Ruth Lande Shuman and Face2Face host David Peck talk about Publicolor, creativity and change, your inner artists, the deprivation of color, empowerment and Pepto Bismol pink and the gap that exists within education.

Video Overview

About Ruth:

A dynamic and passionate innovator, Ruth Lande Shuman is an award-winning industrial designer deeply committed to using design to address two of the root causes of poverty: the under-education of our youth and their lack of job preparedness. Ms. Shuman received her B.A. in 1964 from the University of Pennsylvania and completed her M.S. in Industrial Design at Pratt Institute in 1989 with a thesis on “Modular Forms, Patterns, and Systems in Nature,” where she also completed a six-month post-graduate study on the psychological effects of color.

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A pioneer in using design to engage disaffected youth in their education, Ms. Shuman set her sights on improving the lives of neglected NYC public school students, their teachers, families and communities. Alarmed by low test scores and high drop-out rates and appalled by the dreary and often prison-like facilities that operate as our middle and high schools, Ms. Shuman hit on the deceptively simple—yet incredibly successful—idea that one can fundamentally improve students’ attitudes and engagement by improving their learning environments.

In 1996, Ruth Lande Shuman founded the not-for-profit organization Publicolor to use color, collaboration, design, and the discipline of the commercial painting to engage at-risk students in their education, targeting the most underserved communities, most underperforming schools and most seriously disadvantaged middle and high school students. She quickly realized that lasting change requires an intensive and long-term commitment. As a result, she created COLOR Club, Next Steps, and Summer Design Studio to ensure that students are with us a minimum of 3 days a week for 4-6 years before college, and then all through college. She is very proud that out of a full and part-time staff of 41, 14 are Publicolor graduates.

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Ruth firmly believes that every student is walking potential, and that it is our job to help them realize it. She is surrounded by a team who wholeheartedly shares this view.

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Image Copyright: Ruth Lande Shuman and Publicolor. Used with permission.

F2F Music and Image Copyright: David Peck and Face2Face. Used with permission.

For more information about David Peck’s podcasting, writing and public speaking please visit his site here.

With thanks to Josh Snethlage and Mixed Media Sound.

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