Interior Design program awarded $50,000 Angelo Donghia Foundation Grant
The grant will support a five-year initiative to expand lighting design course offerings, providing a research-driven, interdisciplinary approach to lighting design at CCA.
The California College of the Arts Interior Design program was awarded a $50,000 grant from the Angelo Donghia Foundation to support students through an expanded lighting design curriculum with a focus on research-driven, interdisciplinary courses.
The grant will be applied over five years through the introduction of coursework exploring future technologies; bioluminescence; lighting and the environment; and the effects of light on human health, circadian systems, disabilities, and aging. The grant will also support the creation of an on-campus mobile lighting lab, creating hands-on opportunities for students to collaborate across majors and experiment with light angles, intensity, color, and lighting controls.
Founded in 2001 in honor of the late, world-renowned American interior designer Angelo Donghia, the Angelo Donghia Foundation awards scholarships to deserving students who are entering their senior year of a baccalaureate degree program in interior design. In 2020, due to COVID–19, the foundation suspended the competition and used the funds to underwrite programs seeking to advance interior design education. Since its launch, the foundation has awarded more than $15 million to student scholarships, educational initiatives, and other causes.
“We’re so grateful for the generous support of the Angelo Donghia Foundation,” says Amy Campos, chair of CCA’s Interior Design program. “Lighting is critical to all aspects of art and design, and this grant will allow us to provide CCA designers and artists the opportunity to engage more actively and deeply in the exploration of light.”
“We’re excited about the opportunities the Angelo Donghia Foundation Grant opens up for our Interior Design students to explore lighting design through a multidisciplinary curriculum and help establish CCA as a leader in lighting pedagogy,” says Keith Krumwiede, dean of Architecture.
CCA’s Interior Design program celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2020. The program is a four-year, NASAD-accredited professional BFA degree program founded on the idea that the design of interior spaces can transform organizations and change communities. Students are challenged to be creative and visionary and to design with social and environmental issues in mind. The interdisciplinary education integrates artistic, technological, and material approaches to the practice of interior design. The program is grounded in an understanding of the body in space, human scale, sustainable material practices, and perception. Interior Design at CCA prepares students to be innovative leaders in the area of spatial design to meet the challenges and opportunities of the future.