The School has sent students to the Rometti Prize competition in Italy for five years, but the 2018 competition included several firsts:
- All six students competing this year were women.
- All three of the non-Italian students were from our School.
- The first prize winner was one of our students: Rachel Bradley.
Each year, the six selected students spend ten days interning at the Manifattura Ceramiche Rometti in Umbertide, Italy. They were there from July 23 to August 3 this year. However, the work to get there starts in the spring during a two-month workshop held in the School, which is led by Industrial Design and 3D4M faculty. Students develop proposals for objects that could be produced at the Rometti factory. Designs selected for inclusion in the competition have prototypes created while the students are at the factory.
Rachel Bradley, the first prize winner who is an Interdisciplinary Visual Arts student, said this about her experience: "I feel really lucky to have been given the opportunity to work with Rometti. It was cool to be able to see how a company like that runs and to see the precision and care that they put into all of their pieces. Also, it was an amazing opportunity to work with artists and designers like those who work at Rometti." She attended the announcement of the prize winners on September 22 via Skype.
The second prize winner was Erica Lee, an Industrial Design student. She said this: "The Rometti internship was truly a one of a kind experience. It not only gave us an opportunity to realize our design but a chance to fully engage with the liveliness and passion of Italian culture through an incredible crew."
Our third participating student was Grace Budgett, also from Industrial Design. Her objects were ranked fifth in the competition.
The School pays the travel expenses for each of our participating students. The money came from the Kenneth L. Striker Scholarship and the Parnassus Endowed Fund this year.