Feature Story »
By Toni Wyre, Professor of Interior Design »
UCA Interior Design, 2024
Our Central Arkansas Design Community is abuzz with the recent news of an anonymous gift to the UCA Interior Design Program within the Department of Art & Design. The generous donor has established a $5 million endowment to provide students and faculty with experiential learning opportunities and support for years to come.
Jennifer Whitehead has been a big part of the growth and success of Interior Design at UCA for over 15 years; she leads the Internship placement program and currently serves as the Director. She states, “We are so grateful for this transformative gift, which will allow the program to recruit and retain faculty and students and generate amazing opportunities for our UCA design community.”
The Interior Design Faculty plan to gather in the Fall to develop a strategic plan proposal for allocating future funds, in collaboration with the Provost’s office. Ideas include funding professional experiences and trade shows for students and faculty as well as providing stipends for competition fees, study abroad scholarships and bringing professionals to the UCA campus.
This is an exciting time for UCA and for the future of design in Arkansas. We appreciate the steadfast support of our President, Dr. Davis, Provost Poulter, Dean Williams, Assoc. Dean Seymour, and Chair Massey. We look forward to sharing more information in the Fall.
Follow this link to the official press release: https://uca.edu/news/uca-receives-one-of-the-largest-gifts-in-university-history/