This fall the O’More College of Architecture & Design at Belmont University celebrates its 50th anniversary, beginning with a social media campaign that launches tomorrow and continues for the next 50 days. Initiated on the O’More Instagram account and identified by the hashtag #OMores50DaysOfDesign, this series will comprise 50 high achievements in design—in any and all disciplines—as promoted by individual O’More students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends of the college’s programs.
Dr. Jhennifer Amundson, dean of Belmont’s O’More College of Architecture & Design, said, “Marking the significant occasion of the College’s 50th anniversary, this project brings together a remarkable and diverse array of examples that show how much good design impacts and improves both our daily lives and extraordinary events. In addition to celebrating design, because it is the product of 50 faculty, staff, students and alumni of the College, it’s a digital gallery of what has made O’More successful all these years—the fantastic people who have worked and studied together.”
The original O’More College of Design was founded in 1970 by Eloise Pitts O’More, a Ward-Belmont graduate who also trained in Paris and New York for interior design. Her goal was to establish a school that would foster and preserve her passion for design and design principles. With an aim to provide a student-centered environment that cultivates the power of design to transform, O’More offered programs in fashion design, fashion merchandising, graphic design and interior design for more than four decades at its Franklin, Tennessee-based campus. O’More long held connections to Belmont, including via an articulation agreement in the 1980s in which O’More students could take their general education requirements at Belmont while Belmont students could take interior design and historic preservation courses at O’More.
The College officially merged with Belmont University in 2018 and added a new undergraduate major in architecture this fall, the first and only architecture education program in Middle Tennessee. (The graphic design program has since moved to Belmont’s Watkins College of Art.) O’More’s programs are housed in more than 22,000 square feet in Hitch Hall, which was transformed into a state-of-the-art design education space by O’More faculty who provided all aspects of the design, finishes and furniture selection. Within these spaces, the College’s 150+ students have access to cutting-edge equipment such as 3D printers, laser cutter, high-speed plotters, EFI/Optitex computerized pattern-drafting and 3D virtual fit software and hardware, and industry-standard manufacturing equipment.
The 50 Days of Design Instagram campaign will run Nov. 13-Dec. 31. There will be a post each day from individuals affiliated with O’More, and each post will depict a significant designed object along with text as to why it was chosen.
