Debuting a travel app on the cusp of a global lockdown might not sound overly auspicious. For Liist founder and CEO Allan Holmes (B.A., advertising, 2011), it was an opportunity: "We'd launched in January 2020, and two months later people couldn't travel. We thought, ‘What do we do?' But people had more time at home to talk about traveling, so we spoke with as many users as possible, and ramped up research and development to make our product awesome."

A year, a few months, and a vaccine rollout later, Liist's moment has arrived. The user-friendly and visually-appealing app is for people who want to go places recommended by friends, and check out attractions based on their own investigations. "Before I travel somewhere, I'll check it out on Street View, and look at location-tagged photos on Instagram," Holmes says. "Exploring visually is more important and more possible now than ever."

Liist makes organizing it all easy; Holmes himself is not unlike his ideal user. "I've always loved to travel. My key takeaway is that when you go someplace, you want to do something different, whether that's go to a dive bar, or take a weird podcast walking tour. Recommendations from friends are important. If I was in Thailand and you said, ‘You have to go to this little surf shop,' I'd do it."

At launch, Liist's goal was to organize users' Google Maps, making them "beautiful and sharable." Since then, Liist has been integrated into IOS, and can be used on Instagram, complete with bespoke emoji-pins. Roll out on additional platforms including TikTok is imminent. Holmes doesn't hesitate to compare Liist to a well-known dating app. "With Liist, you swipe places, not faces, but the user experience is quite similar," he says.

Liist isn't Allan's first rodeo. He co-founded software company PopularPays in 2013, then worked as a creative director at Instagram for five-plus years, including a sabbatical in Berlin where he took a coding boot camp, an undertaking that helped him understand what developers go through when they're trying to make an idea into a reality.

Allan's inquisitive drive is part of what makes Liist a compelling fit for SCADpro Fund. "We're delighted to partner with Allan," says SCADpro Fund managing director Ray Crowell. "He's ahead of the tech curve in terms how people want to interact with the world around them."

Holmes shares Crowell's enthusiasm: "Before the pandemic I came to Savannah to conduct a tutorial with SCADpro students, which was a great experience. I speak with Eleanor [Turner, founder of The Big Favorite] at least once a month to bounce ideas. Rarely do you meet creatives who are CEOs and founders. We prop each other up as much as we can. I love being part of the SCADpro family."

Try Liist: www.liist.com/download.

Banner photo taken during SCAD StartUp 2020. Allan Holmes (in cap) served as mentor in the design sprint sponsored by FLUX and SCADpro.

"We need to change the way we design," says Paula Chamorro (M.A., design for sustainability, 2018; M.F.A., design management, 2018). "We need to help people live happier lives, and that means taking care of our planet and reconnecting with nature."

The daughter of a social worker and a progressive politician, Paula grew up in Bogota, Colombia. "Watching my parents, I knew I could influence people's lives. I decided to do that through my ability to design better systems." Today, Paula is a design researcher at Start Something Bold, where she combines her talents as a systems thinker with her passion for developing a better world.

Paula Chamorro:

As a young designer, you're designing for yourself. You don't understand that your taste isn't universal. While I was studying towards my undergraduate degree in industrial design at la Universidad de Bogotá Jorge Tadeo Lozano, I realized I needed to challenge myself in order to break my own biases and grow as a creator. Before graduating, I accepted an internship in Jaipur, Rajasthan in India.

In Jaipur, I was hired to design jewelry. The only issues were, one, I had never designed jewelry before. Two, I didn't know anything about India. And three, I had to speak English all the time and I wasn't as proficient as I am today.

I fully jumped into the culture and researched the people, their customs, and the meanings behind their celebrations. I loved that experience, and when I came back home to Bogotá I was determined to advance my skills as a designer. I came to SCAD to earn my M.F.A. in the unparalleled design management program.

At first, I was not planning on earning two masters degrees. That changed when I began working with professor Scott Boylston. Professor Boylston is so passionate about preparing and elevating the next generation of sustainable designers that I made the decision to pursue a masters in design for sustainability as well.

I traveled back to my home country as part of my coursework to understand and learn sustainability best practices from the Misak people of Cauca, Colombia. When I got on the plane, I thought I knew everything there is to know about sustainable design. I even thought I would teach them a few things, but I quickly figured out I was wrong.

Indigenous people are masters of what we call zero waste efficiency and eco-friendly lifestyles. I was fascinated by their understanding of the world around them. I was able to understand their practice or stewarding resources and designing sustainable systems, and how I could translate that into the developed world.

In my current role as a design researcher and innovation strategist, I work with medical device manufacturers and health care experts to create more sustainable business practices. By implementing key learnings from my time outside of modern society, I help our partners develop strategies that will impact the patient-provider life-cycle. By taking a holistic approach to the design process, I help clients make incremental steps that will create lasting impacts for the health of their business and the planet.

As designers, we intend to create critical value. Good designs need to benefit the user and the business. Today, we know more, and we have to include a benefit to the earth. This is our only home. We must design a better future for it.

Visit Paula Chamorro.

"Jenna Rae Tooley paints the moments that we have when we are most alive," says professor Stephen Knudsen of his standout former student, who received a grant for representational painting from the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation in 2019.

To see Tooley's paintings is to grasp what Knudsen means. Her uncanny oils frequently depict children on the radiant cusp between innocence and experience, often in bucolic settings that reflect her own upbringing in Novato, California, north of San Francisco. The work displays a profound sensitivity to light, in both the mystical and physical senses.

This weekend, Tooley (B.F.A., painting, 2020) is a featured artist at the semi-annual SCAD Open Studio. The all-virtual event allows enthusiasts and collectors to peruse over 1000 works by SCAD students, alumni, and faculty, including Tooley paintings like "New Light," an intimate self-portrait, and the large-scale narrative work "Engulfed in Flames."

Jenna Rae Tooley, “Engulfed in Flames,” 2019, oil on canvas, 60 x 72 in.

When speaking of Tooley's incandescent depictions, professor Knudsen invokes another great artist from San Francisco: Jack London. "London called it the ‘sheet of flame', a place where one feels ‘so alive that there is a forgetfulness that one is alive.' When Jenna reflects on those moments in a painting like 'The Last Night of Summer,' she delivers with enigma and visceral crush. This is the language of the beautiful precariousness of remembrance."

"I have a memory book I've created," Tooley explains. "I draw little scenes in crayon. They're rudimentary, but I can get the essence of a memory down into this book. Then I can create a realist painting that's based in these memories, so it functions like an archive. Someday I'll have hundreds of these books that I can flip through to review my collected memories."

Tooley sites her studio classes with Knudsen as crucial, as well as coursework like Business and Professional Practices for Fine Arts (SFIN 413) with professor Vanessa Platacis. In combination, they helped define her forward-facing identity. "Those classes emphasized something engrained in me: document your work," Tooley says. "That means with proper lighting and a proper camera, and building an online presence that shows your evolution and your best work."

Tooley's own website presents her multi-dimensionality: The fine artist is also an accomplished production designer and director. (Step into the world of her short film Fuzzite Fighters.) "I'm so visual that if something doesn't make sense visually, it doesn't really click in my brain," she says.

This summer, Jenna will relocate from Savannah to Atlanta, the Southern capital of the filmmaking universe, to focus on her career as a production designer. Atlanta also offers significant infrastructure in the fine art world for the young painter. In the meantime, her visions come to life in her paintings, those oil-on-canvas, memory-fed sheets of flame.

SCAD Open Studio, curated by SCAD Art Sales, takes place Fri., Sat., and Sun, April 30-May 2, 2021.

Visit Jenna Rae Tooley.

It's a season of renewal as SCAD Open Studio returns! The all-virtual, three-day event will take place this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, April 30–May 2, 2021. Curated by SCAD Art Sales, the university's premier in-house art consultancy and curatorial platform, Open Studio will offer enthusiasts and collectors exclusive access to work by SCAD's community of students, alumni, faculty and staff.

The springtime edition of SCAD Open Studio 2021 will spotlight 345 artists, with over 1,000 jury selected works by students, alumni, and faculty, representing degree programs including painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture, and illustration. Hosted semiannually, Open Studio is a go-to destination to find "what's next" in art and design. The event offers the opportunity to acquire works from SCAD's exceptionally talented and accomplished network of students and professional creatives.

"We are so excited for this spring's Open Studio event, and to invite collectors from around the world to preview and shop the best of the best from SCAD's uber-talented students, alumni, and faculty," said Victoria Gildersleeve, associate director, SCAD Art Sales. "The diverse range of artworks featured in this season's Open Studio truly showcases the excellence of SCAD's network, and will appeal to all types of collectors."

The spring Open Studio Spotlight Artist is Jeremiah Jossim (B.F.A., photography, 2010). Jeremiah's paintings explore memory and the nature of recollection. His subject matter deals with the distortion of memory and thought, representing landscapes in colorful chaos or surrounding childhood memories in grids of geometric mandalas, showing the viewer that the manner of reaching a recollection is as important as the memory itself.

Featured artists at this edition of Open Studio are:

  ●  Marcus Dunn (M.F.A., painting, 2017) 

  ●  Holly Mathews (professor, foundation studies) 

  ●  Tianxing Xu (B.F.A., painting) 

  ●  Yana Dimitrova (M.F.A., painting, 2009; B.F.A. painting and printmaking, 2006) 

  ●  Chetan Singh Kunwar (M.A., graphic design, 2018) 

  ●  Arend Neyhouse (B.F.A., painting, 2016) 

  ●  Jenna Rae Tooley (B.F.A., painting, 2020) 


Additionally at this week's event, an expert panel comprised of architect and interior designer John Gidding, designer Ghislaine Viñas. art curators Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath, and contemporary artist MOJO, will curate favorites from the works featured in Open Studio. These selections will be shared across various social media platforms including @scadartsales Instagram and Stories.

Additionally, Open Studio will offer a "View in Room" feature that will be available on the mobile platform via the ArtCloud app, allowing collectors to preview works in their home before placing an order.

SCAD Open Studio will take place on SCAD Art Sales. Launched in Winter 2016, SCAD Art Sales is a full-service art consultancy that offers distinctive design and curatorial services to a global clientele of collectors and public and private-sector businesses and organizations. With access to over 45,000 artists, SCAD Art Sales represents a unique channel whereby SCAD champions and promotes its talented students and alumni.

SCAD Open Studio: April 30–May 2, 2021.

Banner image: Jeremiah Jossum, Disintegrated Horizon (detail), 68”x48” (2020).

In a year when the art of film and the audience experience changed along with the world, SCAD continued to do Oscar-worthy work.

This Sunday, April 25, 8 p.m. EDT, the 93rd Academy Awards will be broadcast on ABC. SCAD alumni worked on nominated films including "Borat Subsequent Moviefilm," "Da 5 Bloods," "Do Not Split," "Eurovision Song Contest: The Story," "Greyhound," "Hillbilly Elegy," "If Anything Happens, I Love You," "Judas and the Black Messiah," "Love and Monsters," "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom," "Mank," "The Midnight Sky," "Mulan," "News of the World," "The One and Only Ivan," "One Night in Miami," "Onward," "Over the Moon," "Promising Young Woman," "Soul," "Tenet," "The Trial of the Chicago 7," and "The White Tiger,"

"In 1985, when we launched our first entertainment arts degree program, I dreamed our talented students would gain global attention," says SCAD President Paula Wallace. "It seems the SCAD family has always been destined for greatness — and golden statuettes. They bring home the hardware!"

These alumni affirm the exceptional preparation for professional careers they received while students at SCAD, as implicitly acknowledged by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The Academy is made up of approximately 9,000 voting members, including professionals from every facet of the business.

Let's celebrate the unmistakable creative contributions of the following SCAD alumni to this year's nominees:

Alyssa "Grizzly" Goldman (B.F.A., film and television) "Hillbilly Elegy"
Aaron McGriff (B.F.A., animation, 2005) "Soul"
Alex Shilt (B.F.A., visual effects, 2016) "Onward"
Alexander Curtis (M.F.A., animation, 2011) "Onward"; "Soul"
Amanda Beggs (B.F.A., film and television, 2008) "One Night in Miami"
Amanda Bell (B.F.A., animation, 2016) "Over the Moon"
Andrew Finley (B.F.A., visual effects, 2015) "Onward"
Andy Lin (B.F.A., animation, 2008) "Onward"; "Soul"
Andy Siravanta (M.F.A., film and television, 2015) "Hillbilly Elegy"
Annee Jonjai (B.F.A., animation, 2008) "Soul"
Becki Tower (M.F.A., animation, 2009) "Onward"; "Soul"
Ben Zylberman (M.F.A./B.F.A., sequential art, 2010/2006) "The Trial of the Chicago 7"
Bess Johnson (B.F.A., film and television, 2011) "Hillbilly Elegy"
Bill Ross IV (B.F.A., video/film, 2003) "Do Not Split"
Boon Shin Ng (M.A., film and television, 2008) "Mulan"
Brian McCann (B.F.A., visual effects, 2010) "Hillbilly Elegy"
Casey Seabolt (B.F.A., visual effects, 2019) "Eurovision Song Contest: The Story"
Catlin Rose Scroggie (B.F.A., animation, 2015) "Over the Moon"
Charles Cronkrite (B.F.A., animation, 2012) "Over the Moon"
Charlie B. Spaht (B.F.A., video/film, 2002) "Eurovision Song Contest: The Story"
Chris Foreman (M.F.A., computer art, 2005) "Soul"
Chris Forster (B.F.A., film and television, 2013) "Hillbilly Elegy"
Christopher R. Carter (B.F.A., animation, 2016) "Soul"
Dana Hunt (B.F.A., video/film, 2006) "Greyhound"
Dasha Titlebaum (B.F.A., photography, 2005) "If Anything Happens, I Love You"
Dave Hale (B.F.A., visual effects, 2009) "Onward"
David Seong Ng (M.A., animation, 2007)  "Greyhound"     
Dawoon Kim (B.F.A., animation, 2018) "The Midnight Sky"
Diana Chu (M.F.A., visual effects, 2019) "Mank"
Diana Li (B.F.A., visual effects, 2008) "Mulan"; "Over the Moon"
Dorien Gunnels (B.F.A., visual effects, 2010) "Onward"; "Over the Moon"
Drew Huntley (B.F.A., visual effects, 2011) "Eurovision Song Contest: The Story"
Gabrielle McMullan (B.F.A., film and television, 2016) "Borat Subsequent Moviefilm"
Gaurav Mishra (B.F.A., film and television, 2014) "Over the Moon"
Geena Schwitters (B.F.A., television production) "Da 5 Bloods"
Hiro Ren (B.F.A., visual effects, 2018)  "The One and Only Ivan"; "Over the Moon"
Hosuk Chang (M.A., visual effects, 2008) "Soul"
Ian Steplowski (computer art, 2003) "Onward"; "Soul"
Jason Daoud (B.F.A., visual effects, 2019) "Love and Monsters"
Jason Davies (M.F.A., animation, 2003) "Soul"
Jason Koh (Yong Kiat Koh) (B.F.A., visual effects, 2016) "Mulan"
Jen Grubbs (B.F.A., production design, 2015) “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”
Jenn Epstein (B.F.A., visual effects, 2005) "The Trial of the Chicago 7"
Jennifer Brooks (unspecified) "One Night in Miami"
Jesse Weglein (M.A., visual effects, 2008) "Soul"
John Lockwood (B.F.A., visual effects, 2013) "Soul"
Jonah Laird (B.F.A., visual effects, 2017) "Onward"; "Soul"
Jonathan Nelson (M.F.A., computer art, 2005) "Judas and the Black Messiah"
Jordan Rempel (B.F.A., visual effects, 2009) "Onward"
Josh Evans (B.F.A./M.F.A., visual effects, 2011/2013) "Mulan"; "Over the Moon"
Josh Holtsclaw (B.F.A., illustration, 2006) "Soul"
Josh Matthews (B.F.A., visual effects, 2017) "Love and Monsters"
Kayla Jane Adams (B.F.A., film and television, 2015) "One Night in Miami"
Kevin Fisch (B.F.A., visual effects, 2011) "Da 5 Bloods"
Kevin McDonald (M.F.A., visual effects) "Over the Moon"
Khushnuma Savai (M.F.A., visual effects, 2015) "Greyhound" 
Kiki Mei Kee Poh (M.A., visual effects, 2010) "Onward"
Kimmy Birdsell (B.F.A., sequential art, 2017) "Onward"; "Soul"
Kirsten Yamaguchi (M.F.A., animation, 2009) "Soul"
Kori Amacker (B.F.A./M.F.A., animation, 2012/2017) "Over the Moon"
Kristen Kopp (unspecified) "News of the World"
Kunal Ahuja (M.F.A., visual effects, 2012) "The White Tiger"
Kyle Hause (B.F.A., visual effects, 2006) "Mank"
Kyle Mohr (B.F.A., animation, 2005) "Onward"; "Soul"
Kylie Wijsmuller (B.F.A., visual effects, 2017) "Onward"; "Soul"
Lawson Bruen (unspecified) "Hillbilly Elegy"
Leslie Elizabeth Martin (B.F.A., animation, 2014) "Over the Moon"
Marc Casey (B.F.A., film and television, 2009) "Hillbilly Elegy"
Maribeth E. Glass (B.F.A., visual effects, 2006) "Over the Moon"
Marq Faulkner (B.F.A., visual effects, 2009) "Over the Moon"
Matt Gorball (B.F.A., computer art, 2000) "Greyhound"
Matt Kiefer (B.F.A., visual effects, 2009) "Mulan"
Matthew Benson (B.F.A., visual effects, 2015) "Onward"; "Soul"
Matthew Lindahl (unspecified) "Onward"; "Soul"
Matthew T. Perry (B.F.A., film and television, 2011) "Da 5 Bloods"
Max Bickley (B.F.A., visual effects, 2008) "Soul"
Mazyar Sharifian (M.A., visual effects, 2016) "Da 5 Bloods"
Meredith O'Malley (B.F.A., animation/visual effects, 2018) "Soul"
Michael Nieves (B.F.A., animation, 2014) "Soul"
Michael Pickering (B.F.A., visual effects, 2018) "Eurovision Song Contest: The Story"
Michelle Gao (B.F.A., visual effects, 2015) "Over the Moon"
Michelle Ledesma (M.F.A., video/film, 2001) "Over the Moon"
Natalie Greenhill (B.F.A., visual effects, 2013) "Over the Moon"
Nathan Alexander (B.F.A., production design) "Hillbilly Elegy"   
Neil Helm (M.F.A., animation, 2010) "Onward"; "Soul"
Nestor Prado (M.A., visual effects, 2012) "The Midnight Sky"
Nick Bartone (B.F.A., visual effects, 2008) "Onward"
Nick Caramela (B.F.A., sound design, 2015) "The White Tiger"
Peter Egan (B.F.A., dramatic writing, 2016) "Over the Moon"
Philip Fraschetti (B.F.A./M.F.A., computer art/visual effects, 2005/2007) "Mulan"
Rachel Boissevain (M.A., sound design, 2019) "Greyhound"; "Love and Monsters"
Rebecca Carfagna (M.A., arts administration, 2015) "Greyhound"
Rochelle Brown (B.F.A., film and television, 2009) "Judas and the Black Messiah"; "Promising Young Woman"
Sam Carter (B.F.A., video/film, 2004) "Hillbilly Elegy"
Sandro Blattner (B.F.A., visual effects, 2010) "Judas and the Black Messiah"
Sasha Ouellet (B.F.A., visual effects, 2019) "Soul"
Scott Clark (unspecified) "Soul"
Scott Englert (B.F.A., computer art, 2005) "Over the Moon"
Sean Loughran (B.F.A., visual effects, 2008) "Greyhound"
Shaun Galinak (B.F.A., visual effects, 2009) "Onward"; "Soul"
Stephanie Parker (M.F.A., production design, 2015) "One Night in Miami"
Steve DiNozzi (M.A., visual effects) "Hillbilly Elegy"
Steve LaVietes (B.F.A., computer art, 1996) "Onward"; "Soul"
Steven Blevins (B.F.A., sound design, 2018) "Da 5 Bloods"; "Eurovision Song Contest: The Story"
Taylor Aseere (B.F.A., animation, 2017) "Eurovision Song Contest: The Story"; "The One and Only Ivan"
Thomas J. Doolittle (B.F.A., sound design, 2020) "Hillbilly Elegy"
Timothy Preston (B.F.A./B.F.A., motion media design, sound design, 2015) "Da 5 Bloods"
Tom Fatora (B.F.A., film and television, 2014) "Hillbilly Elegy"
Walter Schneider (B.F.A., production design, 2009) "Tenet"
Wuyang Wang (M.F.A., visual effects, 2018) "Mulan"
Yolande Thame (M.F.A., production design, 2014) "Hillbilly Elegy"
Zachary Overcash (B.F.A., computer art, 2003) "Over the Moon"
Ziyan Tan (B.F.A., illustration, 2018) "One Night in Miami"

We acknowledged that, in all likelihood, this list is incomplete.
If you are aware of a name missing from this list, please email information (Name, Degree, Nominated Film) to [email protected].
Thank you.

Anna Haldewang's progress is worth tracking. As an undergraduate, Haldewang (B.F.A., industrial design, 2017) designed Plan Bee, a pollinator drone that could help endangered bee colonies do their job. She was featured in Teen Vogue, CNN, and Time, all before graduating SCAD. Now, as founder/CEO of InsightTRAC, the agripreneur is set to revolutionize the six-billion-dollar-a-year almond industry.

An iterative thinker, Haldewang connects Plan Bee's past with InsightTrac's present: "Forbes invited me to their AgTech Summit in California back in 2017. They wanted me to demo the Plan Bee prototype, even though I didn't have one yet." She constructed a purpose-built drone using a toy helicopter; an impressed Forbes crowd wanted to know when she was taking it to market.

The market, as Haldewang saw it, was the almond industry, "because they rely one hundred percent on bees to pollinate their crop." After Plan Bee trials, she realized her drone was less-than-ideally suited to tree-lined terrain, and pivoted to ground robotics, while still focusing on pollination. Then, in February 2019, during a meeting with the head of member relations for Blue Diamond Almonds, "he was upset about navel orangeworms, and I said, ‘Oh, tell me more!'"

The rotten truth: When almond trees get infested, the larvae eat the nuts from the inside, to catastrophic effect. For the industry, it's a plague. For Haldewang, it was a lightbulb moment. "I said, we're switching to winter sanitation, we have a market."

Her new company, InsightTRAC, based in Haldewang's hometown of Syracuse, Indiana, focuses on an industry where technology is long overdue for an update. For decades, almond growers have either beaten trees by hand or used mechanized tree-shaking contraptions that look like they date from the Harding administration. The attractive InsightTRAC rover is tech-forward and autonomous, with a site-tracking camera that identifies mummy nuts as it rolls through the orchard. The rover shoots down the offending mummies using biodegradable pellets, while the system simultaneously collects data about every tree in the orchard, providing growers with a fullly actionable report. 

"The best time to remove the pest is winter," Haldewang explains. This means a seasonal market for InsightTRAC in California and Australia, whose harvests are six months apart. InsightTRAC will conduct a second round of beta trials in Australia this June and July, before launching their pilot program in California in December of this year, with a broader commercial launch goal of 2022.

"SCAD definitely helped prepare me for this entrepreneur space," Haldewang says. "With prototype development, when something doesn't work, it doesn't surprise me. That's part of the process. Now, as we approach the manufacturing stage with InsightTrac and how it works in terms of materials and injection molding, I understand that from my studies in industrial and marine design."

As the almond industry continues to grow, it's as if Haldewang has picked her moment. It's also, even for a young designer and CEO, already been an incredible journey. Anna agrees. "It's nuts!"

Experience InsightTRAC.

Growing up on a hundred-acre farm in Clark County, Kentucky, Lauren Hawley (M.U.D., urban design, 2013) spent her afternoons playing barefoot in a creek and sketching the landscape around her. "The whole farm was my playground," she says. "I would collect sticks and leaves and build fairy houses in the shed. My parents used to say, "She's going to be a designer.""

Hawley earned her undergraduate degree in landscape architecture in her home state before entering SCAD's graduate program in urban design. "I knew at SCAD I would be able to tap into the things that keep me motivated and creative." This included the city of Savannah itself. "I still have dreams where I'm walking home from my studio class and the trees are swaying above me while the flowers are in bloom."

At SCAD, Hawley formed a sincere connection to the urban design teaching cohort. "Professor Ryan Madson was an important mentor to me. He pushed me to think on a grander scale and helped me understand every aspect of my work. As a result, I've been able to transition into larger projects and grow as a professional."

Professor Madson continues to champion Hawley's work and talent. "Lauren is an outstanding practitioner who models the attributes of an urban designer: creativity, problem solving, and seeing the world through the lens of making places better for people and more resilient for nature. Her advanced studies in urban design at SCAD prepared her for a career as a design leader. I'm excited to follow Lauren's future projects, which are shaping our cities in profound and lasting ways."

For the past eight years, Hawley has worked as a landscape architect and urban designer at Perkins+Will in Atlanta. "The best things we can do for a city and our citizens is to make better parks, better trails, and improve the open spaces we have," she says. "Research shows that people need to be connected to nature. Bringing people together fosters community in ways that we have lost through urban settings. I work with developers to shape how our spaces will be used and enjoyed. I am committed to making public places that inspire us."

Hawley is currently working on a Candler Park Conservancy project including a vision plan for a "beaver walk." The project will combine exploration, education, and entertainment so that parents and children can enjoy nature together while learning about the ecological roles beavers play in the region. "We want people of all ages to come and watch wildlife and learn about beaver habitats. We also want to create a place that promotes peace of mind for parents to let their little ones roam."

Hawley remains committed to transforming traditional thinking: "Our outdoor spaces should embrace nature and the natural beauty around us. Children should be able to explore, get lost briefly, and feel safe in their play experience. I want people to experience the outdoors in the ways that I got to as a child. I'm trying to give everyone the hundred-acre experience."

Landscape architect and urban designer Lauren Hawley.

"When I was a student, SCAD did not yet offer a business of beauty and fragrance degree," says Salacia Salts founder Cari Clark Phelps (B.F.A., graphic design, 1999). "Current students have the incredible opportunity to learn things in a classroom setting that I've learned through experience. This gives them an enormous advantage as they enter the industry."

As the retail ecosystem springs back to life in Savannah, Phelps is ready to soak it in. Since opening Salacia Salts in 2012, she has built a product line including scrubs, lotions, cleansers, and bath bombs, all made with local ingredients like crushed pecans and Atlantic sea salt. "I have full control of what we do, from concept to completion and marketing, engagement, and response," explains Phelps. "I'm not trying to mass-produce a thousand gallons of a scrub, stretch it and preserve it. My commitment to sustainability makes the process more fulfilling for me, and attracts customers I love."

On a sunny Friday morning, as Phelps welcomes shoppers to her location just off Forsyth Park, Isabella Possinger (B.F.A., interior design) is at the back of the workshop, preparing an online order for shipping. Salacia is a frequent employer of SCAD students in retail roles, and in collaboration. A new bath tea soak collection debuting this spring features fragrances designed by Alexandra Backlund (B.F.A., business of beauty and fragrance).

Among Phelps' biggest fans is skin care specialist and SCAD professor Meloney Moore, who after seven-plus years as an executive at Estée Lauder, moved to Savannah in 2018 to lead the new business of beauty and fragrance degree program. "I fell in love with Salacia as a brand because of Cari's commitment to local ingredients and eco-friendly packaging," Moore says. "She sets a great example for SCAD students, and created custom DIY kits that we use to explore fragrance and skincare during our virtual classes."

Nestled at garden level beneath a flag bearing a fetching mermaid logo, Salacia's Hall Street location features a space for workshops and classes, where interested visitors can create their own scrubs based on ingredients and instructions that Salacia supplies. As a creative director, Phelps runs her design company Clark Creative from an upper floor.

Cari and husband Patrick Phelps (B.F.A., historic preservation, M.ARCH, 1995), an architect at the Savannah-based firm Hansen Architects, are something of a local alumni power couple. "I met him at a Chamber event, next to the garlicky pasta station," Cari hoots, when pressed for details.

In addition to the shop on Hall Street, Salacia has a second Savannah location off Oglethorpe Square that opened on Valentine's Day 2020. Phelps sells products from other local makers in her shops, as a way to further encourage small business development.

"Everything I do should feel a little bit Southern, and a little bit coastal, and all about natural relaxation," she says. "By staying true to being inspired by the South and the sea, I stay true to what I love, and to the reason I started Salacia in the first place."

Visit Salacia Salts.

Photo of Cari Clark Phelps by Jamie Weaver.

"Your students and alumni never cease to amaze me," Academy Award-winning costume designer Ruth E. Carter said to SCAD President and Founder Paula Wallace as they announced the winners of the SCAD Changemakers Design Challenge.

The challenge, envisioned by President Wallace, invited recent SCAD fashion and production design graduates to create original garments inspired by Carter's iconic costume designs. The alumni garments embraced Carter's Afrofuturism aesthetic, while demonstrating the preeminent creative talent of the university's top ranked School of Fashion and School of Entertainment Arts.

"Alumni were given six weeks to concept and create garments honoring cultural leaders with global impact, and the results are as fascinating as they are fashionable," President Wallace said. "Ruth E. Carter and I had the privilege of celebrating the spectacular finalists. Congratulations to our winners, and bravo to all Bees who participated!"

The selection process began as SCAD faculty selected 10 garments from the numerous alumni submissions for inclusion in the Changemakers Design Challenge. The final garments were judged by Carter and President Wallace following Carter's appearance at the university's 15th annual SCADstyle signature event.

Winner:
Viviane Carvalho (B.F.A., fashion, 2016) designed for Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Runner Up:
Austin Nelson (B.F.A., fashion, 2017) designed for Malcolm X.

Second Runner Up:
Mariana Alvarez Zubillaga (B.F.A., fashion, 2018) for the Barlovento Tambor Dancers.

Ruth E. Carter and President Paula Wallace with Viviane Carvalho's winning garment.

SCADstyle 2021 united the design community through powerful conversations on contemporary practices and future innovations, engaging SCAD students, alumni, and audiences around the world.

Ruth E. Carter: Afrofuturism in Costume Design is on view at SCAD FASH Museum of Fashion + Film through Sept. 12, 2021.

SCADstyle 2021 presented a sumptuous slate of panels, talks, and conversations, enhanced by students and public attendees plying honored guests with questions and comments in a virtual format. Here are a few notable quotes from this year's event.

Amanda Lindroth, award-winning interior designer with offices in Charleston, Nassau, and Palm Beach, spoke with Justin DiPiero (B.F.A., interior design, 2013). Their conversation "Island Living for All" was a lovefest of brass tacks and sea breezes. Lindroth: "A rigid work ethic is critical in all métier. Style is style. Fashion and decorating are really not that far apart. If you find a woman with great personal style, very often her home will also be stylish. I prefer to be around other women who work. Those of us who keep jobs that are intense and have client relations and vendor relations and make payroll, we do have a different way of reacting to problems. We recognize each other, because we're carrying a lot on our shoulders."

Curt Moody, C.E.O. of architecture firm Moody Nolan, Inc., spoke with CT Nguyen, Chair of Preservation Design about "Building Better Architecture." Moody reflected on his experience as a collegiate student-athlete: "Studying architecture, I didn't have time to delay decisions on concepts like my classmates. I had to get to basketball practice. So, I came up with an approach to decide on a design scheme and move forward quicker. I didn't know at the time in that pushing myself like that was going to be a positive thing. I did it due to circumstance. Even today, I can come up with five concepts and narrow the field to the actual one faster than my competitors because they dwell on factors that I deem unnecessary."

During "The Future of Mobility: Curated Concepts for Automotive Design," automotive designer and electric car expert Tadeusz Jelec addressed the need for cities and citizens to "divorce themselves from the idea of unnecessary travel. We can be anywhere, at any time, with anyone. We must see mobility as the ability to be in a new place, and we have that technology today." Fellow automotive designer and entrepreneur Marek Simko added: "We already have the technology to remove drivers from the road and standardize safe, autonomous vehicles. Some nations will be able to be fully autonomous in ten years, others could take much longer due to laws and road conditions.

For "Clean and Green: Redefining the Beauty Industry," panelist Cashmere Nicole, founder of Beauty Bakerie, said: "I am hyper-aware of the products I use. Nothing is more important than your health, and I take that belief with me throughout every aspect of my company." Rose-Marie Swift, founder of RMS Beauty, said: "When I first began making green beauty products, I was doing it for the health of the models I worked with. Now, I do it to help everyone who wants healthier, more natural skin. We are going to make our industry better for every consumer." Joining Cashmere and Rose-Marie was fellow entrepreneur Brian Lamy (B.F.A., advertising, 2016), founder of Hello Good Lookin': "As a maker, I can help people find natural, organic ways to create happy moments, moments that heal and rejuvenate. The industry has a long way to go, but I know we can do it right."

Two leading voices in the service design field spoke during "Good for Business: Designing for Humans." Birgit Mager, president of Service Design Network, said: "Designing for humans is obsolete. We are ruining our planet by designing just for humans. We need to think about the ecology of the planet as a whole. Humans are one component of that system, but not the only component we need to design for any longer." Jamin Hegeman, VP of design, Capital One: "Companies have forgotten that customer satisfaction starts with satisfied employees. Employees are the first customers of an organization, and if you want exceptional service and customer loyalty, you need to have happy people on the front lines."

Stay tuned for more notable quotes from SCADstyle 2021!