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2017
MENTORS
IN DESIGN
time I’ve ever seen,” says fellow NESAD pro-
fessor Mark Brus. “There’s a personal inter-
est she takes in her students that far exceeds
her professional obligations. Her example sets
the bar.”
It’s Clarke’s personal mission to push
students beyond the classroom, to encourage
them to network with professional organiza-
tions, and to identify the strengths they can
bring to the workforce. “She knew my passion
about lighting,” says former student Sherry
Abtahi, “and she recommended one of Bos-
ton’s best lighting designers to be my the-
sis adviser.” The designer ultimately offered
Abtahi a full-time job after graduation.
Now, thanks to Clarke’s recommendation, Abtahi is also an adjunct instructor
at NESAD. “My goal is to support my students the way Karen has supported all her
students,” Abtahi says. Like so many others,
Abtahi has become one of those colleagues
Clarke likes to help become their best professional selves. —larry lindner
the keepsake given to this year’s
mentors was designed and crafted
by Mark Brunke, a Boston-based
woodworker who specializes in
design/build projects as well as
custom furniture and cabinetry
for designers, architects, and their
clients. He has benefited from
mentors in his life and drew from
those memories for inspiration
for the design of the pieces. The
base is made of ebonized ash, its
solidity symbolizing the foundation
the mentor can give the mentee
to draw from. The orb of quilted
maple represents the optimism and
creativity that arises from these
relationships.
SELECTING OUR MENTORS The Mentors in Design (MiDDIES) program began in 2011
with our desire to recognize the spirit of collaboration and support we witnessed throughout the
design industry. We saw mentoring on many levels — boss to apprentice, teacher to student, peer
to peer — and across all disciplines. Each year, Mentors in Design begins with a call for nominations. Then we ask a panel of judges to sort through them and select our honorees. It can be a
daunting task with more than 50 nomination letters submitted for dozens of worthy candidates.
The call was taken most seriously this year by three industry professionals: Lucy Dearborn, owner
of Lucía Lighting & Design in Lynn, Massachusetts; Karl Ivester, president of New England Shutter Mills in Lawrence, Massachusetts, and president of the Builders and Remodelers Association
of Greater Boston; and Dee Elms, principal of Elms Interior Design in Boston. We thank them and
everyone who nominated a mentor for their effort and look forward to MiDDIES 2018.
EVEN T PHOTOGRAPH Y B Y DANA QUIGLE Y