Jo Anne Stewart
B.Sc., MA, ARIDO Educator, ARIDO Fellow, IDC, NCIDQ
Professor, Honours Bachelor of Interior Design
Biography
Jo Anne Stewart graduated from the University of Connecticut with a Master of Arts (MA) degree in Interior Design, and a Bachelor of Science in Textiles from the University of Prince Edward Island. After graduation, she continued studies in philosophy of art, drawing, painting, photography and art history in Canada, the United States and France. After completing her MA, she taught in interior design degrees at three American universities.
Starting in 1998, Jo Anne served as professor and co-ordinator of the former Interior Design diploma program at Georgian’s Barrie Campus. She contributed as the subject matter expert in the launch of the Honours Bachelor of Interior Design degree program in 2016.
Jo Anne is a long-time Registered and Educator member of the Association of Registered Interior Registered Designers of Ontario (ARIDO). She’s also an Interior Designers of Canada (IDC) member. She has participated in committee work and as a guest speaker. In 2021, Jo Anne was awarded a Fellow Award by ARIDO in recognition of her contribution through distinguished service to the betterment of the interior design profession. In 2004, she was presented The President’s Citation for Significant Contribution to the Profession of Interior Design by ARIDO.
Prior to joining Georgian, Jo Anne acquired 14 years of corporate, health-care, institutional, and residential interior design, and interior construction contract management experience while working at award-winning interior design firms in Toronto. Interior design teaching and work experience in Canada and the United States have led to her diverse knowledge of the complexities of the field. Her humanistic view of the artistic, scientific and technological aspects of creating man-made environments work hand-in-hand with her belief that interior design is a platform that facilitates the design of aesthetic, safe and health-generating spaces in which humans can live and work.
Interior designers prepare construction drawings and specifications for building permits to assist our clients in realizing their dreams and aspirations. My favourite aspect of teaching is that I have the opportunity to pass on the protocols and rigours of the interior design profession to our students.
Jo Anne Stewart
I share with our students the critical importance of our profession in enhancing the lives of our fellow humans. We serve as advocates in ecological sustainability for all of the planet’s inhabitants and resources.
A focus on the artistic, scholarly, scientific and technological elements of interior design gives our graduates an invaluable advantage in their pursuit of the next step in their career evolution.
- Master of Arts (MA): Interior Design, University of Connecticut, Connecticut USA, 1974
- Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.): Textiles and Clothing, University of Prince Edward Island, Charlottetown PE, 1971
- Association of Registered Interior Designers of Ontario (ARIDO) Fellow, Registered, and Education memberships
- Interior Designers of Canada (IDC)
- National Council for Interior Design Qualification (NCIDQ)
- International Interior Design certification
- Extensive full-time experience in teaching for over two decades in the field of interior design at Georgian College, serving as co-ordinator from 2016 to 2021.
- Teaching experience in three American university degree programs.
- 14 years working as a full-time senior interior designer in Toronto, including award-wining firms in corporate, institutional, health care, and multi-unit residential and high-rise developments.
- Lead faculty member responsible for curriculum assessment and preparation of revised curriculum completion for Georgian’s articulation agreement with the International Institution of Fashion Design (INIFD), effective June 2013.
- Subject matter expert, including curriculum development, preparation of quality assurance documents, application and implementation for Georgian’s
Honours Bachelor of Interior Design application to the Postsecondary Education Quality Assessment Board (PEQAB). Application submitted June 2023, consent granted May 2015 and degree launched September 2016. - Lead role during PEQAB renewal for Georgian’s Honours Bachelor of Interior Design program, 2020-22.
Research interests
- Interior design as art; emotive qualities of the role of art as form in the built environment, the expression of nature, the concept of the void, minimalism in design, and the incomplete and impermeant pursuit of beauty
Research projects
- The Effects of Light on Man, with an Emphasis on Vision
- Major paper, Behavioral, Psychological and Biological Aspects of Design course, 1974