Material Art and Design

Welcome

Sheridan's longstanding and renowned Crafts and Design program is resident in the Department of Material Art and Design, along with a degree program in Interior Design and a diploma program in Interior Decorating. Students are provided strong entrepreneurial training to prepare them for a self-directed practice or employment in the industry. In addition, we offer a diploma in the highly sought-after Visual Merchandising Arts program, as well as Art Fundamentals and Visual and Creative Arts.

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Featured Faculty Profiles

Heather Whitton

Associate Dean, Material Arts & Design

Heather Whitton was appointed Associate Dean in the Faculty of Animation, Arts and Design in 2007. She provides academic leadership for the following programs: Bachelor of Interior Design, Bachelor of Craft and Design (Ceramics, Glass, Furniture, Textiles and Industrial Design), Visual & Creative Arts diploma and advanced diploma, Interior Decorating diploma, Visual Merchandising Arts diploma and Art Fundamentals certificate. Upon graduation from CIA, Heather practiced design at several Toronto firms before establishing her own graphic design consultancy. A few of her corporate clients included Marks and Spencer, Hudson’s Bay Company, Simpson’s, Fabergé and Corporate Foods among many others. She has consulted on design education for the Design Exchange in Toronto and presently sits on the Design Advisory Committee for Harbourfront.

Gordon Thompson

Coordinator, Bachelor of Crafts and Design

Gord Thompson has taught ceramics, craft history, and other Craft and Design courses at Sheridan College and the Ontario College of Art & Design University (OCADU) since 2003. He was a Technician in the Ceramics Studio at OCADU from 2002-2011.

He works actively in the craft community, having served as President of the Board of Directors of Craft Ontario (2012-2014) and advisor to the Craft & Design Studio at Harbourfront Centre. He sits on the Exhibition and Education Committee of the Gardiner Museum and is the Senior Editor and Chair of the editorial committee for STUDIO, a national magazine of Craft and Design in Canada. He is currently a Ph.D. candidate in the department of Communication and Culture at York University, with a research interest in craft and cultural theory. He studied ceramics at Sheridan College from1994-97 after completing degrees in Cultural Studies (BA, Trent University), Media Studies (MA, Concordia University), and the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology (MA, University of Toronto).

Rachel Miller

Textiles Studio Head and Professor, Bachelor of Craft & Design

Rachel is an artist, educator, and design consultant originally from New York. She holds a Masters of Fine Art in Fibre from the Cranbrook Academy of Art and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Crafts/ Fiber at the University of the Arts.

For over 10 years, Rachel lectured on fibre and material studies, textiles and sustainable design to undergrad, graduate students, and industry professionals at several universities, including Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY; Fashion Institute of Technology, New York, NY; Tyler School of Art, Philadelphia, PA; and University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA. In addition, she has worked with local designers and artisans in India to develop products that preserve traditional techniques while incorporating contemporary design. Her work has been collected and exhibited nationally and internationally, including at Museum of Arts and Design, New York, NY; PS 122, New York, NY; Newark Museum, Philadelphia PA; Teatro Communale, and Teatro Mancinelli, Italy; Gallery 175, Seoul, Korea; and OCC Gallery, Toronto, CA.

Raymond Dunning

Coordinator, Bachelor of Interior Design

Raymond Dunning brings to Sheridan College many years of practical work experience in the Interior Design community with over a decade of practice in the following areas of Interior Design: corporate including clients such as Aetna Life Insurance, Bank of Montreal, BMG, CTV, Gowlings LLP, Mackenzie Financial, Manulife, Ogilvy Mather, Royal Bank, Sun Life Insurance to name just a few. He has also worked for the Ministry of Attorney General, Ministry of the Environment and Ministry of Health. He graduated from the University of Manitoba’s Master of Interior Design Program in 2004. His area of specialization includes issues of diversity within the built environment.

Raymond joined Sheridan College in 2004 and assumed the role as Program Coordinator in 2012. He has developed and teaches courses that introduce students to corporate, retail and hospitality design. Raymond’s research explores building retirement communities that are geared to specific gender and cultural groups.

Brad Culver

Professor, Bachelor of Interior Design

Brad Culver has been a Professor in the Sheridan Interior Design Program since 2000. Brad completed a Master of Urban Design Studies (MUDS) degree from the University of Toronto in 2009, while on Sabbatical. He has Bachelor of Architecture (BArch) and Bachelor of Environmental Design Studies (BEDS) degrees from the Technical University of Nova Scotia (now Dalhousie University) in Halifax. He also has a BA (with distinction) from the University of Alberta, in Edmonton.

Prior to starting his own practices, Brad worked with architecture offices in Halifax, Toronto and London, England, including Sir Terence Conran’s firm in London. He is a partner in the Interior Design firm Culver and Henderson Building Design Inc. (since 1991) and is the principal of the Architecture firm Brad Culver, Architect (since 1999), both located in Toronto. His firms have designed and built over 300 projects, including new houses, renovations, offices, restaurants, small condominium buildings and landscapes.

Donna Armstrong

Coordinator, Interior Decorating

Donna joined Sheridan faculty in 1994 as a professor in the Interior Design department. In 2001, she has coordinated both the Interior Decorating certificate and Autocad for Designers programs. In 2004, she worked on the development of the Interior Decorating diploma program which launched in 2005 and which she continues to teach and coordinate in.

From 2007 to 2010, Donna also coordinated the Visual Merchandising Arts program. From 2008-2009, Donna worked for Sheridan Corporate developing and coordinating an interiors program for a corporate client which focused on the learning and applied learning servicing professionals in the industry. Prior to joining Sheridan, Donna graduated with Honors from the Interior Design Program at Humber College and was the recipient of a number of awards, including the Humber Award of Excellence and ARIDO Student Achievement Award. She worked for several years for interior design firms in the Toronto area, specializing in corporate office design.

Louise Franklin

Coordinator, Visual Merchandising

Louise brings 30 years of experience in the retail and wholesale sectors. Retailers such as shopAGO, at the Art Gallery of Ontario, Lipton’s International, Simpsons and Eaton’s are companies she has designed for. Louise’s involvement in the wholesale industry includes designing and merchandising showrooms, trade show booths and special event decorating for import/export companies. Her freelance business has given her the opportunity to prop style for a diverse range of advertising agencies; her work has been featured in various magazine editions, promotional materials and websites.

Louise has balanced her career between teaching, running a freelance design business and working part-time in the retail environment. She continues to develop and facilitate a wide range of courses in the Visual Merchandising Arts program and has been the Coordinator since 2010. Louise has been a faculty member at Sheridan since 1996 and began her full time career at Sheridan in August 2011.

Contact

Heather Whitton
Associate Dean
Ext: 2506 | Office: A102b

Nora Endicott
Academic Portfolio Administrator
ext. 2632 | Office: A100

Nancy Heath
Program Support Specialist
Ext: 2735 | Office: A100

Christine Franch
Program Support Specialist
Ext: 2571 | Office: A100

Material Art and Design

Welcome