The Planning and Visual Education partnership (PAVE) has awarded its 2009 Helping Hand Fund grant to the University of Memphis. Created in 2008, the PAVE Helping Hand Fund provides funds to accredited educational institutions to enhance the quality of programs and services for students entering into careers in the retail design and planning, visual merchandising, and interior design industries.
Right and below: The existing lighting lab at the University of Memphis. Check back in late 2010 for an update on the new lab.
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A $15,000 grant to the University of Memphis for 2009 will be used to create a Retail Lighting Laboratory based on LED technology. The lab will include ambient, accent, and task lighting, along with a showroom window and display fixtures. This new lab will allow students to have hands-on access to lighting experimentation and allows the existing lighting curriculum to be expanded into advanced specialized courses.
In 2008, PAVE awarded $25,000 in grants to the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM) in Los Angeles and O’More College of Design in Franklin, Tenn. Each school received $12,500 for its project. FIDM created a studio technology area, adding equipment to the Los Angeles and San Francisco Visual Communications studios to increase students’ access to technology and ultimately support the creative process. O’More College engaged students with real clients in a small town during its weeklong Studio on the Square project; this intensive on-site design experience gave the community a refreshed town square that is inviting to the public through function, appeal, and merchandising.
A PAVE board task force reviewed grant requests meeting the criteria to determine award decisions. To be eligible for a grant, the school was required to have had at least three students participate in PAVE’s 2009 Student Design Competition, sponsored by Macy’s.
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