ArtCenter Design Invitational looks to woo students
At what was a fairly low-key event, designers and organisers explained how they are looking to attract students back to physical classrooms. The private event’s exclusive setting still attracted big-name ACCD alumni and their designs
For the first time since the pandemic, ArtCenter College of Design opened its Hillside campus to prospective students, their families and alumni for a scaled-down version of its annual fall gathering. The Southern California institution is known for its annual car show, typically packed with spectators and members of the community along with a star-studded cast of alumni.
“The focus this year is getting students back together in the spirit of recovery and moving forward,” says Jordan Meadows, ArtCenter instructor and Ford designer. “The idea of coming on-site to a school is really important, and looking at beautiful designs together is still a part of the creative process.”
Set outside against a striking backdrop of the San Gabriel mountains and blue sky, this year’s event featured on-stage chats with designers including Tesla’s Franz von Holzhausen, who easily garnered the most attention with the Cybertruck prototype (whose windows had long been replaced since that awkward on-stage debut).
Also on stage was Toyota and Lexus VP of Advanced Design Ian Cartabiano, formerly head of ED2 in Europe and now back at CALTY in Newport Beach, CA, as well as Rivian’s Jeff Hammoud, who brought examples of the R1T truck and R1S SUV. “We’re here to get students excited about automotive design,” Hammoud says. “It’s good to give back and show them that dreams can become a reality.”
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Derek Jenkins and the Lucid team captured plenty of interest with the Air sedan and a new custom Airstream trailer that will serve as a rolling retail studio. The interior is done with the same wood and fabrics found in Lucid’s vehicles and brick-and-mortar stores, complete with an interior buck and VR headset. “To be up here is always a pleasure and it’s so rewarding to engage with students and be able to bring our personal cars and company products,” Jenkins says. “It’s just a cool vibe and there’s nothing else like it.”
Also new this year was a live-streamed discussion panel on women in design, a small step forward for a school — and an industry — that remains vastly male dominated. Still, ArtCenter leadership say they’re trying to find the right formula to attract more women and people of colour to the program. “We feel it’s important for a school that has such major impact to be working toward better representation,” says Jay Sanders, executive director of ArtCenter’s transportation design programme, who says women make up only about six to seven percent of the programme’s student body, and account for five of its some 30 instructors. “We’re not where we want to be, but we’re moving in the right direction.”
Sanders says ArtCenter has hired a new manager focussed solely on diversity, equity and inclusion, and that the school is working on more outreach efforts for girls in high school and college. “All the STEM stuff is great, but we also need parents to understand that car design is a really good career, too,” Sanders says. “Our challenge is, how do we get them hooked, how do we get them engaged, and feel supported all the way through?”
While this year’s event was refreshingly small, ArtCenter plans to return to the traditional Car Classic format next year with bigger crowds and a new venue, as the design programme will relocate next year from the hills to downtown Pasadena at the new Mullin Transportation Design Center.