NYSID’s students have won many awards, its faculty are recognized trailblazers and its curricula and offerings are continuously evolving and pushing the standards of interior design education ever higher.

BOARD UPDATES

Cheryl Durst and Eric Gering Join Board of Trustees

NYSID is thrilled to announce the appointment of Cheryl Durst, FIIDA, LEED, executive vice president and chief executive officer of IIDA (The Commercial Interior Design Association), and architect Eric Gering to the New York School of Interior Design’s Board of Trustees. Durst brings a plethora of skills, perspectives, and contacts to the College. She’s known for her fiscal acumen and organizational leadership skills, having taken the IIDA from the brink of bankruptcy in 1998 to the thriving organization it is today. She also curates and publishes Perspective, the association’s thought leadership journal. She holds dual bachelor degrees in journalism and economics from Boston University. She has been referred to by Interior Design magazine as “an ambassador for innovation and expansion, and a visionary strategist.”

Eric Gering has been appointed to the role of faculty trustee on NYSID’s Board of Trustees. Gering is well suited to represent the faculty, as he has been a respected faculty member of NYSID since 2000. He has been an architect in private practice for two decades, and before that worked for Gensler, Fox and Fowle, Alfredo de Vido, and Sidney Phillip Gilbert. He has also served as a board member on the Manhattan Landmarks Committee.

MFA-1 & BFA Attain CIDA Accreditation Again

The Council for Interior Design Accreditation (CIDA) reaccredited NYSID’s two professional-level programs, the MFA-1 and the BFA, in 2019. CIDA, an independent, nonprofit accreditation organization, exists to ensure that there are reliable standards in professional-level interior design education programs in the United States and internationally. The accreditation is an important accomplishment, and now that the process is over, Ellen Fisher, NYSID’s vice president for academic affairs and dean, wants to keep pushing forward. “We’re collecting information about trends and directions in practice so we can fold this into our thinking about revisions to the curriculum,” she says. “We research the world of practice so our students will be prepared for the next three to five years.”

FACULTY & CURRICULUM

Barbara Weinreich Becomes Director of Undergraduate Programs

After teaching at NYSID since 2008, Barbara Weinreich, an architect with deep experience in the retail and residential sectors, has ascended to the position of director of undergraduate programs. A former principal of MNA with over three decades of professional practice under her belt, Weinreich was responsible for the design of Polo/Ralph Lauren flagship stores in cities throughout the world. She received a BA, magna cum laude, in art history from Brown University. She has a master’s in architecture (MArch) from Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, and is NCIDQ certified. “I am thrilled to play a larger role in the NYSID community,” she comments. “Having learned so much from my students and colleagues, I look forward to building on that knowledge and working together to support NYSID’s stellar program in undergraduate education.”

New ICPS Director Ashley Rose Brings Her Business Lens

Alumna Ashley Rose ’10 (BFA) has worked on the business, sales, and marketing end of the luxury design and antiques field since her graduation nine years ago, and this makes her a great fit to lead NYSID’s Institute for Continuing & Professional Studies. She worked as marketing director for ArtOrigo.com, sales operations manager for Ruby Lane and RubyLUX, and sales and digital advertising specialist for. She says, “Social media is a powerhouse, and I know the visibility it can bring to a program that deserves recognition.” Rose believes interior design is a profession in which one always needs to learn more to keep up with the evolving industry, and she’s very excited about the potential of the ICPS to transform designers’ careers. She says, “I look forward to continuing the work of the previous director, Leyden Lewis, by creating master classes with design professionals, improving the website, introducing new courses, creating suites for the business of design, and more.”

A Stellar Year for New Instructors

The nine new instructors who joined the NYSID faculty this fall are all practicing professionals. The breadth and depth of expertise they bring from different segments of the industry are exactly what makes a NYSID education outstanding. Amy Everard, senior associate at Perkins Eastman, a specialist in corporate interiors and health care, is teaching Contract II in the undergraduate programs. Furniture designer and woodworker Thomas Hucker, principal of Thomas Hucker Studio LLC, is teaching Advanced Detailing in the MFA-1. Architect and digital drawing expert Bahman Jamasbi is teaching Presentation Techniques I in the undergraduate programs. Architect Laurie Kerr FAIA, LEED AP, president of LK POLICY LAB, and formerly policy director of the Urban Green Council, is teaching Principles of Sustainable Design in the Natural Environment in the MPS-S. Michael Bent IIDA, ASID, interior designer and strategist at Gensler, is teaching Presentation Techniques I in the undergraduate program. Alumnus Topaz Wong ’16 (MFA-1), interior designer, illustrator, and presentation manager at Gensler, is teaching Presentation Techniques II in the undergraduate program. Alumna Qun Tiffany Yao ’12 (MFA-1) CID, LEED AP ID+C, LEED GA, WELL AP, senior interior designer at TPG, is teaching Architectural Woodwork Detailing in the undergraduate program. Dusan Zdravkovic, interior designer specializing in corporate and residential interiors, is teaching Advanced Detailing in the MFA-1. Alumnus Christian Dunbar Pennebaker ’06 (AAS), principal of Christian Dunbar Designs and a furniture designer for Cliff Young Ltd., is teaching Furniture Design.

STUDENTS

Students Design Offices for a Nonprofit That Helps Victims of Violence & Abuse

As part of the Summer Experiential & Service Learning course taught by architect Terry Kleinberg, MFA-1 students Yangfangfei Gao, Joanne Park, Mika Jiaravanont, Karina Infante, Mallie Gusset, and Nico Liu designed beautiful, functional offices for Safe Horizons in Staten Island. These students had to design an intake and counseling space for women and children traumatized by violence, a play space, a workplace for social workers, staff, and more. Part of the service learning experience is working within real parameters (and budgets) for real clients, so the students had to present to Safe Horizon staff and administration, including Safe Horizon’s vice president of real estate and facilities. They created a digital walk-through of the space that thoroughly impressed the client. Says Terry Kleinberg, “I was very proud of my students.”

NYSID Community Joins the Global Climate March

Shane Curnutt, president of the NYSID chapter of The Green Design Group, organized a group of NYSID students and faculty members who marched together on September 20, wearing their “Green Design Group” T-shirts and waving signs of their own making. “It was comforting to be around a mass of people who had values that aligned with ours,” says Curnutt. “We live in a system that goes against our values of responsible choices and sustainability. It’s obscene to live like we have a backup plan. We don’t. We have only one planet.”

Students Shine on Nantucket

For the fourth year in a row, NYSID students have traveled to Nantucket in late July to reimagine two rooms of the oldest house on the island, as part of the Nantucket Historical Association’s Nantucket by Design fundraiser. Supervised by Ellen Fisher, NYSID’s vice president for academic affairs and dean, and mentored by designer Philip Gorrivan, the students were tasked with weaving the history of Nantucket into their room designs. BFA students Baily McGrath and Monica Seroiczkowski based their design on their research of, a famed astronomer born on Nantucket. AAS students Christine Simeon and Valerie Goldin-Rhem created a place of repose intended for a poet. We’re grateful to NYSID trustee David Kleinberg for underwriting the project and making NYSID’s participation in this event possible.

Sampling Interior Design Before College

Fifty-four high school students from around the country, and around the world, traveled to New York this summer to participate in college-level interior design studies in NYSID’s summer Pre-College Program. Students who took Pre-College I designed a one- bedroom apartment. Students who took Pre-College II designed a hotel with a small restaurant. Drawing skills were emphasized by the four NYSID faculty members who taught different segments of this program: Don Kossar, Francisco De Leon, Pam Giolito, and Ana Peñalba. Students visited interior design firms and showrooms as part of the experience. Don Kossar, director of Pre-College at NYSID, says, “This program opens the field of interior design to teenagers. I love to see these kids discover new things out in the design world.”

ALUMNI

Discovering the New Kravet Workspace  

On September 19, the NYSID Alumni Council and event co-chairs Linda Sclafani and Ethel Rompilla welcomed alumni to “A New Shopping Experience” at the NEW Kravet Workspace in The New York Design Center. Alumni were given a sneak peek at this innovative showroom.

Catching Up Over Cocktails at The Shade Store  

On October 16, the NYSID Alumni Council, along with event co-chairs Lawrence Levy and Erin Wells, hosted a cocktail party at The Shade Store showroom at East 59th Street. Alumni networked over cocktails as they experienced demonstrations in The Shade Store’s dynamic space.

NOTEWORTHY

NYSID at “What’s New, What’s Next”

NYSID’s panel at this future-facing, industry-wide event at The New York Design Center in September was focused on how designers can hone their brands and find their ideal customers through social media. NYSID drew on the expertise of alumni, faculty, and even a very media-savvy student to give the audience ideas on how to ignite trends, even movements, within design. Panelists included NYSID faculty member Leyden Lewis, principal of Leyden Lewis Design Studio and an early member of the Black Artists and Designers Guild; alumnus Gideon Mendelson, founder of Mendelson Group; alumna Beth Diana Smith, principal of her namesake firm; and Dahiana Peña, a second-year MFA-1 candidate who also serves as social media coordinator for NYSID’s Graduate Student Association.

The Michael I. and Patricia M. Sovern Lecture on Design: Annabelle Selldorf

On October 30, a crowd of roughly 200 turned up at NYSID to hear architect Annabelle Selldorf discuss her storied career, especially her work on interiors. Annabelle Selldorf is the founder and principal of Selldorf Architects, a 70-person architectural design practice in New York. “AD Pro” covered the event, and said, “Selldorf spent time discussing a number of projects that hold personal significance for her—a residential building at 10 Bond Street with loftlike units, the Osborne apartment she created for longtime client Michael Werner Gallery, her upcoming expansion of the Frick, and of course, the Neue Galerie.” Selldorf also discussed the building she was raised in, a multistory unit that encompassed both her family home and her father’s furniture company, Vica, which Annabelle Selldorf is relaunching for a new generation. NYSID is grateful to the Sovern family for making this endowed lecture possible.

HOME in Its Second Printing; Grab a Book & a Hoodie at Da Vinci

“HOME: The Foundations of Enduring Space,” a primer on design and décor based on NYSID’s Basic Interior Design curriculum and written by Ellen Fisher, dean and vice president for academic affairs at NYSID, has gone into its second printing. It’s easier than ever to grab one as a gift, because the book is now on sale at the Da Vinci store at 70th Street, in the same building that houses the undergraduate facility. You can also get zip-up black hoodies with the NYSID name and other spirit wear in the store.