Paula Wallace SCAD: The Power of a Dream
Paula Wallace is living the American dream while at the same time molding young people to aspire to greater heights of prosperity. Her life purpose has been to create a supportive environment for students in art and design to excel. With modest origins backed by a strong sense of family, Wallace has established and managed a formidable Institute of Higher Education. The Savannah College of Arts and Design(SCAD) in Atlanta has distinguished itself as the college of choice for creatives in art and design.
SCAD, established in 1979 in Savannah, has grown by leaps and bounds to spread its artistic wings in Atlanta, Hong Kong, and Lacoste in France. Paula Wallace SCAD values are rooted in the Southerly culture, which makes it all the more appealing as the place for mentoring artistic types. Wallace is forever thankful to her parents, who nurtured the first cohort of students in her young school. Her parents’ deep involvement in the students’ welfare further strengthened the strong sense of togetherness for the students. Many of the more than 15,000 graduates have kept SCAD’s family spirit burning by keeping Wallace updated about their career and social progress from all over the world. Other offshoots of SCAD leaving a mark on the art and design scene are SCAD Museum of Art, the SCAD FASH and shopSCAD.
Paula Wallace SCAD founder’s work of creating a suitable artistic environment for students is a study of resilience and the importance of having a dream. Though Paula Wallace could not see the whole staircase of SCAD when she began about 40 years ago, she chose to scale it step by step. Courage, backed by a powerful sense of family values, has seen Wallace inspire her protégés to realize the dream of being successful persons in career and personal life.