33 Projects across 23 Schools Awarded Curriculum Development Grants by Partnership of Academic Leadership in Sustainability (PALS)

The Partnership of Academic Leadership in Sustainability (PALS), supported by the Association of Independent Colleges in Arts & Design (AICAD), has awarded $1000 grants to projects that amplify sustainability within their academic programs.

With an impressive pool of 65 project submissions, 33 awards were granted, spanning 23 schools internationally. Find the list of grant awardees below.

The PALS Curriculum Development Grant supports arts and design faculty and academic staff to create and cultivate learning experiences that move beyond awareness to inspire agency. By addressing sustainability challenges through creativity, collaboration, and critical reflection, the grant supports curricula that empower students to imagine alternatives, build resilience, and take meaningful action in their own work and communities.

PALS and AICAD are also happy to announce the opening of a second round of Curriculum Development Grants to support, expand, and inspire sustainability in arts and design higher education. Applications due September 28, 2026. View the full Grant Guidelines.

Spring 2026 PALS Curriculum Development Grantees – Round One (listed alphabetically by school)

ArtCenter College of Design: Istem Ozen – What Would Nature Do? (Humanities and Sciences)

Burren College of Art: Eileen Hutton – The Living Materials Lab (Art & Ecology)

California College of the Arts: Shujan Bertrand, Ian MacColl, Corey Jones, Mara Holt – Open Source Circular Industrial Design Curriculum for Higher Education (Industrial Design)

California College of the Arts: Lynda Grose & Amy Campos – Local Fiber Incubator: Local Regenerative Economies (Fashion and Critical Studies, Interior Design)

California Institute of the Arts: Shannon Scrofano – Mutualism (Experience Design)

Cleveland Institute of Art: Rachel Ferber – Small-Scale Paper Recycling (CoLab: Recycle) (Foundation)

College for Creative Studies: Eleanor Oakes – The Living Image: Developing an Ecological Photography Curriculum (Photography)

College for Creative Studies: Ian Lambert – The Culture & Practice of Bicycle Maintenance (Design for Sustainability)

College for Creative Studies: Greg Darby, Anthony Reale – The Circular Campus Lab: Upcycling PLA and PETG through Research-Led Closed-Loop Manufacturing (Product / Industrial Design)

Florida State University: Katie Kehoe, Denton Shields – Pulp & Purpose (Department of Art)

Kansas City Art Institute: Alison Wood – Junk to Gem (Product Design)

Kansas City Art Institute: Julie Farstad – Elemental Drawing: A Locally Sourced Material Curriculum (Painting and Social Practice)

MassArt: Billie Mandle, Niklas Gorke – Printing with Caffenol (Photography)

MassArt: Fish McGill, Martha Rettig, Tatiana Gómez, Lisa Rosowsky, Erin Davis, Josh Luke – Communication Design Materials Library (Communication Design)

Maryland Institute College of Art: Valeska Populoh – Lit! Solar Powered Community Lanterns (Fiber/Ecosystems, Sustainability and Justice)

Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design: Lauren Simmons – Sustainability in Life, Practice & Community (Critical Studies/Natural Science)

Minneapolis College of Art and Design: Teresa Bertossi, Stephanie Opheim – Leadership in Design & Advocacy, Curriculum Development (Sustainable Design, Teaching and Learning Excellence, Online Learning)

OCAD University: Paul Aloisi – Sustainable Model Making in Environmental Design (Design / Environmental Design)

OCAD University: Ursula Handleigh – Sustainable Darkroom (Art, Photography)

Otis College Art & Design: Emma Kemp – Designing Ecological Identity: A Sustainability-Centered Visual Language Curriculum for Graphic Design (Foundation / Creative Action Integrated Learning)

Otis College Art & Design: Allen Makere – Dolls & Democracy | Toying with Nature (Creative Action Integrated Learning)

Otis College Art & Design: Mayuka Thais Nagasawa – Regenerative Play: Designing Sustainable Futures Through Analog and Digital Game Systems (Foundation Studio / Game and Entertainment Design)

Parsons School of Design: Christine Facella – Warm, Fuzzy Toxic (Industrial Design)

Pratt Institute: Carl Zimring – Developing Curriculum on the European Union’s Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) and its Implications for Designers (Social Sciences and Cultural Studies / Sustainability Studies)

Pratt Institute: Dr. Harriet Harriss, Dr. Hannes Charen – Death & Dying: Ecologies of Loss Across Design and Social Practice (Graduate Center for Planning and the Environment / Social Science and Cultural Studies / School of Liberal Arts & Sciences)

Pratt Institute: Ashley Bales, David Smucker – Sustainability Spring Exhibition Course Development (Math and Science / General Education / Sustainability / Social Sciences and Cultural Studies)

Rhode Island School of Design: Jessica Smith – Closing the Loop: Community Composting of Bio-Based Polymers (Industrial Design)

School of the Art Institute of Chicago: Nicole Hall – The Living Archive: Memory, Material, and Landscape (Graduate Studies, Liberal Arts)

School of Visual Arts: Mari Nakano – Rooted in Place: Expanding Ecological and Civic Frameworks in Design for Social Innovation (MFA Design for Social Innovation) 

School of Visual Arts: Randy Hunt, Todd Carroll, Peter Martin – Designing Responsibly: Integrating Environmental Literacy into AI-Assisted Design Practice (MFA Design / Designer as Entrepreneur)

Simon Fraser University: Sarah Rosengard (School of Environmental Science) & School of the Art Institute of Chicago: Oliver Shao (Liberal Arts) – Confronting generative AI through interdisciplinary methodologies

University of Wisconsin – Stout: Dan Neubauer – Bio-Based Silicone for Reusable Mold-Making: Multi-Disciplinary Sustainability Model for Design Education (Industrial & Product Design)

Woodbury University | University of Redlands: Joshua G. Stein, Dan Klooster – Territory to Tectonics: Panama Study Abroad (Architecture, Environmental Studies)