Dear Alumni and Friends,

Spring 2023 was a busy, exciting time for the Department of Design and Merchandising. We kicked off the semester by hiring two new colleagues who will play vital roles in the growth of the Avenir Museum of Design and Merchandising. Gabrielle Friesen is our new collections database coordinator and Sarah Lillis is our new education programs coordinator. Also, Dr. Heejin Lim, who recently received her doctoral degree from the University of Minnesota, will join our faculty team in August.

Spring was a productive semester for DM scholarship. Read below about four faculty in the Interior Architecture and Design Program who presented research at the 2023 Interior Design Educators Council conference in Vancouver, Canada. In April, Dr. Sonali Diddi and colleagues executed an international Fashion and Circular Economy symposium featuring a keynote presentation by Rebecca Burgess, executive director of Fibershed. In May, Dr. Vivian Li received a Proof-of-Concept award through the Advanced Industries Accelerator Program in Colorado’s Office of Economic Development and International Trade.

DM students presented their scholarships at multiple venues, including the CHHS Research Day, MURALS, CURC, and Demo Day. Read more about DM student scholarships and awards by clicking or tapping the links below.  Students also received national honors for their academic achievements. Lauren Donahue, Latifa Hirchi-Vogl, Sophie Scott, and Sarah Smith were selected as Fashion Scholarship Fund awardees by a panel of industry professionals, and Metropolis Magazine selected Kasey Kruse as a ‘Future 100’ interior architecture and design graduate from the class of 2023.

We happily reintroduced our New York City study course since the onset of the pandemic. Twenty students participated in the course and traveled to New York City to connect with alumni and visit apparel, accessory, and skincare companies; interior design firms and building sites; and museums. Social activities included an evening boat tour on the Hudson River and a wonderful dinner at Carmine’s, followed by the Broadway show, Hamilton.

In May, students in AM 375 completed a collaborative learning project with Smartwool under the guidance of Dr. Lida Aflatoony, a new faculty member in the product development concentration. Students traveled to the VF Corporation headquarters in Denver to present their finished projects to the Smartwool team, which included several DM alums.

The semester ended with two wonderful celebrations, the AM fashion show and the IAD Senior Show; find images and video from these events in the SOURCE stories, below. We also celebrated our colleague Dr. Laura Cole’s award of tenure and promotion to associate professor. Finally, owing to the dedication and leadership of Dr. Jain Kwon and Dr. Leah Scolere, co-chairs for the IAD program review and on-site visit, we celebrated the official notice of a six-year accreditation from the Council for Interior Design Accreditation in May.

If you are in Fort Collins this summer, we hope you have time to visit the Avenir Museum of Design and Merchandising (University Center for the Arts, 216 E. Lake St.). Find more information about the current exhibitions, below.

Best wishes to all of you for an enjoyable summer!