Donor Impact Report 2022–2023

We are grateful to donors and funders whose generosity enables ArtCenter to introduce our local and regional communities to the transformative power of art and design, as well as shed light on career opportunities and on the value and accessibility of an ArtCenter degree. These efforts include our Admissions Office’s outreach initiatives and workshops; scholarships facilitating student participation in ArtCenter's non-degree courses for adults, children and teenagers; and our partnerships with Pasadena public schools and other organizations.

Partner Spotlight: Pasadena Unified School District (PUSD)

Thanks to initial grants totaling nearly $80,000 from the California Arts Council (CAC), alongside funding from The Kenneth T. and Eileen L. Norris Foundation, First Congregational Church of Pasadena, The Rowe and Gayle Giesen Trust and the National Endowment for the Arts, ArtCenter’s partnership with the Pasadena Unified School District (PUSD) has never been more robust. Our Design Fellows program equips PUSD teachers with a knowledge of design history, principles and careers that they can bring back to their classrooms. The IxD @ The App Academy program introduced — the visual elements that make apps and websites look and work great—students in Pasadena High School’s elective track for future coders and web designers. And ArtCenter instructors are teaching Blair, Rose City and Marshall Fundamental High School students to tell their own stories effectively through digital photography.

In 2023, ArtCenter joined the Norton Simon Museum, The Huntington Library and other esteemed Pasadena cultural institutions as a partner venue in My Masterpieces, the Pasadena Educational Foundation’s beloved, award-winning cultural excursion program. Through My Masterpieces, PUSD students, grades K-6, discover their city’s cultural resources as a place to belong and connect their experience back to their own lives through art making workshops.

Program Spotlight: Designing Dreams Initiative

Associate Professor Roosevelt “Rose” Brown (BS 95) is opening doors with his Designing Dreams Initiative (DDI). An ArtCenter community engagement program in PUSD schools focused on 10–18-year-old Black and Latinx students, it was first funded by grants from The Kenneth T. and Eileen L. Norris Foundation, and then by a grant from the First Congregational Church of Pasadena. A footwear and product designer, Brown has designed sneakers for Puma, Brooks and Nike. Through DDI, he introduces students to the prevalence of design in their lives—from shoes to video games—and to design as a career. As part of the program, Brown also co-leads after-school Sneaker Science workshops. Students are provided with kits that include vacuum-formed shoe uppers, laser-printed templates, markers and pens to develop concepts and build prototypes. “We're building a pipeline of success, access, awareness and skills, so there’s more people of color in the creative economy,” Brown says.

Donor Spotlight: The Rowe and Gayle Giesen Trust

For nearly 25 years, the Rowe and Gayle Giesen Trust's fruitful generosity to ArtCenter— now totaling more than $130,000—has made a difference in the lives of scores of young people who seek enrichment or a career head start through the College’s youth-focused art and design programs. In 2022, the Trust’s gifts enabled 26 Pasadena high schoolers to enroll in ArtCenter extension courses that included Animation, Filmmaking A-Z and Design 360°, a course that explores 10 art and design disciplines. The Trust also supported field trips to ArtCenter for local high school students. It has supported the College’s recent partnerships with STEAM:CODERS—a non-profit organization that provides disadvantaged students with opportunities to learn the fundamentals of Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math (STEAM)—and our work with Pasadena High School’s App Academy.