i+D - September/October 2021 - 26

Business
of Design
Future Focus
The Black Artists + Designers Guild (BADG), a global nonprofit
organization, recently launched its latest student endeavor, the
Creative Futures Grant, open to Black-identifying undergraduate
and graduate students focusing on visual arts, interior design, or
architecture. Four grant recipients will receive $5,000 each and
mentorship sessions with the guild's members. It's an opportunity
not only for younger learners, but also those scholars who are
already practicing artists and makers.
" Over the last two years, we've been building our education fund to
provide awards, grants, and residencies for artists and designers at
different stages in their careers, " says Malene Barnett, artist, activist,
and founder of the Black Artists + Designers Guild. " The Creative
Futures Grant offers support for projects that Black art and design
students want to create, but are not necessarily able to develop at
their educational institutions or in their future careers. We're really
proud to provide our winners with this level of support, access,
and exposure. "
Each internship or scholarship program has a unique focus, and
ultimately, different goals. For the ASID Virtual Internship's mostrecent
session, a comprehensive program was created, covering
everything from project phases to portfolio design and development.
" In the second iteration, this past summer, we moved away from
putting people into a standard internship and decided to teach a
master class on the skills that you learn in an internship instead, "
Stringfellow explains. " It really expanded the accessibility that
people had to this curated content. "
The ASID Virtual
Internship brings
design students
and professionals
together for a mix
of on-demand
content and live
learning sessions.
(Image: Courtesy
of ASID)
The Creative Futures
Grant from BADG
supports projects Black
artists and designers
might not otherwise be
able to develop at their
educational institutions
or in their careers.
(Image: Courtesy of Black
Artists + Designers Guild)
The Be Original Americas Student Fellowship aims to provide participants
with a greater understanding of the business side of the industry, not solely the
creative, more glamorous elements. " Before we launched, we started thinking
about what traditional design programs were like and what they were lacking.
We found that there was not as much training on the business of design. There
was a lot of theory, a lot of studio, but not enough about bringing a product to
market or starting a company. Students get a window into how to manufacture,
distribute, and market an original product, " says Gutshall.
No matter the topics discussed or the skills learned, each of these programs
allow the participants to expand their vision of what's possible. " The students
are able to look at all of these different career paths that they might not have
considered before, " Stringfellow adds. " They can think about a specialization
or an area of expertise that they want to develop, and where they can make
an impact. "
Malene Barnett
(Image: Alaric Campbell
Photography)
Barnett hopes current and future recipients of the BADG grant will be
empowered innovators without the constraints of institutional constructs. " Our
goal is to nurture artists and designers to create liberatory studio practices, " she
stresses. " We want each grant recipient to think about how they are building
on the legacy of our ancestors. We encourage these students to embrace our
heritage and experiences unapologetically, taking this opportunity to bring their
vision to life, while cementing their creative narrative into the global story of
architecture, arts, and design. "
A native of California, ANNA ZAPPIA
has been in New York City for more than a
decade covering a range of topics from fashion to
architecture. She has provided content
and worked on research projects for Google,
Zagat, and Sidewalk Labs. She currently serves as
a contributor to Floor Trends magazine.
26
i+D - September/October 2021
i+D - September/October 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of i+D - September/October 2021
