Welcome From David Sprouls

David Sprouls

In this issue, we’re featuring the stories of two alumni who are excelling in very different sectors of design: Holly Hayden Taylor ’09 (BFA), executive design director of the high-end residential firm Jeremiah Brent Design (see “Collaborative by Design”), and Mona Nahm ’20 (MFA1), who is forging new standards of beauty and sustainability in affordable housing (see “Reimagining What Affordable Housing Design Can Be”). The fact that these superstars have stayed connected to NYSID as faculty members is remarkable, but not uncommon. They teach online at this college because they care about NYSID’s tradition of passing interior design’s body of knowledge from generation to generation.

When you enter this tightly knit, single-discipline institution, you become part of NYSID’s “forever” family and the larger community of interior design. This is a small college, where students can expect personal feedback and mentorship. We work to make sure our online students feel they belong as much as our in-person students do (see “Online Degrees Make Design Dreams Possible”). What brings us together as a community is our belief in the importance of interior design, and in its potential to improve lives. Our network of alumni in design numbers in the thousands. NYSID alumni, advisors, faculty, and trustees help and hire our emerging designers. The NYSID network is a powerful advantage for our students, and we have you to thank.

In the past year, the New York School of Interior Design acquired the archives of the Interior Design Educators’ Council (IDEC) and the Council for Interior Design Qualification (CIDQ). Our archivists are working to catalog these resources so that they will be available to students and scholars for research in perpetuity. With these important gifts from interior design’s leading organizations for education and professional certification, NYSID’s library has become the research center and archive repository for interior design. We are honored to be the stewards of this incredible legacy for the interior design community. (See “CIDQ and IDEC Donate Their Archives to NYSID.”)   

The strength of the NYSID community was apparent at Gala 2025, where we raised more than $726,000 for scholarships, the largest amount in NYSID’s history. This year, NYSID honored Alessandra Branca with the Albert Hadley Lifetime Achievement Award, Jesse Carrier and Mara Miller with the Larry Kravet Design Industry Leadership Award, and alum Beth Diana Smith ’15 (AAS) with the Rising Star Award (sponsored by The Shade Store). My gratitude goes to Gala 2025 Co-chairs Chesie Breen, Ingrid Edelman, Alexa Hampton, Young Huh, David Kleinberg, and Betsey Ruprecht, as well as to all of you who supported the event.

Come see us this year. Attend a lecture or an exhibit. Get involved as a guest critic. Use the archives. NYSID will always be your resource for learning something new about the design of beautiful and healthy interiors.

In gratitude,

David Sprouls
President