ASID Icon - March/April 2009 - (Page 14) Diversity in Interior Design By Dana Wilkie GROWING UP IN St. Louis, Mo., in the late 1950s and early 1960s, interior designer Vernon Lockhart lived in low-income neighborhoods whose public schools could hardly afford to promote something as seemingly luxurious as the design arts, let alone provide role models in the interior design community. But Lockhart had one thing going for him that most of his African-American peers did not: his mother’s love for design. She introduced him to books on graphic design and took him to museums. Later, while attending a vocational high school for design, Lockhart won a scholarship to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Upon graduating from college in the late 1980s, Lockhart recalls that African-American interior designers “were few and far between … period.” He describes the transition from school to the profession as a “lonely” time. “It was tough to break into the profession. You don’t have as many mentors. You don’t have as many examples before you, nor a network as powerful as that of people who’ve been in the field for centuries,” says Lockhart, who now coowns a Chicago-based multidiscipline firm called Art on the Loose Inc. “You feel a sense of being isolated as a creative person. I would say you have to work harder—to prove that you belong as a designer.” The percentages of minorities in the interior design community have crept up in recent years, as have the numbers enrolling in design schools. Yet despite these gains, the percentages remain relatively low, particularly for AfricanAmericans and Asians. 14 icon march/april/09 ch/april/09 the magazine of the american society of in ter ior de signer s the ma gazine of th e amer ica n soc iety o inter or d s ners e ma gazine n th he erica ca c oci ty cy interior designers terior Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of ASID Icon - March/April 2009 ASID Icon - March/April 2009 Contents President's Letter Of Note Innovations Minority Report Putting the "i" in Team Business, Meet Design Industry Contrast Up Close Design for Life Environotes Inside ASID Grassroots Showroom Resource Guide Needful Things ASID Icon - March/April 2009 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/AIDQ/AIDQ0213 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/AIDQ/AIDQ0113 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/AIDQ0412 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/IPFocus_July2012 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/AIDQ0312 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/AIDQ0212 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/IPFocus2012 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/AIDQ0112 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/IPFocus2011 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/AIDS0411 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/AIDS0311 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/AIDS0211 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/AIDS0111 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/AIDS0610 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/AIDS0510 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/AIDS0410 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/AIDS0310 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/AIDS0210 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/AIDS0110 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/AIDS0609 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/AIDS0509 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/AIDS0409 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/AIDS0309 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/AIDS0209 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/AIDS0109 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/AIDS0608 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/AIDS0508 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/AIDS0408 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/AIDS0308 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/AIDS0208 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/AIDS0108 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/AIDS0607 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/AIDS0507 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/AIDS0307 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/AIDS0207 http://www.nxtbookMEDIA.com
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