The New School (Parsons The New School for Design)

Parsons The New School for Design (abbreviated Parsons), is a design school founded in 1896. Parsons has been affiliated since 1970 with The New School, formerly known as New School University. Parsons is a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design (AICAD), a consortium of thirty-five leading art schools in the United States. The main Parsons campus is located in Greenwich Village, New York City; its well-known Fashion department is located prominently in the heart of the city's Garment District in midtown.

Parsons has approximately 3,100 undergraduates and more than 400 graduate students enrolled. The School also offers continuing education courses and certificate programs, as well as weekend and summer pre-college programs for high school students.

Parsons used to have seven affiliate schools, located in France, Los Angeles, Malaysia, South Korea, the Dominican Republic, and Japan. These affiliate schools operated independently, but embrace Parsons' philosophy and teaching methodology. Recently, Parsons has cut off connections with all other schools except Parsons Paris in France and the Altos de Chavón School of Design in the Dominican Republic.

There are 30 full-time faculty members and more than 675 adjunct faculty members, many of whom are successful working artists and designers in New York City. Faculty members and visiting critics include architect Brian Lewis and artist Brian Tolle.

Parsons is the setting for the Bravo reality television program Project Runway. Tim Gunn, Chair of Fashion Design at Parsons, serves as the mentor to the designers on the program.




History

Parsons has been a forerunner in the field of art and design since its founding in 1896. Back then, it was called the Chase School, named after American impressionist painter William Merritt Chase, who led a small group of Progressives who seceded from the Art Students League of New York in search of freer, more dramatic and individual expression.

In 1904, Frank Alvah Parsons joined Chase; six years later, he became the School's president. Anticipating a new wave of the Industrial Revolution, Parsons predicted that art and design would soon be inexorably linked to the engines of industry. His prophetic vision was borne out in a series of firsts for the School:

* The first program in Fashion Design
* The first program in Interior Design
* The fist program in Advertising and Graphic Design

Each program has profoundly impacted American life. In 1939, nine years after Frank Alvah Parsons' death, the School officially adopted his name.

By locating visual beauty in the ordinary things of middle-class American life, Parsons virtually invented the modern concept of design in America. From the beginning, the faculty cared about the spaces people lived in, the garments they wore, the advertising they read, the furniture and tableware they used. The principles they taught had the effect of democratizing taste and making it available to America on a broad scale. As the modern curriculum developed, many successful designers remained closely tied to the School, and by the mid-1960s, Parsons had become "the training ground for Seventh Avenue."

The social and political upheaval of the late-1960s would challenge the foundations of several of the School's departments, especially Interior Design. Whereas the curriculum formerly had emphasized middle- and upper-class homes, the program redirected students to work on more urban and socially conscious projects, such as prisons, hospitals, and housing for the underprivileged. In keeping with this new orientation, the graduating class of 1965 mounted "A Place to Live," an exhibition that analyzed substandard urban housing and proposed alternatives. Today, every Parsons department shares a commitment to design as both a social responsibility and an intellectual practice.

In 1970, the School became a division of the New School for Social Research (now The New School). The campus moved from Sutton Place to Greenwich Village in 1972. The merger with a vigorous, fully accredited university was a source of new funding and energy, which expanded the focus of a Parsons education.

Internationalism has always been an essential ingredient of Parsons' success. In 1920, Parsons was the first art and design school in America to found a campus abroad. Parsons also has four affiliate schools in France, South Korea, the Dominican Republic, and Japan, which operate independently but embrace Parsons' philosophy and teaching methodology. Students can also participate in exchange programs with other art and design schools. Today, 30 percent of Parsons' students are international - a testament to its global reputation for design education excellence. Since the School's earliest years, the overwhelming majority of its teachers have been professional designers who teach part-time, which gives students the unique advantage of being taught by New York's successful working artists and designers.

Faculty members and visiting critics — like installation artist Brian Tolle, architect David Lewis, and communication designer William Bevington; are principals in their own design firms, hold key positions in the art and design community and frequently have their work published. Parsons' strong ties to industry bring numerous guest lectures and critics into forums and classrooms. Visiting critics include: Richard Meier, Donna Karan, Mayer Rus, Arthur Corwin, and Paula Scher.

In recent years, the School has strongly promoted technological skills development. By mastering computer graphics, computer-assisted design, interactive multimedia, digital imaging, and a host of other technological tools, Parsons' graduates are on the leading edge of an ever-evolving design world.

Parsons rigorous programs and distinguished faculty embrace curricular innovation, pioneer new uses of technology, and instill in students a global perspective in design. The result is an educational experience that is authentic and contemporary. The young designers who graduate from Parsons School of Design are unquestionably the real thing.




Mission

Parsons focuses on creating engaged citizens and outstanding artists, designers, scholars and business leaders through a design-based professional and liberal education.

Parsons students learn to rise to the challenges of living, working and creative decision making in a world where human experience is increasingly designed. The school embraces curricular innovation, pioneering uses of technology, collaborative methods and global perspectives on the future of design.




Accreditation

Parsons and The New School are fully accredited by the Commission on Higher Education of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools. Its credits and degrees are recognized and accepted by other accredited colleges, universities, and professional schools throughout the United States. The New School, a privately supported institution, is chartered as a university by the Regents of the State of New York.

Parsons is an accredited institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Art and Design, NASAD. Parsons offers a Master of Architecture degree program accredited by National Architectural Accrediting Board, NAAB.

Parsons is also a member of AICAD, the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design.




Facilities
Architecture Studio
The heart of the Architecture program is the large, open studio loft where students develop design projects in interaction with faculty and peers. The 5,000 square foot space is supported by wireless digital technology allowing for direct access for printing and plotting from student's desk to the adjacent 25-station computer laboratories. A curated material library and staffed model shop are also located adjacent to the studio. Use of the fabrication shops in the Fine Arts Department located above the studio is encouraged and promotes important exchanges with MFA graduate students as well. The Department's facilities are augmented by an extensive collection of books, periodicals, and slides, housed at the Adam and Sophie Gimbel Library of Art and Design. In addition, a consortium membership gives Parsons students access to the libraries of The Cooper Union and New York University. Among the Department's greatest resources is New York City itself. Located in the heart of downtown Greenwich Village, Parsons School of Design is fortunate to be situated at the very crossroads of New York's vibrant architecture and design communities where students frequent museums, galleries, and lectures.




Donghia Materials Library and Study Center
The Angelo Donghia Materials Library and Study Center, funded by the Angelo Donghia Foundation, is comprised of a library, a gallery, a computer lab, and a lecture hall. The Library allows students and faculty to review and check out state-of-the-art resources, putting the latest and most exclusive materials at their fingertips. Regular exhibitions at the gallery run by a full-time curator are open to the public, creating an open forum and dialogue with the larger interior design community.

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