Rosanne Somerson is an internationally exhibited furniture designer and President of Rhode Island School of Design. Somerson, a RISD alum, sees her parallel roles as a leader and practitioner as complementary parts of her life’s work, which she says began when she was a young girl charged with describing the world to her blind grandfather and “opening doors for people to see things differently.”

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Jeff Goodby is an advertising legend, whose humanity and humility have propelled him to the peak of a profession not necessarily known for either. Imagine an ad man as clever and visionary as Don Draper, minus the chain-smoking and cynicism and you start to get a sense of the scope of Jeff’s influence in the advertising industry.

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Rebeca Mendez is an artist, designer, educator and ArtCenter alumna whose creative practice defies the bounds of traditional disciplines or descriptions.

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Mariana Prieto has made it her mission to use her design skills to improve lives around the globe, human and otherwise.

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Fall 2018 ArtCenter Product Design graduate Ari Montanez spent much of his young life equipping himself with the skills and stamina necessary to succeed in a highly competitive arena – The NBA. When it became apparent his hoop dreams might be slightly out of reach, Ari pivoted into performance-enhancing footwear designs.  His determination and dedication paid off with a job offer from start-up sneaker company, No.One. Learn more about ArtCenter and its programs at www.artcenter.edu 

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Dr. James Hollis is an accomplished Jungian Analyst and highly-regarded author who has published fifteen published books and over fifty articles throughout the course of his career. He currently serves as the Executive Director of the Jung Society in Washington D.C. James co-founded the Philadelphia Jung Institute and began as its first Director of Training. He is also the Vice President of the Philemon Foundation, dedicated to publishing the unpublished works of Jung. He was the founder and first director of Jungian Studies at Saybrook University (in collaboration with Lorne Buchman), and he remains the Director Emeritus of the Houston, Texas Jung Educational Center.

His philosophical approach to engaging the relationship between creativity and transformation sets him apart from previous guests on the show. James' thoughts on creativity are invaluable for not only artists and designers; but also for all who strive to find meaning in their careers and lives.

In this episode, Dr. James Hollis and ArtCenter President Lorne Buchman discuss the creative potential of entering worlds of uncertainty, the role of dreams in our imagination and how we understand our creativity in relation to the soul.

Links Mentioned:

• http://philemonfoundation.org
• https://jungstudies.net/maphd-jungian-studies-from-saybrook-university
• https://www.junginstitut.ch/english
• https://www.jameshollis.net/hollisBooks.html

Learn more about James Hollis's work: 

• https://www.fcagroup.com/en-US/group/governance/management/Pages/ralph_gilles.aspx

Learn more about this episode of Change Lab at www.artcenter.edu.

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As Global Head of Design at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Ralph Gilles meticulously approves the look and feel of every new Dodge, Jeep, Chrysler, Fiat, Alpha Romeo, and Maserati produced. His astonishing success is the product of an early, unwavering passion for beautifully designed cars and an outsized talent for sketching them. Gilles’ determination propelled him through his undergraduate degree at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, and led him to earn his Executive MBA from Michigan State University.

Gilles’ natural humility along with his commitment to hard work and design excellence guide his oversight of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles’ entire brand portfolio toward an aesthetic that’s both accessible and aspirational. During his tenure, Gilles has been instrumental in the design of some very successful models including the Chrysler 300, SRT Viper, and the Dodge Ram.

In this episode, Ralph Gilles and ArtCenter President Lorne Buchman discuss Gilles’ career trajectory at Chrysler, designing cars with human characteristics and his vision for the future of automobiles.

Learn more about Ralph's work: 

• https://www.fcagroup.com/en-US/group/governance/management/Pages/ralph_gilles.aspx

Learn more about this episode of Change Lab at www.artcenter.edu.

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Well known for her Tony Award-winning play, Fun Home, Lisa Kron is a remarkable playwright and performer whose work reflects and refracts these complex times. Her storytelling straddles the blurry line between fact and fiction, memory and invention, the political and the deeply personal.

Lisa Kron developed her craft at New York City’s WOW Cafe, which began as an international women’s theater festival in 1980. During her time at WOW Café, she honed her creative voice, culminating in her breakthrough one-woman show, 101 Humiliating Stories.

Her gift for mining humor and meaning from complex family dynamics yielded her next two rave-reviewed plays: Well and 2.5 Mile Ride, which explored her relationship with her mother and father respectively.

Her greatest creative challenge arrived in the form of Fun Home, a musical adaptation of Allison Bechdel’s graphic novel about coming out while coming of age. Fun Home took Lisa seven years to complete and went on to earn her Tony Awards and a Pulitzer Prize nomination.

In this episode, Lisa and ArtCenter President Lorne Buchman discuss the contours of her career in theater, the delicate process of dramatizing personal material and her passion for the collective power of performance.

Learn more about Lisa's work: 

• https://www.lisakron.org
• http://funhomebroadway.com 
• http://www.wowcafe.org
• http://www.wellonbroadway.com
• https://www.dramaticpublishing.com/2-5-minute-ride 

Learn more about this episode of Change Lab at www.artcenter.edu.

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For twenty years, Charlie Hodges heeded his creative calling to dance at the highest level. With roles in acclaimed Broadway productions and as part of Twyla Tharp’s legendary repertory company, his trek to the peak of that profession was grueling to say the least. Charlie endured waves of intensely personal rejection – oftentimes targeting his body type and appearance. But he ultimately prevailed, thanks to his abundance of talent, perseverance and incredibly high pain threshold.

Most people would be more than satisfied with those achievements. But for Charlie, that was simply act one. He then pivoted – or, more accurately, pirouetted – toward a completely new creative métier: product design. Drawing on his lifelong passion for architecture, he enrolled in ArtCenter’s Product Design program.

His natural creative abilities and propensity for hard work continued to serve him well. Charlie developed Urbanette, a sustainable dollhouse, as part of an ArtCenter project sponsored by a major toy company, for which he received a prestigious IDSA award. He recently delivered a remarkably vulnerable and wise TEDx talk on the resilience he acquired pursuing a career in dance with an unconventional body type. And, finally, true to his commitment to excellence, Charlie graduated from ArtCenter College of Design as the summer 2018 valedictorian.

In this episode, Charlie and ArtCenter President Lorne Buchman discuss his hard-won ascent to the top of the dance world, the evolution of his passion for design, his lifelong belief in the power of persistence and his new passion for designing toys that can influence change.

Learn more about Charlies's work: 

• https://www.charliehodges.design
• http://ladanceproject.org 
• https://www.twylatharp.org
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrEDTelG_9U 
• http://broadwaymusicalhome.com/shows/movinout.htm

 Learn more about this episode of Change Lab at www.artcenter.edu.

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Jesse Genet was recently named by Fast Company as one of the most creative people in business. Jesse began her illustrious career at age fifteen by starting a custom t-shirt business in her parents' basement. Years later, after attending ArtCenter’s product design program, Jesse and co-founder Stephan Ango started Lumi. Their innovative, design-centric packaging venture employs an impressive alternative printing process called inkodye. 

Since the founding of Lumi, they’ve held a successful Kickstarter campaign and appeared on the TV series Shark Tank. They have continued to adapt and iterate Lumi in response to the marketplace. Since 2015, Lumi has focused solely on providing customized packaging for e-commerce businesses. Silicon Valley took notice and Lumi recently received 9 million dollars in venture capital funds.

In this episode, Jesse and ArtCenter President Lorne Buchman discuss her role as CEO of Lumi, her motivations as a leader, her guiding principles and her unique capacity to find the extraordinary in the everyday. The conversation dives into Jesse’s early years, her tenacity as a young business founder, her adventures in car repair, being a female in Venture Capital, and how she approaches challenges.

Learn more about Jesse's work: 

• https://www.lumi.com
• https://www.fastcompany.com/person/jesse-genet
• http://www.inkodye.com/story

 Learn more about this episode of Change Lab at www.artcenter.edu.

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