Welcome:  

The streets of New York, which felt like a ghost town a year ago, are filling again, brimming with energy. Our students from other states and nations, most of whom studied from their homes during the height of the pandemic, have returned to the city. This fall, NYSID is open for in-person study for any student who has been vaccinated or has an approved exemption. There’s a lot to feel optimistic about. The pandemic has changed how we live, work, and study. This is an exciting moment in the history of design, when designers will be challenged to adapt to new realities.  

In the most abnormal of times, NYSID was able to keep delivering the highest quality design education in the safest ways possible. When the pandemic devastated New York in 2020, we questioned how we’d endure as a higher education institution.  

A year and a half later, we’re stronger than ever. Overall, NYSID’s enrollment this year is the highest it’s been in almost a decade. Our faculty’s rapid adaptation to online and Hy-Flex learning propelled the institution forward. We did not replace in-person students with online students. Instead, we created a Hy-Flex learning environment that gave people options. Going forward, NYSID will offer more flexibility than it ever did before the pandemic.   

That’s why we’re devoting this issue to moving forward with the new normal at NYSID. We’re excited that our international students once again have the benefit of the living classroom that is NYC. One of the consistent advantages of NYSID as an academic institution is its ability to attract students from afar.  Whether they come from somewhere else in the US or somewhere else in the world, our students’ experiences are an educational asset. Their diverse perspectives multiply what the faculty can explore. We believe it’s never acceptable to take ideas and motifs from other cultures without understanding where they come from. The number and variety of international students in our classrooms help their peers gain a true respect for other cultures’ design traditions. In our cover story, “Design Is a Global Language,” we celebrate five international alumni who have gone on to build brilliant careers in the US.   

Another way NYSID is moving forward is by continuing to weave sustainability into every course, defining it as a foundation of interior design education. We’re planning a digital and in-person symposium for interior design educators from all over the country called “Teaching Green” for October 8-9, 2021. It’s the right time to do it, as this year marks the 10th anniversary of NYSID’s Masters of Professional Studies in Sustainable Interior Environments. Eric Corey Freed, one of the symposium’s four keynote speakers, shares his expertise in a preview of his talk on “The Future of Sustainable Design.” Another of the symposium’s keynote speakers, alumna Jennifer Graham, an industry leader not only in equity, but also in repurposing the materials from building sites, is featured in our cover story on international alumni.   

Thanks to all of you who turned up for our second virtual gala, at which we raised money for our scholarship funds and honored Alex Papachristidis with the Albert Hadley Lifetime Achievement Award, Corey Damen Jenkins with the Larry Kravet Design Industry Leadership Award, and alumna Nina Farmer with the Rising Star Award (sponsored by The Shade Store). We exceeded our fundraising goal and couldn’t have accomplished this without gala co-chairs Chesie Breen, Alexa Hampton, David Kleinberg, Susan Nagle, Betsey Ruprecht, and Maria Spears, trustees of NYSID. The passion of this community never ceases to amaze me.   

May your fall be filled with learning, opportunity, innovation, and beauty. 

DAVID SPROULS, PRESIDENT, NYSID