PARSONS THE NEW SCHOOL FOR DESIGN BEGINS CONSTRUCTION OF MAJOR CAMPUS CENTER FUNDED BY PHILANTHROPIST AND NEW SCHOOL TRUSTEE SHEILA C. JOHNSON

Sheila C. Johnson Design Center, designed by Lyn Rice Architects, will feature innovative urban quad,
state-of-the-art galleries, lecture and meeting spaces that will energize street front at Fifth Avenue and 13th Street
Exhibition about Center on view at Parsons, September 14-November 8, 2005

(New York, NY—September 13, 2005)  - Parsons The New School for Design** today celebrated the start of construction of the Sheila C. Johnson Design Center, made possible through the support of philanthropist and New School Trustee Sheila C. Johnson, co-founder of Black Entertainment Television. The center, designed by Lyn Rice Architects, will provide a vibrant street-front presence for the school at Fifth Avenue and 13th Street, featuring an innovative urban quad, state-of-the-art galleries, lecture and meeting spaces, a design store, and a new home for the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Archives Center, which documents 20th-century design. Parsons presents an exhibition about the Center, September 14-November 8.

“This project is a direct result of the generosity and vision of Sheila Johnson, who saw that the urgent need at the university was not just academic but physical,” said New School President Bob Kerrey. “The center symbolizes the University’s commitment to creating a vibrant urban campus that will better serve and reflect the dynamism of our eight schools and the thousands of students they serve, as well as the larger community.”

A member of Parsons Board of Governors since 2002, and now a vice-chair of Parsons board and a trustee of The New School, Sheila C. Johnson is a noted philanthropist whose $7 million gift to the school for the creation of the center is the largest in the school’s history. In addition, Johnson has supported design projects connecting Parsons students with executives from her businesses, and has sponsored Diversity in Design events that enable African-American students in New York City schools to learn about careers in the field.

“When I first visited Parsons, I was impressed by the focus, energy, and intelligence of the students. I saw right away that this was a very special place, but they needed more in terms of quality of space for learning,” said Ms. Johnson. “Education has been a cornerstone of my philanthropic giving, especially as it relates to young people and the arts. It is my hope that the new center will be a major destination for those who want to expand their knowledge of art and design.”

“The Sheila C.  Johnson Design Center will give Parsons a tangible urban presence that will greatly impact the experience of students and visitors alike,” said Parsons Dean Paul Goldberger. “It will provide magnificent spaces in which to meet, talk, and exchange ideas, reflecting the vibrant energy of New York City. The center will become as much a source of identity to the school as any campus quad.”

Background on the Center

The Sheila C. Johnson Design Center will unite at street level several historic buildings at Fifth Avenue and 13th Street, which the university has occupied since the early 1970s.  Currently a series of small, disconnected spaces, the Center will create an open and welcoming presence filled with natural light and urban connections. The design preserves and enhances the individual architecture of the existing buildings, while underscoring Parsons’ commitment to the new.

The 25,000-square-foot center is designed by Lyn Rice Architects, whose principal Lyn Rice was a principal of OpenOffice, the architects of the Dia:Beacon. By opening up the existing spaces, Rice creates a double-height, skylight-covered public space or urban quadrangle that will connect a new front door on 13th Street with the existing entrance on Fifth Avenue. Composed of aluminum, glass and raw concrete, the quad will be surrounded by a series of insertions that represent the center’s main programmatic elements: galleries, meeting rooms, an archives center, a lecture hall and a design store. “Deep-framed windows will provide a visual connection to the street, as well as seating and display space,” said Rice. “Changing graphic and electronic displays placed at key locations throughout the center will serve as focal points that communicate the school’s high level of activity and varied programs.”

Featuring a variety of gathering areas, the center includes a student critique space at the highly visible corner of Fifth Avenue and 13th Street, which will enable the public to observe in action the design dialogue that is central to a Parsons education. A new state-of-the-art gallery, to be named in honor of longtime Parsons benefactors Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen, is designed as a box within a box, a highly refined space set within the raw structure. The center will also provide a new home for the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Archives, a significant collection of drawings, photographs, letters, and objects documenting 20th century design. The project also includes improvements to the façade and entranceways.

The Center will be the focus of an exhibition at Parsons, Sheila C. Johnson Design Center at Parsons: A Celebration, on view at the Arnold and Sheila Aronson Galleries at 66 Fifth Avenue, September 14-November 8. In addition to showcasing the design of the Center, the exhibition will highlight current and recent work by Lyn Rice, and introduce the center’s benefactor, Sheila C. Johnson. For more information, visit www.newschool.parsons.edu/events.

Background on Sheila C. Johnson

Sheila C. Johnson is the CEO of Salamander Hospitality.  Johnson co-founded Black Entertainment Television, where she developed an award-winning weekly program, “Teen Summit,” a show that gave teenagers a chance to talk frankly about critical issues.  Her latest endeavor is the building of a hospitality company, including Market Salamander, a working chefs market located in Middleburg, VA, and, opening in fall 2005, Palm Beach, FL; and the luxury Salamander Resort & Spa, currently under development just outside of Middleburg. An accomplished violinist, Johnson has always held a strong interest in young adult education, and has given to the United Negro College Fund, Bennett College, and the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation for the development of an educational exhibit on the first African-Americans in Virginia. Her gift to SUNY Morrisville is being used to establish an institute to promote diversity of students and staff.  In her local community of Middleburg, she endowed and opened the Sheila C. Johnson Performing Arts Center at The Hill School.  She is on the board of the Christopher Reeve Foundation, and is currently president of the Washington International Horse Show. She is the president, managing partner and governor for the Washington Mystics WNBA team and a partner in Lincoln Holdings, LLC.

Background on Lyn Rice Architects

Lyn Rice Architects is a New York-based firm that examines contemporary culture through the practice of architecture. The office collaborates with artists, designers, programmers, curators and inventors in an open exchange of ideas and working methods that explore and expand the boundaries of architecture. In addition to the Johnson Design Center, current and recent projects include [AND]SCAPES, LANDed: Innovative Garden Structures, Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa, OK; Uninterrupted Flux: Hedda Sterne Retrospective, Krannert Art Museum, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; and Sosnick Penthouse, New York. Prior to the founding of Lyn Rice Architects in November 2004, Rice was a principal of OpenOffice Arts + Architecture Collaborative, where projects included 80 Arts: The James E Davis Arts Building, BAM Local Development Corporation, Brooklyn, NY; and Dia:Beacon, Beacon, NY, in collaboration with artist Robert Irwin.

Parsons The New School for Design

Parsons The New School for Design** is one of the largest degree-granting colleges of art and design in the nation, with more than 3,000 students in degree programs, and 1,700 non-degree students from all 50 states and approximately 60 countries. Parsons has been a forerunner in the field of art and design since its founding in 1896. Parsons’ rigorous programs and distinguished faculty embrace curricular innovation, pioneer new uses of technology, and instill in students a global perspective in design. For more information, visit www.parsons.newschool.edu.

The New School

Located in the heart of New York’s Greenwich Village, The New School is a center of academic excellence where intellectual and artistic freedoms thrive.  The 8,800 matriculated students and 15,000 continuing education students who attend the university’s eight schools enjoy a disciplined education supported by small class sizes, superior resources, and renowned working faculty who practice what they teach.  Artists, scholars, and students from all walks of life attend its diverse programs and can earn everything from program certificates to bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees. When The New School was founded in 1919, its mission was to create a place where global peace and justice were more than theoretical ideals. Today, The New School continues that mission, and endeavors to foster worthy and just citizens of the world.

The eight schools that make up The New School are: The New School for General Studies, The New School for Social Research, Milano The New School for Management and Urban Policy, Parsons The New School for Design, Eugene Lang College The New School for Liberal Arts, Mannes College The New School for Music, The New School for Drama, and The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music. For more information, visit www.newschool.edu.

**Parsons, a division of The New School, has changed its name to Parsons The New School for Design as part of a new university-wide identity program, please visit identity.newschool.edu for more information.