Supporting the Interior Design Ringling Summer Program
November 6, 2016
FSU interior design students tour Ca’ D’Zan with the mansion’s curator, Ron McCarty. Associate Professor Karen Myers brings a group of students from Tallahassee to Sarasota each summer to visit the John and Mable Ringling mansion and learn more about the business of interior design for high-end homes. Staff photo / Harold Bubil; 7-15-2015.
Margaret “Peggy” Smoot Douglass (BS Interior Design 1983, MS Interior Design 2984) recounts two major turning points for her life and career – Florida State University’s Interior Design program and her time teaching in Sarasota. Respect, admiration, and pride beams in her voice as she talks about her years in Tallahassee. “Tock Ohazama, Karen Myers, David Butler, Peter Koenig – they were my mentors and my friends. They gave me the tools that would see me through my entire career, and I still repeat their lessons to myself and my employees today.”
After graduation, she took a job teaching Interior Design in Sarasota, at the Ringling College of Art & Design. Douglass’ memories of the town are equally as important to her. “Respect for art, architecture and design is everywhere. The Ringling Museum was a big part of that.”
Douglass moved to Houston, where she met her husband Scott and built her design, architecture and planning firm CDI Douglass Pye Inc. Through the decades, she has stayed in touch with FSU and her mentors. She joined the FSU Interior Design Advisory Board when it first formed, and she continues to serve today.
Through her service on the board, Margaret learned more about the Historic Restoration Program that the Department had been offering annually, in conjunction with the Ringling Museum in Sarasota.
“I wanted to give something back. This program appealed to me because it combines my love for FSU Interior Design and the cultural gem of Sarasota.”
The FSU College of Fine Arts and Department of Interior Architecture + Design thank alumna Margaret Douglass for her annual gift of $5,000 to support the summer program at the John & Mable Ringling Museum of Art & Gardens.
About the Summer Program
Since 2005, Associate Professor Karen Myers has teamed up with the curator of the Ca’ d’Zan at the Ringling Museum, Ron McCarty, to create a unique educational experience in Sarasota for Interior Design students. The Historic Restoration Program is held during a week each July. Students travel with Myers to the cultural coastal town each year to learn about interior restoration and preservation, including time with McCarty learning about the restoration and care of the Ca’ d’Zan Mansion.
The partnership began in 2005 shortly after Florida State University took ownership of The John & Mable Ringling Museum of Art & Gardens in 2000, marking its 10th Anniversary in Summer 2015.
To make a gift online to the Interior Design Ringling Summer Program, please click the Donate button above, choose “More Designations” and type in the fund name. Mail checks, made payable to “FSU Foundation” with the fund number F07387 noted to the address below.
To discuss a gift to the College of Fine Arts at Florida State University, please contact:
Jessica Comas
Director of Development
FSU College of Fine Arts
236 Fine Arts Building
Tallahassee, FL 32306-1170
(850) 645-0701
jcomas@fsu.edu