Hasta La Ideas

What are the new pedagogical frameworks we will need to conceive of to enable new forms of thinking, perceiving and making? In this Q+A with Mariana Amatullo, Jury Captain for the 2012 Core77 Design Awards Educational Initiatives category and co-founder and Vice President of Designmatters at Art Center, we learn about Amatullo’s lineup of team members and some thoughts on the critical crossroads facing design education.

Core77: Tell us a bit about your jury and why you chose these individuals.

Mariana Amatullo: It was important to me that we not only have diversity and multi-disciplinarity in our Art Center, as our chair of Product Design and Director of the Color, Materials and Trends Exploratory Lab, but is also deeply immersed in driving some of our most innovative educational initiatives at the college, which are broadening how we teach, and whom we teach design education to. Karen is both a leader and an all “hands-on deck” passionate educator who has an innate ability to get her students to exude confidence and inspiration.

Johanna Blakely brings to the jury an amazing academic trajectory and rich insight into social media, entertainment, fashion, intellectual property and contemporary cultural trends that intersect closely with the decisions and choices designers are confronted with on a daily basis. Her research interests and the initiatives she oversees at the Norman Lear Center encompass such wide array of issues, which are of deep relevance to this category—I am thrilled she is participating.

Alexandre Hennen is someone whom I look forward to working together with in the context of this jury. His leadership at Continuum Los Angeles has puts him at the center of remarkable talent and projects; it will be very exciting to count with his voice in our team.

Why is it important to recognize this category in a design awards program?

I think it is essential that we celebrate all dedicated and innovative educators out there. They remain so invisible, so often.

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