SAVE THE DATE: Join us January 12, 2011, at 7 p.m. for a Leading by Design Fellows Program Info Night held at CCA on the San Francisco campus.

CCA’s Leading by Design Fellows Program Hits its Mark with Pioneer 2010 Cohort

Q. Your job involves a lot of international travel. What are some global trends in art and design education?

The overarching trend is simply the belief that art and design education has become more important—that it’s a lively, dynamic field. Creativity and innovation are the most valuable currencies of our time. We hear that China has started around 1,000 new art and design programs in the last 10 to 15 years, and there are similar government-led education initiatives across the globe, particularly in Asia (including India), starting at the primary and secondary school levels.

The premise is that the new global economy will be built on the creative industries, and there will be more professional opportunities and more spheres of influence for artists and designers. In much of Asia, traditional ways of teaching and learning are not seen as conducive to creativity and innovation. When I’m over there I’m often asked questions about how to teach and instill creativity.

This summer Fashion Design students were busy helping kids make geometry come alive. As part of the Exploratorium’s Geometry Playground summer exhibition was the “You’d Be Naked Without Geometry” event that offered five California College of the Arts Fashion Design students the chance to spur children’s creativity by making opulent dresses out of pink pattern-making paper.

Artist and furniture designer Scott Constable is fall 2010's Wornick Distinguished Visiting Professor of Wood Arts. He is a woodworker who uses his craft to explore the social and philosophical issues of everyday life. His work, ranging from furniture to architecture and environmental sculpture, has exhibited internationally and garnered numerous design awards.