Ithaca College

I am pleased to announce an exceptional opportunity for members of the campus community and alumni to participate on the morning of April 29 in development of the design concept for the most ambitious academic building ever created at IC:  the Creativity Center.

As envisioned in the IC 20/20 strategic plan, the Creativity Center will be a home for teamwork and collaborative problem solving that brings together students and faculty from every school and service center on campus.  Planned as a home for such educational services as Academic Advising, Study Abroad and Service Learning, as well as for offices in the Humanities & Sciences, the main floor areas within the Creativity Center will  be THE campus hub for examination of problems and development of solutions that cannot be captured within a single school or family of disciplines.

Ithaca College has never attempted to create this kind of Center before, and there are few models for it around the country.  The design of the Center – its spaces, its light, its furniture, its technology – is completely ours to create.  On April 29 we will be led in a creative visioning exercise by Joe Rohde, whose job title at Disney Imagineering is “Executive Designer and Vice President, Creative.”   Mr. Rohde has experience around the world in helping teams of people imagine the spaces that will enable them to have intentionally crafted experiences. He is currently designing an Avatar themed land at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Park in Florida, but will take a break from that work to help us design the Creativity Center.

If you want to have a voice in the distinctive educational future of Ithaca College, then I hope you will join us in Ben Light Gymnasium on Tuesday, April 29 at 8:00 am.  Over a light breakfast, between 8:00 and 9:15, Mr. Rohde will walk us through the creative process using illustrations from other projects. Between 9:30 and 10:30 we will work in teams of ten to develop ideas on design elements of the Creativity Center.

This exercise is open to all students, faculty, staff, and alumni of Ithaca College.  Seating will be limited to the 240 people (239 because I am already in line) and will be on a first-come/first-served basis.  To reserve your place in this very special opportunity, please contact Karen Emnett at kemnett@ithaca.edu.

Individuals with disabilities requiring accommodations should contact Bailey Reagan at breagan@ithaca.edu or (607) 274-1574.. We ask that requests for accommodations be made as soon as possible.