Leader in art and design education to be honored at Celebration – The ASID Awards Gala in July
(May 9, 2017 Washington, D.C.) – The American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) is pleased to announce Paula Wallace, founder and president of Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), as the 2017 Nancy Vincent McClelland Merit Award winner. Presented annually, this award pays tribute to the accomplishments of McClelland, an ardent advocate for professional recognition and the first woman president of the American Institute of Decorators (now ASID) from 1941-1944. The award honors an individual, organization, manufacturer, or research team for outstanding support of the interior design profession.
Paula Wallace. Photo: © 2015 Savannah College of Art and Design
“ASID is proud to support and recognize design industry leaders who lead by example and leave behind a legacy of excellence,” said ASID CEO Randy Fiser. “Paula Wallace is a trailblazer with a long list of accomplishments that inspire us to imagine the endless possibilities of her talents.”
Wallace founded SCAD in 1978 and serves as the college’s president. Under her leadership, SCAD is a community of 13,000 students from nearly all 50 states and 115 countries who study in 40 academic majors and 60 minors. Wallace champions a balance between reverence and innovation in SCAD’s classrooms, labs, studios, and offices to educate future leaders in art and design. She has employed her distinctive approach to design and adaptive reuse to redeem nearly 100 historic structures throughout her career. From fashioning a 19th-century armory into classrooms, to revitalizing a mid-century Kowloon colonial magistracy, Wallace is well known for her signature style; one that mixes the inventive and contemporary with a timeless sensibility for sites steeped in history. Wallace has received numerous awards for her work in education and her achievements in interior design and historic preservation.
The ASID National Award winners were selected by a panel of judges comprised of professional members, ASID Fellows, and representatives from the design community. This year’s prestigious panel of judges included Bill Browning, LEED AP, Hon. AIA, founding partner, Terrapin Bright Green; Khoi Vo, Allied ASID, chair, Interior Design, Savannah College of Art and Design; Philip Kennicott, art and architecture critic, The Washington Post; Rachelle Schoessler Lynn, FASID, LEED Fellow, senior associate, MSR; and Suzanne Tick, founder, Suzanne Tick, Inc.
Paula Wallace will receive her award at Celebration – The ASID Awards Gala, on July 15, 2017, in San Diego, California along with the Designer of Distinction, Design for Humanity, and Design Innovation award winners and the new inductees to the ASID College of Fellows. Purchase tickets to Celebration.
