April 16, 2002
Baysox Draft Mount Vernon Students
Interior Design Students Develop New MVP Room
By Sara
Ortega
Americans look to baseball as a symbol of patriotism and a reminder
of simpler times and periods of success. Now baseball looks to GW in
a partnership to bring creative minds together in promotion of a new
age.
The Bowie Baysox, Class AA affiliate of Major League Baseball’s
Baltimore Orioles, drafted interior design students from GW’s Mount
Vernon campus three months ago for a project to redesign its heavily
utilized Most Valuable Player room. The Baysox are in the midst of celebrating
10 years at its current site, having originally moved from Hagerstown,
MD, and are ringing in a new season with a Baysox Stadium face-lift.
Professors introduced the project to students Jan. 15 with a pep rally
to review the design requirements and to discuss designing for public
spaces. While each design team had a faculty “coach,” the
direction, organization, and budgeting were left to the students. During
the second week of group work, design students were subject to release
from, or trade to, other teams.
“It’s the best exchange that any student could hope for,”
says second-year master’s candidate Shatha Almayed. “We get
experience in the professional world and they save on budget.”
Baysox representatives met with design students and professors at the
stadium to discuss the goals of this joint venture in January. Addressing
business and leisure objectives, the Baysox requested themes that could
accommodate large official conferences as well as intimate social gatherings.
By Feb. 8, four graduate and undergraduate design teams, each consisting
of seven students, welcomed the representatives back to pitch their
proposals.
“We were uncertain about this project from the beginning because
we weren’t really sure how much meat there would be in the actual
design problem,” says Nancy Blossom, professor of interior design.
“Our students put hours of work and investigation into the project
and actually came back with more detailed and more focused project presentations
than I imagined. From my perspective, the students turned the design
problem into a richer project and did a good job in delivering an end
product.”
The winning design team, Asienda Design Group, created a modern and
luxurious environment for corporate clients, durable for daily wear
and tear, yet versatile enough for constant revenue generation. While
the majority of floor-to-ceiling renovations originate from Asienda
themes, the Baysox also will include ideas from the remaining three
student teams.
“We knew we could depend on GW to provide excellent ideas,”
says Jacki Kenny, Baysox group events manager. “And overall, each
group’s proposal exceeded our expectations.”
The new season opened April 4 with the MVP room’s fresh Asienda
all-American look. Each student participating in the project received
two tickets to opening day and the Baysox recognized the class on its
scoreboard. Already looking toward the 2003 season, the team has plans
in place for eight other upper level rooms.
Send feedback to: bygeorge@gwu.edu
