Pensole Lewis College of Business and Design, the only Historically Black College and University (HBCU) in Michigan, is seeking applications for its newest program–PLC Light School.
The free, design-centered night school will take place from 5:30-8:30 p.m. on Mondays and Thursdays for seven weeks from Jan. 27 to March 13. Students will be able to select classes from one of seven departments:
- Accessories
- Apparel
- Footwear
- Graphics
- Product Marketing
- Social Marketing
- Web Design
Top industry experts from PLC Detroit will lead the program, as well as experts from StockX, the Detroit Pistons, Carhartt, and other Michigan-based creatives. Apply online at plcdetroit.com. The deadline is Dec. 29 at 11:59 p.m.
I talked to PLC Detroit President D’Wayne Edwards about the new program and how it can help Detroiters who want to get into the design industry.
BridgeDetroit: How did the idea for PLC Light School come together?
Edwards: I’ve been talking to different community leaders, parents and others about how design education in Detroit wasn’t that accessible or affordable. I kept hearing that over and over and I knew that was an opportunity to create a bit of an opening for people in the city to get some general exposure to different educational opportunities without having to make a long-term commitment within a two-year or four-year degree.
I reached out to my partners at StockX and the Pistons and shared with them this idea of collaborating on creating a night program specific to Detroiters around some key careers and making it free. They agreed, and they provided us with the resources to be able to do that. It was truly to be able to give people a small test of what could be possible if they chose a career, whether it’s in footwear, design, apparel, accessories, graphics and a few other areas. This is targeted for adults, second career people; people who have full-time jobs in other places that maybe are not creative jobs.
BridgeDetroit: What’s the eligibility for people who want to apply?
Edwards: You just have to be 18 and a metro Detroit resident. And you have to be selected to be a part of the program, so it’s not like you sign up and you’re automatically in. We have to evaluate the talent level and the availability. People don’t always appreciate things that are free, and so, we want to make sure that people have the time commitment locked in and they have the passion and dedication needed for us to really have the right quality student.
BridgeDetroit: What are some of the things students will learn over the seven weeks?
Edwards: When you go in to register (on PLC’s website), you decide which one or more kinds of careers you have an interest in, and we ask you to submit some form of visual reference so we can measure your ability. Over the course of that seven-week period, you’re learning from one of our instructors who have been in the industry two, three decades at a Jordan Brand or Nike or some other large corporation. Exactly the way that the professionals learn, you will be taught that way.
BridgeDetroit: Who will be teaching the classes?
Edwards: I will be teaching the product marketing class and the social media class. I’m 35 years in this (design) industry. E. Scott Morris, another one of our faculty, he’s 33 years in this industry at Nike. (PLC Chair of Apparel and Accessories) Sam Ryan has 30-plus years in the industry at Jordan Brand at Nike. So we’ll have experts providing the real content from a place of being able to do it from an experience point of view. And then we’ll have some other people that come in that will be guest lecturers.
BridgeDetroit: You had a long career in the design industry. How did you get started?
Edwards: I got started just with the passion of being able to draw whatever I could see. I was naturally born an artist and I discovered design later on in life. I got my first job at the age of 19 designing footwear and, from there, that became my college. I learned on the job and in real-time, which is the way that the college (PLC) is designed.
I had a great career, from 1989 to 2011 when I retired. My last job was design director for Jordan, and being able to work with some of the best athletes ever to play a sport and hip-hop royalty from Tupac and Snoop (Dogg) and (Dr.) Dre and all those guys, it’s been a great opportunity to be able to do that. I retired to give it all back and start the school.
BridgeDetroit: Do you feel like this program will put a bigger focus on design careers in Detroit?
Edwards: I hope what it could do is allow Detroiters to see that we’re here to help them and provide opportunities that, in some cases like this one, don’t cost them anything but just effort and energy and passion.
I hope that we’ll get people who may have given up on their passion of becoming a designer, and may have taken a safer career route and they tried this and they realized they were actually much better at it than what they imagined. And this kind of sparks them to rekindle whatever fire they had from a creative perspective and possibly pursue it — either with us from an education perspective, or to pursue it as a possible career path and a career change.
Our goal is for this to attract a few different people that could have multiple reasons for engaging with us, but fundamentally, we just want to make sure that we’re here for the community of Detroit.
Have a great weekend!
Cheers,
Micah