Historically Black Winston-Salem State University in North Carolina has entered into a partnership with the University of North Carolina School of the Arts to create four interdisciplinary design studies that will be housed at the Center for Design Innovation (CDI) of the Wake Forest Innovation Quarter in Winston-Salem.
The four new design studios are:
- Spatial Justice Studio: This studio focuses on exploring alternative possibilities for urban areas and ways to achieve more equitable urban futures through active research, engaged teaching practices and community-based participatory research.
- The Health+Art (HeART) Studio: This studio aims to bring health and the arts together to develop strategies and approaches that address total wellness – mental, physical, emotional, spiritual – across diverse communities.
- Information Design Studio: This studio will bring together students and faculty through information design, which includes film, graphic arts, virtual and augmented reality, music, dance, and animation, to express the results of new research at CDI and partner institutes.
- Higher Education Design Studio (HEDstudio): Recognizing that the design process offers powerful tools for high-impact learning, the HEDstudio will bring diverse students, faculty, and professionals together into transdisciplinary research and design of performances, exhibitions, multimedia publications, and more that contribute to public knowledge and literacy.
Jim DeCristo, vice chancellor for economic development and chief of staff at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and interim director for CDI, stated that “each studio will bring together students, faculty, and community leaders across disciplines to develop meaningful solutions to contemporary challenges. The studios will help the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and Winston-Salem State University reimagine education and research with design as the central tool.”
