Parsons The New School for Design

Parsons The New School for Design, located in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City, is a design school affiliated (since 1970) with The New School (formerly known as New School University).

Parsons has approximately 2,400 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 also has four affiliate schools, located in France, South Korea, the Dominican Republic, and Japan. These affiliate schools operate independently, but embrace Parsons' philosophy and teaching methodology.

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.

History

Founded as the Chase School in 1896 by impressionist painter William Merritt Chase, it changed its name in 1898 to the New York School of Art.

Frank Alvah Parsons joined the faculty in 1904. He became an administrator in 1907, and worked to broaden the curriculum, opening the first programs in interior design, graphic design, and advertising in the United States. In 1909, the school was renamed the New York School of Fine and Applied Art to reflect these offerings. Parsons became sole director in 1911, a position which he maintained to his death in 1930.

William Odom, who established the school's Paris Ateliers in 1921, succeeded Parsons as president. In 1941, he renamed the institution the Parsons School of Design to recognize his predecessor's formative influence.

In 1970, the school was incorporated into The New School for Social Research. In 2005, when the parent institution was renamed The New School, Parsons School of Design was renamed Parsons The New School for Design.

Notable alumni

Hector Luis Bustamante - actor, graphic designer
Kelly Chen - Hong Kong singer
Doo Ri Chung - fashion designer
Amy V. Cooper - photographer
Tom Ford - fashion designer
Jane Frank - painter, mixed media artist, sculptor, advertising designer, illustrator
Lazaro Hernandez - fashion designer
Nicky Hilton - handbag designer, model, and socialite (did not graduate)
Edward Hopper - painter
Marc Jacobs - fashion designer
Donna Karan - fashion designer
Jack McCoullough - fashion designer
Isaac Mizrahi - fashion designer
Matthew Perpetua - Fluxblog creator
Paul Rand - Graphic Designer
Norman Rockwell - painter
Joel Schumacher - film director and producer
Anna Sui - fashion designer
Jason Witenstein-Weaver - artist, creative technologist

External links