On Friday, May 31, 2019, we celebrated the hard work of 90 graduating crafts- and tradespeople, joined by their families, friends, and our greater community. The 138th North Bennet Street School Commencement ceremony honored a diverse class of students launching into the world with newly-honed talents and abilities. Join us in congratulating our graduates and welcoming them to the broader alumni community.
The Distinguished Alumni Award is given annually to an alumnus who is nominated by their alumni peers and voted upon by the Alumni Association. The decision is based on a nominee's professional accomplishments, their contributions to their craft, and their work with schools and organizations to promote excellence in craft. This year the Award goes to Consuela "Chela" Metzger BB '93. Throughout her influential 20+ year career, Chela has held multiple teaching and book conservation positions and has educated and mentored many fellow book conservators.
Have you ever noticed a team craning up a Christmas tree to place on top of a nearly-finished building? Perhaps you've driven under a recently refurbished bridge and spied a large wreath at the top of its massive arch. In each case, this practice is part of a long history of builder's rituals dating back thousands of years.
In 2012, NBSS initiated a new funding platform that provides a 'full-ride' scholarship to qualified students from greater Boston who experience significant barriers to employment. In the time since it was implemented, the NBSS Workforce Development Initiative (WDI) has helped nearly three dozen NBSS students train for high-paying jobs.
When one of the nation's premier museums of American decorative arts wants to include your work in a special exhibition, you're doing something right. If you're furniture maker, carpenter, and NBSS alumnus Rob McKeown CF '88, that something may be more like everything. The Garden at Winterthur Museum now features fanciful architectural structures called "follies," and two were designed and built by Rob.