Interior Design Studio Envisions New Retail Space at the Ringling
Recently, a group of students from Florida State University’s Studio 3 Department of Interior Architecture and Design program worked with the Ringling Museum in Sarasota on a project to develop concepts for the redesign of the retail space in the visitor’s pavilion. On Jan. 31, Professors Jim Dawkins and Steven Webber brought nine students (representing nine teams) to the Ringling for a site visit to meet their clients, learn about the retail needs of the shop, learn about the history of the Ringling campus, and discover the legacy of John and Mable Ringling.
The first week of class, four staff from The Ringling traveled to Tallahassee to visit the class and discuss the student’s initial designs and the challenges that the museum store faces.
Katrina Alvarez, Tiffany Crolley, Leah Sjoberg, Maegan Prince
Over the next two weeks, the students worked on their projects to prepare for their final presentations on Feb. 17.
The students presented their final designs during 15-minute presentations to a panel that included: Rachel Allen, Museum Store manager, and Mark Morgan, assistant director of visitor services at The Ringling, Peter Weishar, FSU Dean, College of Visual Arts, Theater & Dance, and Perry Crowell, FSU Assistant Vice President of Finance and Administration.
“The presentations were really impressive and gave us many great ideas from which to seriously consider as we look to implement a store redesign in the near future,” Allen said. The designs were highly detailed and thoughtful according to Morgan. The Ringling will now take those ideas as a starting point for their renovation.