On Thursday, May 4, 2023, at the Shining Light on Generosity event, San Diego Mesa College debuted the naming of The Stand: The Pamela T. Luster Resource Center, in honor of former President Dr. Pamela T. Luster. Additionally, the event served as an intimate gathering that honored and recognized multiple donors who helped the Mesa College Resiliency Fund become a reality.
Sacramento, CA ---- This week, San Diego Mesa College Professor Dr. Veronica Gerace received the prestigious 2023 Regina Stanback Stroud Diversity Award from the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges (ASCCC). As the official voice of California community college faculty in academic and professional matters, the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges (ASCCC) is committed to equity, student learning and student success. The Academic Senate for California Community Colleges acts to empower faculty to engage in local and statewide dialog and take action for continued improvement of teaching, learning, and faculty participation in governance.
San Diego Mesa College student, Renee Smaldino, competed in the International Interior Design Association Southern California Chapter Student Design Charrette on March 11 at the HLW International Office in Santa Monica. Renee was nominated by Mesa College for a chance to win cash awards and move on to the Regional Student Charrette Competition in Arizona.
December 5, 2016
Wearing Flora boards, neo pixels, fiber optic filaments and other electrical elements, models will literally light up the stage during San Diego Mesa College’s first on-campus fashion show in the LRC Wednesday, Dec. 7 at 5 p.m.
Originally premiered during an event at Visions Art Museum at Liberty Station, the small intimate fashion show is now being followed up by a second show on campus so that a larger audience can view the outfits. Models will don student and faculty designed outfits while walking from the second floor to the first floor of the LRC as Fashion professor Susan Lazear commentates.
Collaboration between the fashion students and the Mesa Robotics Club made the technical elements in the 2016 Golden Scissors Fashion Show possible, and this semester students worked with Devon Merrill – an engineering major at University of California, San Diego – to program their outfits.
Lazear said that he got involved with technology-inspired fashion after working with his mother Rachel Merrill on her design for Mesa’s Golden Scissors during the spring semester. Inspired by her use of fiber optic filaments in the Best of Show for Creativity-winning dress, he decided to get more involved with programming outfits with students at Mesa this semester, Lazear said.
Merrill used his electronics background during the fall semester to teach fashion students and faculty at Mesa how to incorporate technology into their designs.
“He went greater in depth than we had before, teaching us about basic electronics, how to solder, how to light things up, a little bit on programming and then the students each had to make a garment,” Lazear said.
While the students were working on these outfits, Lazear said she was approached by the director of the museum about curating a fashion show. She pitched the idea of a technology themed show to fit in with the projects her students were working on.
Aside from smart watches, fit bits and other electronic health jewelry, Lazear said that the current trend of technology in clothing is mostly for effect, but things may change in the future for clothing in the market.
“Down the road they’ll make clothes that sense your heartbeat, some people have done things that sense stress or air quality – that the color changes when the air quality gets poor – it can sense motion, they can do a lot of different things,” Lazear said.
The show on Dec. 7 will consist of 18 student-created pieces by 11 Mesa students and four faculty designs from three faculty members.
Student participants in this show include Devon and Rachel Merrill, Nicole Baker, Alicia Overturf, Emily Munz, Anna Walden, Marty Ornish, Jenivive Bernbeck, Nada Zein, Kelly Snodgrass and Stephanie Castro. Faculty participants include Jordyn Smiley, Lazear and Stacey East.
For more information about Mesa’s Fashion Department, contact Susan Lazear via phone at (619) 388-2205 or via email at slazear@sdccd.edu.
The photographs that correspond with this article were taken by photographer Howard Ming as promotional materials for the Fashion Department. They feature student-designed outfits, worn by models for their show on Nov. 12. From left to right is model Chrissy wearing Nada Zein's World Dress, Spencer Levine wearing Devon and Rachel Merrill's Black NeoPixel Vest, and Chloe wearing Anna Walden's Bubble Dress.
Tags: Fashion
Jennifer Nichols Kearns
Director of Communications
jnkearns@sdccd.edu
(619) 388-2759
Susan Lazear
Professor - Fashion
slazear@sdccd.edu
(619) 388-2205
The Mesa College Fashion Department’s students, alumni, and faculty have teamed up to address the issue of mask shortages in the healthcare industry due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They are mobilizing sewists and manning their machines, with some putting their own businesses and operations on pause to support the needs of hospital workers and their patients. Together, they have already managed to sew and distribute hundreds of masks throughout the community.
Join the fun with fashion’s most innovative night out at Seize the Sunset! On May 12, 2017, San Diego Mesa College’s Fashion Program hosts the 36th Annual Golden Scissors Fashion Show, organized and produced by Mesa fashion promotion students, where fashion design majors showcase their one-of-a-kind collections. This is a great way to bring the San Diego community together and to support local community college students.
Designs created by San Diego Mesa College Fashion students and inspired by 1950s style will be in the spotlight during the 2017 Fashion Redux Finale Party at the San Diego History Center on Friday, March 3 at 6 p.m.
