Dennis Scully Has Grown NYSID’s Dialogues on Design While Keeping It Intimate
NYSID’s Dialogues on Design series has grown in reputation and audience in recent years, thanks to the vision and personality of its current host and curator, Dennis Scully. Under his auspices, Dialogues on Design not only survived the COVID pandemic lockdown, but transformed into a hybrid in-person and digital entity with a reputation for attracting the most fascinating design entrepreneurs and creatives. The 2026-27 season of this series of talks with interior design masters, which benefits NYSID scholarships, begins on November 4 with Ben Pentreath, whose practice works across many disciplines, from designing towns to buildings to interiors. Pentreath was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2026 for Services to Design. A Parish-Hadley reunion panel on December 3 will feature designers who started their careers at that legendary New York firm: NYSID Board Member David Kleinberg, NYSID Board Member Bunny Williams, Libby Cameron, and Brian McCarthy.
The design journalist Lou Gropp collaborated with NYSID to found the Dialogues on Design series in 2001, and it was hosted and curated by Newell Turner from 2014 to 2019. Scully took the reins of the Dialogues on Design series’ curation at the request of Turner and NYSID President David Sprouls. A home design industry insider, Scully has held senior positions at companies including the luxury brand Waterworks, the textiles brand Castel, and the furniture maker Avery Boardman. He has been on the Business of Home team since its founding in 2009 by Julia Noran Johnston, and he is now the host of the popular Business of Home podcast. In the past four years (2022-3 to 2025-6), the ticketed audience has grown from 583 to 826 and counting. This audience consists of students and design professionals who attend either in person or via live stream. Talks with recent guests such as Jeremiah Brent, Kit Kemp, Nate Berkus, Athena Calderone, Ken Fulk, and Amber Lewis have garnered many thousands of views on NYSID’s YouTube channel.
Jennifer Dorr, NYSID’s managing editor, sat down with Scully to discuss why the word is spreading about this series, which you can sponsor or subscribe to HERE. Special thanks are due to the season’s lead sponsors, Alessandra Branca, Cadogan Tate, and Daniel House Club.
Jennifer Dorr: What differentiates this series from other design lecture series or book talks? How have you evolved the series?
Dennis Scully in conversation with Ken Fulk at Dialogues on Design
Dennis Scully: Before I became curator, Dialogues on Design happened in the New York School of Interior Design auditorium, but it wasn't for the students. Back then, there was a kickoff lunch at the Colony Club, and it was a mostly Upper East Side gathering. I had launched the Business of Home podcast in 2018, and Newell Turner approached me and said, “I am ready to step away, and you are doing something new and having very different kinds of conversations on your show. You should bring something like this to NYSID.” I met with David Sprouls, and we were off to the races–but not for long, because COVID came. Suddenly we were forced to take it all remote and figure out how to create these productions online, which we did for quite a period of time.
But how did that shape the series and make it special? The need to go digital got us thinking about ways to get it in front of the students, to make it part of their education. I have always wanted the students who come to NYSID, who have the opportunity to receive this remarkable education, to also have this experience of, “Oh my God, David Rockwell came to my school, and he spoke, and I got to meet him, and he signed my copy of his book, or he shook my hand, or he answered one of my questions,” or Ken Fulk, or Corey Damen Jenkins, or John and Christine Gachot, or Bill Sofield.There is a long list of those who came and spoke in this space that is so intimate. The NYSID auditorium is not a big room. When it's filled with this wonderful mix of students and design professionals who want to learn from one of the greats of our industry, the energy and the sense of community are palpable. But to answer the question about why this is different from some book thing, it's partly the audience. It's that mix of students, professional designers, design enthusiasts, and my mother...this group of people who are just really engaged. The word has gotten out that this is a fun evening. There's going to be laughter. You're going to get to know this guest, who might be just a few feet in front of you. One of the things that has been so moving to me is how these extraordinary guests have stayed afterwards to talk to people. There was a line around the block for Athena Calderone and she stayed for hours.
I think some of the intimacy of these events comes from your ability to get your guests to open up. How do you do it? What makes an interview great?
Athena Calderone with NYSID students after her Dialogues on Design
I've worked in many corners of the home industry, from fabrics and furniture to shelter magazines, and I've been covering the design industry for years. I've admired the work of interior designers for decades and was fortunate enough to know a few of the greats early in their careers. I got to walk their job sites, see their early projects and develop an enormous appreciation for what they do. So I come to every interview with a varied bank of knowledge.
Then I do my homework. I research whoever I'm talking to until I feel comfortable enough to have a real conversation, one where I can actually listen and pay attention to where things are going. It's a little like an actor learning their lines. You have to know them so well that they become second nature. For me, preparation is what gives me the freedom to be spontaneous.
Sometimes I listen to people conducting interviews, and they don't even let the guest finish a sentence before jumping to their next prepared question. It's like nails on a chalkboard to me. They're so worried about getting to question number seven that they're missing what's happening right in front of them.
I'd much rather follow where the guest is going. That's when we're all in the moment together, and the conversation becomes spontaneous and authentic. If it starts wandering too far from where I'd hoped to go, I can gently steer it back. I might say, "Oh, that's a great point. You know, that reminds me of a story from when you were living in San Francisco."
Ultimately, what I'm hoping will happen in that room is something the audience hasn't seen or heard before. And that only happens when you're genuinely engaged, when you're listening rather than thinking about what you're going to ask next.
To me, the key to being a good interviewer is preparation, curiosity, and the willingness to follow a conversation wherever it takes you. After all, who cares about question number seven if you're having a really good conversation?
The NYSID students who attend the series go for free because of the generosity of NYSID’s sponsors. What do you want students to take from the series?
Dennis Scully with Corey Damen Jenkins at the kickoff of the 2025-26 season.
I'm very focused on the students, and I think that perspective makes the series more inspiring for everyone. I want to give students a real sense of the career they're about to embark on. What does it actually look and feel like? But I also want to encourage them to dream big and aim high.
Look at someone like David Rockwell, who has designed some of the world's great restaurants and public spaces, not to mention Tony Award-winning Broadway sets. Or Ken Fulk. I can hardly begin to describe the scope of his work. He creates extraordinary events and spaces and has redefined what it means to be an interior designer. I want students to see just how exciting and open-ended this profession can be, how far their talents and imaginations might take them.
I also want them to understand the generosity of the design community. People like Christine and John Gachot, and Jeremiah Brent, welcome students into their offices, offer internships, share their knowledge, and invest in the next generation because they genuinely want to give back. It's an extraordinary community in that way.
And, of course, there's the scholarship component, which means an enormous amount to me. Dialogues on Design is a fundraiser for NYSID scholarships, and that's actually part of what motivates some of our guests to participate. I don't want anyone who dreams of becoming an interior designer to be denied that opportunity simply because they can't afford the education. Helping a talented student gain access to an education of this caliber is a tremendous gift. It's something I believe in deeply, and something I make a point of sharing with every guest who joins us.
Yes, I’ve noticed many recent NYSID alumni are working at the prestigious firms of your former guests: Gachot, Rockwell, Jeremiah Brent Design, Carrier and Company.I suspect these events are incredible networking opportunities. The industry engagement that comes from these talks is such added value for NYSID students.
Hearing that makes me so happy. Yes, students get to hear from design leaders they might someday work for.
Will you tell us about the first events you’ve planned this season?
It's an incredible honor to have Ben Pentreath join us. Here's someone who lives in Scotland, is teaching at Notre Dame and has worked in service of King Charles, and he's taking the time to come to NYSID and sit down for a conversation. He's an extraordinary talent and a wildly entertaining speaker. Frankly, I'm not sure I'll be able to get a word in edgewise once we get going! Ben is wonderfully animated, and with his new book, A Year at the Parsonage, coming out, we'll have plenty to talk about. I think it's a testament to the reputation of both the series and the college that someone like Ben is making the trip to join us.
Then we have the Parish-Hadley panel, which I'm particularly excited about. It's an opportunity to revisit the history and extraordinary influence of that legendary firm through the people who were actually there. I've often said that one day I'd like to fill a stadium with all the designers who came out of Parish-Hadley. Just imagine the stories!
When David Kleinberg joined us previously, he brought along old photographs of the gang, and I loved seeing that history come alive. With Bunny Williams, David Kleinberg, Brian McCarthy and Libby Cameron together, we'll have a remarkable opportunity to hear those stories firsthand and remind people just how much of today's design world grew out of that one extraordinary firm.
There's also an important lesson here for students. These designers are part of a lineage, and their careers remind us of the value of learning from someone who has truly mastered the profession.
When young designers ask me for career advice, I often say, "Go work for somebody extraordinary, and stay there for a while." I've interviewed so many successful designers who have told me, "Oh, I wish I'd worked for Bunny Williams," or "I wish I'd worked for Victoria Hagan." There's a reason so many of today's great designers began their careers working for the greats who came before them. That kind of education, the chance to watch someone extraordinary at work every day, is something you carry with you for the rest of your career.
There are typically 6 talks in your season that will run from October to May. Any word on who else is coming up?
I can’t tell you until they are 100% confirmed and we have a date on the books. But that’s some of what makes this fun; there is an element of surprise
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