniel plans to move to Houston, Texas, with his soon-to-be bride to live and work.

Photos by Brian Deppe, MFA photography candidate at LSU

Ceramics Professor Andy Shaw’s Work Featured in Glaze and Ceramics Monthly

Art & Design, Publications, Art, Ceramics, Faculty, , ,

Andy ShawIn addition to being selected as a 2015 McKnight Resident by the Northern Clay Center earlier this year, Andy Shaw and his work are featured in two recent publications: Glaze, a book by Brian Taylor and Kate Doody, and the December issue of Ceramics Monthly magazine. Shaw’s work will also be featured in New Ceramic Surface Design by Molly Hatch to be published in 2015 by Quarry Books. “It has been a good year!” exclaimed Shaw, associate professor of ceramics at the LSU School of Art.

Glaze: The Ultimate Ceramic Artist’s Guide to GlazeGlaze and Color (Barron’s, August 2014) is an instructional and inspirational book with a wealth of guidance on the glazing process in which several of today’s leading ceramicists share the recipes and techniques behind their most stunning works of art—each selected specifically for its unique glaze. Each entry in Glaze includes an overview of the artist’s work; a technical description of the featured piece; the artist’s creative intention behind the glazes used; and glaze recipes. The book features more than 450 color illustrations and is described by the publisher as “an absolute must-have for potters of all levels.” Glaze is available wherever books are sold, including barronseduc.stores.yahoo.net/0764166425.html and Amazon.com.

FC_Dec14CMIn the December issue of Ceramics Monthly magazine, the editorial staff asked five artists a series of questions about the ideas that inspire their work and the practicalities of designing and making sets meant for use. The artists also share details about their studio processes along with slip and glaze recipes. Shaw’s Tableware series was featured in a four-page article titled, “Andy Shaw: Designing for Durability and Use.” (Read the article here.) Shaw and his work were highlighted again in the letter from Editor Jessica Knapp. “Seeing Shaw’s vase and cups in an exhibition at the same time that we were putting the finishing touches on this issue added to the experience,” states Knapp. “Looking at the actual work felt very special.” (Read the entire letter from the editor here.)

A mug in Andy Shaw's Tableware series

A mug in Andy Shaw’s Tableware series

“The Tableware series addresses utility within the parameters of functional dishes, components of which include the round and multiples,” Shaw says in the article. “As an artist, I want to make work that satisfies my creative interests, but I like to remember that with functional objects, the client will take the pots home and incorporate them into their lives in ways I won’t ever know. I think of the neutral glaze as providing a place of vacancy, an intentionally designed withholding that promotes the cook to bring completion to the work.”

A video of Shaw discussing the ideas central to his Tableware series is available for subscribers at ceramicsmonthly.org.

Vases by Andy Shaw

Vases by Andy Shaw

Shaw’s tableware has received multiple awards; is shown widely across the U.S.; was recently featured in exhibitions in Australia and Korea; and, in addition to Ceramics Monthly and Glaze,has been published in Studio Potter, Ceramics: Art and Perception, Garth Clark’s Shards, and in Elevations, the magazine for Club Members of the Ritz Carlton. Several museums hold his work within their collections: the Garth Clark and Mark Del Vecchio Collection at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, the Swidler Collection at the Crocker Art Museum, AMOCA (American Museum of Ceramic Art), the Schein-Joseph Museum, and the Sanbao Institute of Ceramic Art in Jingdezhen, China.

Read more about Shaw at design.lsu.edu/faculty/shaw-andy. For information about the ceramics program at LSU, one of the top 10 MFA ceramics programs in the country according to US News & World Report, visit art.lsu.edu.

Faculty & Alumni Named Forty Under 40 Honorees

Art & Design, Landscape Architecture, Honors & Awards, Community Outreach, Art, Graphic Design, Photography, Alumni, Architecture, Faculty, Publicity, , ,

The LSU College of Art & Design is proud to congratulate this year’s Forty Under 40 honorees named by the Greater Baton Rouge Business Report. The 2014 honorees include Jeff Carney, associate professor of architecture and director of the Coastal Sustainability Studio (CSS) at LSU; College of Art & Design alumni Haley Blakeman (BLA 1999), Charles Scott D’Agostino (MLA 2005), and Hunter Territo (BFA 2007); and former LSU photography student Tommy Talley. Greater Baton Rouge Business Report’s Forty Under 40 celebrates the best and brightest professionals in the Capital Region.

Each honoree was featured in the November 25–December 8, 2014 issue of the bi-weekly magazine and online at businessreport.com. The rising stars were recognized and celebrated at a special event in their honor on December 4, 2014. Business Report stated that this year’s selection process was their most challenging to date—they received 461 nominations recommending 243 candidates.

Carney_JeffJeff Carney was recognized for his work with the LSU Coastal Sustainability Studio (css.lsu.edu), a transdisciplinary program of the College of Art & Design, College of Engineering, and the School of the Coast & Environment. CSS brings together disciplines that normally work separately to respond to critical coastal issues in a comprehensive way. Since the founding of CSS in 2009, Carney has been involved with the development of numerous projects. He recently directed the Mayors’ Institute on City Design’s 2013 Southern Regional Conference and is currently directing several multi-year projects, including the Louisiana Resiliency Assistance Program (LRAP) and the visualization of the Coastal Protection Restoration Authority 2017 Coastal Master Plan and River Modeling Center. These visualizations will be implemented in CPRA’s headquarters in the new Water Campus under construction in downtown Baton Rouge. Read Carney’s complete Forty Under 40 profile.

lsu landscape architecture alumniAs director of implementation for the Center for Planning Excellence (cpex.org), Haley Blakeman works to make Louisiana’s communities better places to live. Blakeman has worked on planning efforts and implementation projects with the Town of Jena, City of Thibodaux, St. Charles Parish, Vernon Parish, Lafayette City-Parish, East Feliciana Parish, and Lafourche Parish. She led the Better Block BR implementation on Government Street in Baton Rouge and has also worked with the National Association of Realtors to educate their members about Smart Growth. She holds a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture from the LSU Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture and a Master of Urban and Regional Planning from the University of New Orleans. Read Blakeman’s complete Forty Under 40 profile.

lsu landscape architecture alumni

Charles Scott D’Agostino received a Master of Landscape Architecture from LSU in 2005 and is currently a landscape architect and urban planner at Tipton Associates (tipton-associates.com), where he has experience in large land planning and urban scale projects both domestically and internationally. Prior to joining Tipton Associates, he worked at Sasaki and the team at Tipton Associates on the City of Ruston Comprehensive Planning Project as well as the LA Tech Enterprise Campus Master Plan. D’Agostino’s professional practice is focused on large-scale city, campus, and research district master plans with emphasis on urban regeneration. He is active in the Baton Rouge Downtown Development District efforts and cofounded their residential committee. Read D’Agostino’s complete Forty Under 40 profile.

lsu graphic design alumniAt 29 years old, Hunter Territo is one of the youngest of this year’s Forty Under 40 honorees. Territo received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in graphic design from the LSU School of Art in 2007 and is currently the creative director of Xdesign Inc (thinkx.net), a Baton Rouge–based graphic design firm specializing in corporate identity, brand development, package design, website design, and advertising. Territo also teaches a 3000-level creative advertising strategy class at LSU and helped the LSU Manship School of Mass Communications execute its digital media initiative by overhauling the course curriculum to prepare graduates for the creative industry. He served as the president of the American Advertising Federation in Baton Rouge for the 2012–13 year and was the youngest president to be named President of the Year in the Southeast district of the organization. Read Territo’s complete Forty Under 40 profile.

tommysTV tommy talleyBaton Rouge native Tommy Talley studied photography at the LSU School of Art before moving to Los Angeles to pursue a career in film and television. He returned to Baton Rouge in 2009 and founded his own shop, tommysTV, and is the executive in charge of production for the Outdoor Shopper. He has won multiple Addy awards for his work and has produced content for Raising Cain’s, Dow, Louisiana Culinary Institute, Louisiana Travel, Baton Rouge Airport, Alzheimer’s Services, LASHRM, and Louisiana Economic Development. He has directed 75 regional Walmart commercials as part of a national award-winning campaign and has also produced content for MTV, NBC, Discovery Channel, History Channel, and Nickelodeon. Read Talley’s complete Forty Under 40 profile.

All of the honorees are worthy of celebration for their contributions to the Baton Rouge business community. The LSU College of Art & Design is proud to have helped these talented artists and designers develop and hone the skills they need to work in their professions.

LoPresti Award Winning Publication the Perfect Gift for Graduates of LSU

Art & Design, Publications, Honors & Awards, Architecture, Faculty, , ,

the architecture of LSULSU School of Architecture Professor Michael Desmond’s book, The Architecture of LSU (LSU Press, 2013), has won the 30th Annual Mary Ellen LoPresti Art Publication Award for excellence in art publishing for the copyright year 2013.

In The Architecture of LSU, author, professor, and architect J. Michael Desmond traces the university’s development from its pre–Civil War origins in Pineville, Louisiana, through its two downtown Baton Rouge locations, to its move to the Williams “Gartness” Plantation south of the city in the 1920s. A wealth of photographs, plans, drawings, and maps underscore the lsu architecture professor michael desmondgenealogies of the campus’s architecture and planning and the contributions of key historical figures, such as Frederick Law Olmsted Jr., whose vision is behind the layout of the present campus. The Architecture of LSU—the perfect gift for any LSU graduate—is available wherever books are sold and at lsupress.org/books/detail/architecture-of-lsu.

Selected as the winner of the LoPresti Award monograph category, The Architecture of LSU was described by the judges as “scholarly, well-researched and well-documented with excellent attention to detail and beautiful presentation. This record is something other universities may find inspiring as they create histories of their own campus architecture,” (arlis-se.org). This year’s competition was judged by LoPresti co-chairs Carolina Barrat and Emily Luken from the University of Georgia (UGA), Teresa Burk from SCAD Atlanta, Courtney Baron from the Visual Resources Center at UGA’s Lamar Dodd School of Art, and Melissa Tufts from UGA’s College of Environment and Design Library. The judges examined 34 entries from 19 institutions to choose the winners.

The Art Libraries Society of North America (ARLIS/NA) Southeast Chapter established the LoPresti Publication Award Competition in honor of Mary Ellen LoPresti, who was the design librarian at the Harrye B. Lyons Design Library at North Carolina State University until her death in 1985.

Read more about the LoPresti Award at arlis-se.org.

Digital Art MFA Student Jamie Kutner Leads Workshop at ATypI in Barcelona

Art & Design, Students, Research, Art, Digital Art, Printmaking, , , , ,

lsu mfa candidatesType designers, type publishers, educators, calligraphers, and software writers—anyone and everyone who matters in the type world—gathered in Barcelona in September to discuss and explore typography at ATypI Barcelona 2014. And LSU School of Art MFA candidate Jamie Kutner was there, thanks to the support provided by the LSU College of Art & Design, the LSU School of Art, the LSU Student Senate, and the LSU Graduate School.

Jamie was invited to the conference to present a workshop, “Designing for Endangered Writing Systems,” based on her research and preservation efforts of the Chakma alphabet, an endangered language of the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh. ATypI, one of the largest international type conferences, is hosted in a different city each year by the Association Typographique Internationale, a non-profit organization that provides a structure for the type community to meet and act together and that works to preserve the culture, tradition, and history of type and typography. This year’s theme, “Typographic Dialogues,” invited exploration of the relationships between all aspects of typographic design, from research in the history of typography to innovations in information design and the latest developments in multi-script communication—the perfect platform for Jamie to present her work and research on endangered writing systems.

“It is estimated that one third of the world’s writing systems are endangered,” said Jamie. “As typographers, we have the opportunity to apply our skills to this facet of the field, preserving languages that are written with endangered alphabets and supporting cultures that identify with those languages.”

Participants in Jamie’s three-hour workshop examined the formal qualities of Chakma, an indigenous language from southeastern Bangladesh that has been confined to limited use by political and cultural influences in the region. Chakma has its own script, which bears a similarity to Burmese. Literacy in Chakma is low, although efforts are being made to increase fluency in the spoken and written forms of the language.

lsu mfa candidates

A sample of Chakma writing

Approximately 20 type designers and typography students attended Jamie’s workshop at ATypI, including type designers from Dalton Maag in London and SIL International, a faith-based nonprofit organization committed to serving language communities worldwide as they build capacity for sustainable language development. Each workshop participant received samples handwritten by members of the Chakma community. Using varied calligraphic tools, the designers worked to create the beginnings of a lettering hand in Chakma. Jamie began the workshop by guiding the designers in a search for core forms and proportions within the writing samples. Next, they synthesized core strokes to refine characters in the Chakma alphabet. At the end of the workshop, the participants had created a collection of harmonious characters and diacritics in the Chakma script. Jamie plans to share the results of the workshop with native writers for feedback on legibility in person. An important next step in her continued research in this field is a visit to the region, and she is currently in the process of applying for grants to support her work and travel.

 

Jamie, a typographer, printmaker, and book artist, holds a BFA in printmaking from the Rhode Island School of Design and a postgraduate diploma in advanced typography from Eina University School of Design and Art in Barcelona. Her studies on the indigenous writing systems of Bangladesh began through her collaboration on the Endangered Alphabets Project. Tim Brookes, assistant professor and program director of the Professional Writing Division of Communication and Creative Media at Champlain College in Vermont, has been researching endangered alphabets around the world. His interest in the endangered writing systems of the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh led him to Maung Ting Nyeu, a PhD candidate at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, grew up in the Hill Tracts near the border of Bangladesh and Myanmar. In 2012, Brookes and Nyeu reached a point in their research where they needed a calligrapher, someone with a formal typography perspective. A mutual friend introduced Brookes and Jamie while she was studying in Barcelona.

Jamie instantly recognized the project as a perfect fit with her goals and interests. Jamie grew up Jewish and fluent in Hebrew, intimately aware of the connection between linguistic and cultural identities. Familiar with endangered languages through her undergraduate studies in linguistics at RISD, she saw the Endangered Alphabets Project as a way to engage in a design practice with social impact on an international scope. “It was an easy decision,” recalled Jamie. “I remember thinking, ‘of course I’m going to do this.’ I could use my design skills at a most basic level to document a writing system that could go extinct.” She immediately began working while still in Barcelona, promoting a Kickstarter campaign in October 2012. The project was partially funded when she entered her first semester as a graduate student in the printmaking program at LSU in 2013. She began looking at the Chakma language that spring, working with support from Professor Kimberly Arp, examining the formal qualities of the writing system.

In summer 2013, Brookes, Nyeu, and Jamie—the entire Chittagong Hill Tracts team—presented their work at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, DC. The team showed samples of their recent work, including a children’s book published in Marma, one of the three Hill Tract languages the team was studying (along with Chakma and Mro). Nyeu had recently founded Our Golden Hour, a nonprofit organization that works with rural schools in the Chittagong Hill Tracts to teach native language and cultural identity in the region. The team created rubber stamps of characters and a coloring sheet with words in several endangered languages, making their booth a popular attraction for children’s activities, and Jamie provided calligraphy demonstrations in Chakma and Marma. They also met other scholars and major players in the endangered language community, most with backgrounds in linguistic anthropology. Several scholars were intrigued by the team’s focus on orthography. “That’s the first time I realized we were working in a special facet of such an important field, a truly unique opportunity,” Jamie recalled.

 

After the festival that summer, Jamie returned to LSU and got in touch with Dr. Jill Brody, professor of anthropology. She enrolled in Dr. Brody’s linguistic anthropology course, which gave her the foundation in theory she needed to continue her formal research in endangered writing systems. Her research pushed her toward an interest in programming and the possibilities for coding to aid in font design, and, as a result, Jamie recently shifted her area of concentration within the MFA program from printmaking to digital art. “The culture surrounding digital media practice is a great fit for my research interests,” she explained. “I remain fascinated with letterpress and the old manner of distributing written information. There is much to learn from traditional technology, and I am eager to explore blending my background in printmaking with new technologies in type design.”

 

The guidance and support Jamie has received from the faculty at the LSU School of Art and from the university as a whole has been instrumental in her research and her progression through the MFA program. Jamie stressed the influence that Courtney Barr, associate professor of graphic design at the LSU School of Art, has had on her research in endangered writing systems. With Barr’s guidance, Jamie wrote the workshop proposal for ATypI, and Barr and Professor Lynne Baggett invited Jamie to present her workshop to their applied typography class before she left for Spain. “It was an amazing chance to iron out the timing and content while also inspiring young designers,” Jamie elaborated. “The support I received from Courtney and Lynne helped make my ATypI workshop a huge success.”

Read more about Jamie at jamiekutner.com.

LSU Landscape Architecture Undergraduate Program Ranked #1 in Nation

Art & Design, Landscape Architecture, Honors & Awards, Alumni,

lsu design intelligence rankingsThe undergraduate and graduate programs at the LSU Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture (RRSLA) have once again received top rankings from DesignIntelligence magazine. The November/December 2014 issue of “America’s Best Architecture & Design Schools” ranked the undergraduate program as number one in the nation and the graduate program as number five in the nation for the year 2015.

The LSU Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture undergraduate and graduate programs have been consistently ranked within the top five in the nation for more than a decade, and 2015 marks the fifth time the undergraduate program has held the number one position since 2007.

design intelligence 2015 rankingsDesignIntelligence also publishes the rankings of the top five undergraduate and graduate schools by region, and LSU is ranked as the number one landscape architecture school in the South for both its graduate and undergraduate programs.

A total of 1,426 professional practice organizations participated in the research and were queried on the question, “In your firm’s hiring experience in the past five years, which of the following schools are best preparing students for success in today’s profession?” Firms are queried about additional issues, as well, such as how programs rate in teaching various skills. Hiring firms ranked the LSU landscape architecture program second (after Harvard University) in communication skills and cross-disciplinary teamwork; third in design skills, computer applications, and sustainable design practices and principles; and fifth in research and theory.

In addition to the undergraduate and graduate school rankings by professionals, deans and chairs from 97 academic programs participated in surveys, and the responses of 63 education leaders were tallied. LSU was ranked as the number one most-admired undergraduate landscape architecture program for its “long tradition and continued commitment to design education and research.”

“It is always gratifying to see our national ranking in the DesignIntelligence survey and the rankings of other design schools. While I was concerned about our situation this year due to the transition in leadership, our loyal alumni have once again voiced their support and satisfaction with their professional education. We are grateful and look forward to the future as we search for a new director to carry on our tradition and forge new directions for the future,” said Van Cox, professor emeritus, alumnus, and interim director of the LSU Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture.

Surveys for “America’s Best Architecture & Design Schools” are conducted annually by DesignIntelligence on behalf of the Design Futures Council. The research ranks undergraduate and graduate programs from the perspective of leading practitioners. Survey participants are professionals in architecture, industrial design, interior design, and landscape architecture, drawn from the Greenway Group database of leading firms throughout the United States. “America’s Best Architecture & Design Schools, 2015” is available for purchase online. Visit di.net for more information.

About LSU Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture

The Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture has established an international reputation as one of America’s leading and consistently top-ranked programs. Part of the LSU College of Art & Design, the school offers Bachelor of Landscape Architecture and Master of Landscape Architecture programs. For more than 60 years, the program has produced landscape architects who practice all over the world and participate in the full spectrum of the discipline. For more information, visit landscape.lsu.edu.

Graduates Find Rewarding and Fulfilling Positions at Outstanding Design Firms

Art & Design, Students, Interior Design, Honors & Awards, Alumni, Communication across the Curriculum, , , ,

As the Thanksgiving holiday approaches, we often take time to recognize what we are thankful for in our lives. Two former LSU interior design students—Elena Proskurina and Kristen Fisher—are thankful to have found rewarding and fulfilling positions at outstanding design firms almost immediately after graduating from the LSU School of Interior Design. Kristen was hired as a technical designer at Gensler in Houston, and Elena is working at Callison Global in Dallas. Both attribute their success to the experiences they received as interior design students at LSU.

lsu interior design alumni

Kristen Fisher (BID 2014) is a technical designer at Gensler’s Houston office.

Kristen Fisher said her third-year internship and fourth-year capstone project were instrumental in her success. In the fourth-year design studio taught by Associate Professors Matthew Dunn and Phillip Tebbutt, students entered their work in a design competition sponsored by Cornerstone Commercial Flooring. The annual competition requires students to write flooring specifications for their projects. These “spec-books” have to be detailed and correct, just as they would be in a set of professional documents.

Kristen’s project, the conversion of a historic building into a restaurant and apartment, was selected as the winner of the 2014 Cornerstone Commercial Flooring Competition. Her reward was an all-expenses-paid trip to NeoCon in Chicago: NeoCon is North America’s largest design exposition and conference for commercial interiors. The prize is a great mentorship and networking opportunity, especially for a student approaching graduation. A Cornerstone executive escorts and mentors the winning student at the conference. Kristen explored NeoCon with LSU School of Interior Design alumna Shelly Jones (BID 2002), vice president of business development at Cornerstone Commercial Flooring.

 

At NeoCon, Kristen and Jones were invited to a luncheon hosted by Bentley Mills, and Jones introduced Kristen to everyone she knew. The pair also took advantage of the conference’s locale in one of America’s largest cities. They visited Grant Park, where they viewed Frank Gehry’s Jay Pritzker Pavilion and Anish Kapoor’s Cloud Gate. They took an architectural boat tour of the city and saw Frank Lloyd Wright’s Robie House. And, of course, they went to the top of Willis Tower, America’s tallest building and one of the most impressive office spaces in Chicago. “It was a great experience and also a lot of fun,” Kristen said.

Kristen credits winning the competition to her internship at Sauviac+Dang, an architectural design firm in Baton Rouge, cofounded by Loi Dang and LSU School of Architecture alumnus Craig Souviac (BArch 1991). Students pursuing a Bachelor of Interior Design at LSU are required to participate in professional internships during their third year of study. By interning at a small firm, Kristen was involved in every aspect of the design phase, including the spec-writing process. “I wouldn’t have had the NeoCon experience without that internship,” she said. “I relied heavily on the vast knowledge and experience of my professional mentors, Loi Dang and Craig Sauviac. Without their patience and willingness to teach, I would have been lost. I was lucky not only to have mentors who taught me how to write specs and complete construction documents; they also taught me, by example, the type of professional I wanted to become.”

Spec-writing had not been covered in classes until the capstone project, Kristen recalled. She said the process was one of the most valuable aspects gained from completing her senior project. “It was a daunting experience for a lot of my classmates,” she added. “It is a tedious and exact practice, but it is such an important part of working in the real world.” Kristen now writes specifications almost every day at Gensler, where she was hired as a technical designer in September. She laughed about how everything ended up coming together for her after graduation. “I received a callback on a Wednesday, interviewed at Gensler on a Thursday, was notified I had the job on a Friday, and was asked to move to Houston and start working in two weeks! It still feels like a dream to be working here,” she gushed. “All throughout school, you hear about how Gensler is the epitome of a career in design. I am thankful that I had the opportunity to go back to college at the age of 28 to pursue a degree and career that I truly wanted. I am also thankful that I was offered a position at Gensler, the top design firm in the world, immediately after graduation. I feel truly blessed to be where I am now in my career,” Kristen shared.

She is not alone at Gensler, either. At Gensler’s Houston office, Kristen sits just two rows away from two other recent LSU interior design alumni, Madeline Drone (BID 2013) and Sarah Eilek (BID 2013). “LSU will always hold a special place in my heart. I love to talk LSU to anyone who will listen, any chance I get,” Kristen said.

lsu interior design alumni

Elena Proskurina (BID 2014) is a designer at Callison Global in Dallas.

Elena Proskurina transferred from Russia to LSU to study pre-med, but switched to interior design after one year, “and I do not regret it,” she firmly stated. She had attended an art school in Russia, and earned a minor in fine arts in addition to a Bachelor of Interior Design. “The way they teach art in Russia is very different; professors are more conservative. I remember my first couple of months, all we did was draw matchboxes and nothing else. I must say I got pretty good at it,” Elena said. “My art minor at LSU has become very applicable to my work as an interior designer. For my senior project, I incorporated graphic design elements in an interior space. Graphics in interior design is becoming more and more common, and I expect to continue to access my background in art throughout my career,” she added.

Elena said all of her projects at LSU helped her get the position at Callison, “not just by building my portfolio, but by giving me the internship experiences that helped me be successful once I started working here. Having the experience of working on design projects based on real buildings and sites made studying at LSU even more rewarding and a better stepping stone to the professional world.”

 

Prior to her senior year at LSU, Elena interned at Eskew+Dumez+Ripple, an New Orleans-based architectural design firm founded by three LSU School of Architecture alumni in 1989. At EDR, Elena worked on real projects, including the design of Sucre, a boutique candy store in New Orleans, and she saw first-hand how a design is managed from start to finish. “Aside from working on a real design project, I was part of a team effort. This was a great learning experience for me. I worked with talented and inspiring designers and architects, and I learned something new from them every day.”

Elena believes her experience working on real projects and her background in art helped her win first place in the Sherwin-Williams STIR Student Design Challenge in 2014. She designed a “fantasy workplace,” an idea and invention office and used Sherwin-Williams colors to enhance her design by adding bright splashes into the space and visually dividing it into different functional areas. “Winning the Sherwin-Williams STIR Student Design Challenge was a great chance to showcase my design and share it with other people who follow Sherwin-Williams,” Elena said. As a first-place winner of the competition, Elena received a $2,500 cash prize from Sherwin-Williams.

Before Elena graduated in May 2014, she also earned certification as a LSU Distinguished Communicator, a unique academic excellence program where students work with a Communication across the Curriculum (CxC) representative to refine their communication skills and learn discipline-specific approaches to communication that enables them to excel in their chosen profession. The CxC Art & Design Studio is one of seven such locations across campus. “Since I’ve begun my career, I’ve discovered more and more the importance of the CxC program, as I use verbal, written, visual, and technical communication every day. Having the experience of writing, speaking, and designing with an audience in mind and a message to be delivered constitutes the majority of my job at Callison,” she explained.

Elena began working at Callison Global’s Dallas office right after graduation in May. She is currently working on Starbucks retail projects in New York and Florida, “which is a lot of fun, although I miss just being an innocent Starbucks customer,” she laughed. “As we approach Thanksgiving,” Elena added, “I would say that I’m most thankful for being able to celebrate it with the people I care about, who became my good friends and supported me here for five long years.”

View Elena Proskurina’s design portfolio at elenaproskurina.com.

View more LSU School of Interior Design alumni profiles at design.lsu.edu/alumni/interior-design.

MFA Photography Candidate Ian Minich’s Solo Exhibition in Edinburgh

Art & Design, Students, Art, Photography, Exhibitions, ,

 

MFA photography student Ian Minich was recently invited to exhibit his photography in Edinburgh, Scotland, after applying to a competition at FOTOspace gallery last spring. Thirty of Minich’s photographs were displayed at the FOTOspace gallery from September to October 2014, and Minich was invited to speak about his work in the gallery. He was also paid to present lectures about his work and processes at Edinburgh College of Art and Edinburgh Napier University.

While in Edinburgh, Minich met with photography students and Colin Cavers, a professor of photography at both universities. He shared his experiences about his process and about his time as a graduate student at the LSU School of Art. He also had the opportunity to travel with students from Napier University and visit the special collections photography archive at the world-renowned St. Andrews University.

“The experience was extremely rewarding for me as a graduate student, artist, and teacher,” Minich said. “I loved the idea of sharing my process of image-making with the students and professors and enjoyed the shared experience of seeing original 19th-century photographs in the archive. It was such a pleasure and a life-changing opportunity to show my work internationally in a solo exhibition and to be shown such hospitality by everyone involved with the gallery and the universities,” he added.

Several individuals were kind enough to host Minich in their own homes, which he said he greatly appreciated. “I am also deeply grateful to the LSU School of Art and LSU Graduate School for generously funding my trip to Edinburgh,” Minich said.

Read more about Ian Minich and his captivation with tintype photography.

Architecture Students Design a 20-Year Vision Plan for the Vietnamese Tam Bao Community

Art & Design, Students, Community Outreach, Architecture, , ,

 

In Assistant Professor Catherine Bonier’s service learning studio, ARCH 4001, fourth-year architecture students are working with the Vietnamese Buddhist community of Tam Bao Temple in Baton Rouge to create a 20-year vision plan for the redevelopment of Cortana Mall and areas adjacent to the temple.

The students’ mandate is to collect data and design physical changes to the Cortana site, while also learning about mindfulness—a practice that underlies the ethics of the Vietnamese community. At Tam Bao Temple, Buddhists and friends from every religion practice mindfulness to reduce stress and gain clearer focus. Mindfulness means constantly training the mind to focus on the current situation instead of getting caught up in past or future pressures, the opposite of multi-tasking. Mindfulness is not a religion but a technique to cope with constantly changing conditions. This practice supports the approach to planning that English architect and influential teacher and writer Cedric Price (1934–2003) called, “calculated uncertainty,” because it encourages the clear vision and stable foundation from which to move flexibility as conditions change.

Students were charged with inventing multiple futures based on engaging the present moment. They began by working in groups to map and uncover the qualities of the site. They met with community members to talk about homes, parks, schools, families, health, recreation, and jobs as well as the community members’ concerns and hopes.

According to louisianafolklife.org, the Vietnamese make up 44 percent of Louisiana’s Asian population and are the largest immigrant or refugee group in the state. More than 3,500 Vietnamese live in East Baton Rouge, and, according to the Center for Cultural and Eco Tourism, most currently either own their own businesses or work for Vietnamese-owned operations. In Vietnam, people live in groups as a family. They share what they have and help out even when they cannot afford it. Many people interviewed by representatives of the Louisiana Folklife Program said that America’s focus on the individual rather than the community was one of the hardest things to adjust to when they immigrated to the United States.

In studying the country and culture of Vietnam, the students found that food, festivals, and agriculture are very important, just as they are in Louisiana. Through their research and community meetings, the students came to several conclusions:

  • The site is an important area for urban development and a unique community committed to education, family, entrepreneurship, health, and outdoor activity.
  • The site is primed near major highways and arteries as a new “gateway” to Baton Rouge.
  • GIS research found that the Broadmoor area near the temple is one of the densest areas of Vietnamese settlement in Baton Rouge and that the Cortana neighborhood has become increasingly diverse during the last decade.
  • Community members hope for a diverse neighborhood environment. While 83 percent of those surveyed were born in Vietnam, 90 percent said that it is “important” or “very important” to participate in a multicultural community.

Questionnaires designed by students found that 42 percent of survey respondents hold a bachelor’s degree, six percent a master’s degree, and six percent a PhD. A college education is the most important goal parents have for their children. Happiness, retirement, and education all rate at least twice as important as a “profitable career.” Yet this is a very successful community. More than half of those surveyed are self-employed with almost half engaged in engineering, architecture, medicine, law, management, or teaching. Twenty-five percent work in the retail, restaurant, cosmetology or beauty fields. A third of households include three generations, and many of those participating in mapping and visioning exercises requested that assisted-living facilities, schools, and parks be added to the plan. Twenty percent of community members spend at least four hours a day outdoors for leisure or exercise, with soccer as the most popular form of physical recreation. More than half of those surveyed grow their own vegetables at home. This is a community committed to health and education, and also to sustainability and connections with nature. Nature is embedded in Buddhist philosophy as a foundation for wisdom.

While the community is very private and quiet, the members’ desire to participate fully in a multicultural society is in keeping with the philosophy of Buddhist abbot Thich Dao Quang, their spiritual teacher. Dao Quang, known as “Thay,” met with LSU students to discuss and teach mindfulness. Thay, who is also a counselor pursuing a graduate degree in psychology, stressed his hope to spread the benefits of mindfulness meditation to people of all faiths. He discussed scientific studies which have demonstrated meditation’s positive impact on mental and physical health. This wish for a more peaceful and healthy society made up of diverse groups is in alignment with Baton Rouge’s smart growth guidelines for urban planning.

In the comprehensive plan, Future Baton Rouge, adopted in 2011, planning agencies outlined a vision that would guide development for the city. The plan was large and necessarily vague but adopted certain guidelines for smart growth in line with various federal initiatives, including “walkable districts.” Future BR predicted that the large Cortana Mall, located immediately west of Tam Bao Temple, would be redeveloped in 20 years to become a mixed-use area, which would protect and connect residential areas. “Mixed-use as a general guideline often results in mall/housing areas similar to Perkins Rowe—a generic typology found all over America,” said Bonier.

Bonier’s studio is working to define a walkable, mixed-use development plan that refuses the generic mixed-use typology, reacting instead to the specific processes and hopes of one community. The students’ site design must indicate a means of expansion, replication, or distribution to occupy the Cortana Mall area over the next 20 years. Students are inventing time phase designs that address long-term change according to specific guidelines, and they are developing these designs while maintaining communication with the Tam Bao community.

James Andermann represented the East Baton Rouge Redevelopment Authority at the studio’s mid-term review earlier this fall, and local architect Phong Le of Le Architect, LLC, a community leader within Tam Bao and the designer of the existing temple, was also a critic at the review. Le will be working on a multi-purpose community hall for the Tam Bao Temple and is considering hiring one of the students to assist as an intern. Bonier met Le at the Tam Bao community, and it turned out he was a student of Associate Professor Greg Watson’s, many years ago, when Watson was teaching architecture at Mississippi State University. On top of the internship possibility, Le has offered a $500 prize to the student with the best project at the final review, which takes place on Friday, November 21, 2014, from noon to 5 p.m., in the LSU Design Building Commons, room 104. All are welcome to attend. Winners will be announced and student work from this course will be added to the LSU School of Architecture Portfolio at the end of the semester.

Read more about Tam Bao Temple at batonrougebuddha.com.