SCAD President and Founder Paula Wallace Releases Memoir

SAVANNAH, Ga., March 10, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Paula Wallace, president and founder of the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), today announces the release of The Bee and the Acorn, her memoir produced with Assouline Publishing. In The Bee and the Acorn, Wallace shares the remarkable story behind the creation of the most revered and comprehensive art and design university in the world. The book ($35, hardcover, illustrated, ISBN: 9781614285083) is slated for release in April 2016, and will be available at Assouline boutiques, shopSCAD, and online at assouline.com, shopSCAD.com, thebeeandtheacorn.com, and Amazon.com. E-book and audio formats are forthcoming.

In The Bee and the Acorn, readers journey with Wallace from her Atlanta Public Schools elementary classroom to storied Savannah, where, just as General Oglethorpe built a new kind of city, Wallace built a new kind of college — marrying the best of higher education tradition with pedagogical and curricular innovation. For four decades, Wallace's path has paralleled that of the university she founded. Through surprising tales that span the purchase of the university's first building to its global expansion and more, Wallace reveals herself as an educator, entrepreneur, designer, preservationist, mother, and wife.

"Paula Wallace built one of the world's premier institutions of design, art, and education," said Arianna Huffington, cofounder, president, and editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post. "In her candid and compelling memoir, she weaves the story of its founding together with her deeply personal meditations on creativity, family, and faith."

Eschewing convention, Wallace's pioneering spirit and commitment to innovative excellence transformed a tiny art college with an incoming class of seventy-one students into an international university. With a mission to prepare talented students for professional creative careers, SCAD has grown to define Wallace's singular vision. Evidenced the world over by the university's four locations on three continents, the university now encompasses forty-five thousand students and alumni.

"I imagined a student-centered university where the hands readily made what the mind dreamt and what the heart desired. SCAD is that magical triad of a place. The Bee and the Acorn is my way of sharing with others what they can do, if only they dare to try," said Wallace.

Sincere, witty, and candid, Wallace shares the trials and triumphs of building a university and the visionary SCAD story that appeals to students, educators, entrepreneurs, and anyone who dares to dream big and do the impossible. Titled after the university's mascot, the bee, and the university's crest emblem, the acorn — two beings that defy the odds of nature in their ability to rise to great heights — Wallace's memoir is about joy, determination, and a life filled with gratitude. Whimsical illustrations and artful vignettes by SCAD alumna Emily Isabella (B.F.A., fibers, 2008) punctuate the story.

For more information, visit thebeeandtheacorn.com. Proceeds from The Bee and the Acorn will benefit the SCAD scholarship fund.

Paula Wallace

Paula Wallace is the president and founder of the Savannah College of Art and Design, a private, nonprofit, accredited university for creative careers. Wallace served as academic dean and provost of SCAD for twenty-two years and has served as president of the university since 2000. Wallace has authored several children's books and two interior design titles — A House in the South and Perfect Porches. Among many awards and honors, she has been named Southeast Area Ernst & Young Principled Leadership Entrepreneur of the Year and was awarded the inaugural Elle Décor Vision Award. Wallace has been appointed a Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Palmes Académiques by the Conseiller Culturel and Consul Général of the French Embassy in the United States of America, and the Georgia Historical Society named her a 2015 Georgia Trustee. She currently serves on the National Advisory Board of the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C.

Follow Wallace on Twitter and Instagram at @paulaswallace.

SCAD: The University for Creative Careers

The Savannah College of Art and Design is a private, nonprofit, accredited university offering more than one hundred academic degree programs in forty-two majors across its locations in Atlanta and Savannah, Georgia; Hong Kong; Lacoste, France; and online via SCAD eLearning. SCAD enrolls twelve thousand five hundred undergraduate and graduate students from more than one hundred countries. The innovative SCAD curriculum is enhanced by advanced professional-level technology, equipment, and learning resources, as well as opportunities for internships, professional certifications, and collaborative projects with corporate partners.

In 2015, the prestigious Red Dot Design Rankings placed SCAD in the top four universities in the Americas and Europe. Career preparation is woven into every fiber of the university, resulting in a superior alumni placement rate. In a study of Spring 2014 SCAD graduates, ninety-seven percent were employed, pursuing further education, or both within ten months of graduation.

For more information, visit the official SCAD blog.

Assouline Publishing

The first luxury brand dedicated to culture, Assouline began with the belief that a book artfully crafted and highly considered in its visual content can open our eyes and minds. Over two decades, guided by our passion for knowledge, culture, and travel, we have extended our vision to create all that can be desired in a chic library, from lavishly illustrated books and special editions to unique decorative accessories.

In autumn 2014, Assouline celebrated its twentieth anniversary by introducing the Maison Assouline international flagship, showcasing our complete world of culture and lifestyle, situated at 196A Piccadilly in London, a beautifully restored landmark Grade II listed building designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens in 1922, a stately presence in the St. James's neighborhood.

With the recent debut of the Assouline Interiors services and turnkey lines of furniture, library shelving, carpeting, lighting, and art objects, it is possible to create a bespoke salon, lounge, or office space that embodies the sophistication and ambience of a contemporary individualized library.

For more information, visit assouline.com or follow Assouline Publishing on social media:
Instagram: instagram.com/assouline
Facebook: facebook.com/AssoulinePub
Twitter: twitter.com/AssoulinePub

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SOURCE Savannah College of Art and Design