U of M architecture alumnus
President, Art Center College of Design
First College of Design commencement speaker

Interview by Camille LeFevre

Since graduating with a BA in architecture and an MA in art history from the University of Minnesota, Richard Koshalek's "whole history has been about finding opportunities to connect with the creative individual," he said. He's currently the president of Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, where he's invigorated the college's educational goals and expanded its programs beyond the campus while commissioning Frank Gehry to design a new research facility. Prior to that position, he was deputy director, chief curator, then director of the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in Los Angeles where he worked with Gehry on the design and construction of the Geffen Contemporary. He conceived and led the collaborative design project LA Now, which brought architecture, film, and graphic design students together with Thom Mayne to reenvision downtown Los Angeles. In addition, Koshalek has served on numerous juries, forums, and architectural selection committees. Earlier in his career, he served as director of the Fort Worth Art Museum; assistant director of the visual arts program for the National Endowment for the Arts; and as a curator, assistant curator, and exhibitions coordinator at the Walker Art Center from 1968 to 1973. The Wisconsin native returns to his alma mater in May to deliver the College of Design's commencement address. In this interview, he previews his remarks.

You're delivering the commencement address for the first class graduating from the College of Design. What's the primary message you're hoping to impart to the first graduates of this new interdisciplinary college?

I've always believed artists -- and that includes designers -- are the alchemists of the future. I believe they have a role to play, and a responsibility, to make a contribution that goes beyond style. And that actually changes the way in which we're going to live, not only today but far into the future.

There's a new leadership equation emerging in which decisions will be made by the political leadership, by the corporate leadership, and by the creative leadership. That's critically important, because I believe we lose a considerable amount when the creative community and the creative leaders are marginalized.

Day after day, we're putting less faith in the politician as a source of solutions. And we know corporate leaders have a different kind of motivation. So it's going to be up to the designers, as part of this new leadership equation, to ensure creative solutions are proposed and implemented.

How did creativity become part of the leadership equation?

It's coming from the new generation of students. Students believe the future may be unknowable, but not unthinkable. They're open-minded, optimistic, and very motivated. They want to be engaged. They lack a certain amount of hesitation and fear, and they're willing to ask any question and try to find an original answer.

They're giving us our clues, with regard to the educational agenda of this institution [Art Center College of Design]; where they'd like to go, where they feel the world is going, and where they want to make a contribution. The institution comes second; the creative person comes first, as they inspire the educational institution. And then if you have the right faculty, they inspire the students to become leaders.

After receiving your master's degree, you were a curator at the Walker Art Center for several years. How did that prepare you for your current work?

At the Walker, I worked under Martin Friedman, who had an uncompromising commitment to the creative individual. He also believed very strongly in critical judgment, in distinguishing between derivation and true originality, for example. Using those ideas and attitudes, and putting them into practice in the real world, that's what happens in museums. You organize exhibitions, select work for collections, decide what artists will be involved in the exhibition programs, make a commitment to the creative individual and their work, and then bring that artist's work before the public for dialogue and discussion. This has always been of great interest to me, as museums have an important role to play in engaging the community directly in the creative process.

You've been instrumental in facilitating architectural commissions that resulted in museums becoming design icons. Is that also an important role for museums?

It's more that the role of museums is to become a catalyst in the community for creative dialogue.

What happens within the walls of the museum is very important; but what happens beyond the museum is just as important. That's where a cultural institution that has convictions, commitment, and confidence can actually become a catalyst for change within a community.

While I was at MOCA, for instance, we organized an architectural design competition in collaboration with the Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency for the design and construction of 40 units of affordable housing. We also instituted the award-winning education program, Contemporary Art Start, a curriculum-based art education program that introduces contemporary art and culture to elementary and secondary school students and teachers. And we collaborated with sculptor Robert Graham and the Community Youth Gang Services program to create a project in which young adults learned marketable skills while producing an original work of art. This is the idea that the museum can be a very active force for change.

What is the role of design colleges in this regard?

It's the same thing. There has to be an awareness of the challenges confronting the larger world, not only today but in the future, and who you can partner with in order to understand those challenges and propose solutions. Designers are well-suited to this because they question the status quo.

So social activism should be part of the curriculum?

It has to be. It's essential. Creative people, including designers, have to be idealistic, but also realistic. And the only way you get exposure to the real working world is by dealing directly with a specific problem. At Art Center College of Design, we believe very strongly in partnerships with other institutions, especially institutions that scare us, that are doing things we're not doing, that are taking greater risks. We're constantly looking for new ways to engage students in the reality that is our contemporary world.

We're also known as medical school without the blood, as we're very rigorous in the teaching of skills. But a student said to me recently, "I'm not looking for a career, I'm looking to make a contribution. Then I'll find a career." Design is an endeavor that is, yes, intellectual; yes, social; but it's also a leadership endeavor. We need to educate students to become leaders in the world so they can effect change.

What are your most memorable experiences from your education at the University?

One wonderful characteristic of the University of Minnesota design school was that there were actually three faculties: One was the actual faculty that existed there, like Ralph Rapson, who changed the lives of many people and had a huge impact on the world of architecture; the second faculty were the graduates of the school that came back to teach, like Milo Thompson; the third faculty were the great thinkers who were brought in to lecture. I remember an extraordinary talk by Buckminster Fuller, an extraordinary presentation by Sigfried Gideon, the great architectural historian. So it was exposure to this wide range of individuals who were engaged and producing highly original work.

You're coming back to a different design college than the one you attended as a student. As an alumnus, what are your thoughts on those changes?

What's happened here with the new College of Design is an extraordinary accomplishment in a short period of time. For the University of Minnesota to bring together all of these disciplines and think in a transdisciplinary way, but also to be focused on the larger context with issues such as sustainability, represents a very forward-looking solution to the educational agenda at the University. You¿re going to see many other colleges following very quickly.

Leaders like Ralph Rapson early on and Tom Fisher now take the creative approach and emphasize the creative initiative. What the world needs now is original ideas and original thought. That's the only way we're going to be able to solve problems that confront us. And it's up to designers to become the creative individuals that will continue to provide leadership. They will be there as we move forward into the future because of institutions like the new College of Design.