People of Georgian: Decorating expert champions changemaking as professor
July 12, 2024
What’s your story?
The Georgian community is full of unique, inspiring perspectives —and we’re sharing them as part of an ongoing series.
People of Georgian: Meet Mary Dobson
I’ve had a lot of jobs over the years.
I’ve worked in publishing, had my own business, travelled all over North America hosting seminars, was a design expert for Cityline’s Home Day program for 25 years, and am currently teaching at Georgian.
When I was doing Cityline, I was always proud of the fact that my content wasn’t fluff.
It was before the days of the Internet when I started appearing on the show, so I had to dig deep to find solid information that was also creative and viable. I couldn’t just Google it, and Pinterest didn’t exist.
We were pioneers, in a way, on Cityline. It was before HGTV, and there was not really anything comparable to what we were doing on daytime TV. I know we inspired a lot of people, especially women, to feel more independent.
But honestly, teaching at Georgian is my favourite job.
It’s always different, new and interesting, and it’s wonderful to see the evolution of my students.
I keep in touch with a lot of them through Instagram, and it’s so great to see how far they’ve come. Sometimes alumni come back to talk to current students, and that’s a proud moment for me and an invaluable experience for our students to see somebody succeeding who used to be in their position.
A commitment to keep learning
Since I came to Georgian, what has really stuck with me is the fact that I need to keep learning.
As a brand-new teacher, I was a deer in headlights. I took all of the teaching courses they offered part-time faculty – twice – because I felt there was so much I didn’t know.
In more recent years, I’ve become really involved in integrating changemaking into Georgian programs to help students make a difference in their communities through their studies.
For example, changemaking is integrated into a key Interior Decorating course where students have to work with a non-profit. This year, we worked with Barrie Families Unite. They don’t have a space yet but are searching for one, so students were given a rough square footage and a list of what needs to be included, and they had to design the space, including lighting, signage, merchandising, etc., and then sell their ideas to the client.
Students also had to examine the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, which Georgian has committed to, and try to hit as many of them as possible.
It’s a great project. I’m really proud of it.
People tend to think of the decorating business as kind of frivolous, but there’s so much decorators can do to help our communities. They can help people with even the simple task of being in a space that is comfortable, safe and beautiful.
I’m also part of a team at Georgian that is writing a faculty guidebook on changemaking.
As teachers, the last thing we should be doing is what we’ve always done.
I will not do that; I will always keep learning and changing to give my students the very best that I can and provide a positive learning experience.
Mary Dobson, professor in Georgian’s Interior Decorating program.