The Distinguished Alumni Lecture

Ms. Kelly Kealey-Mayton, above, presented the 2009 Distinguished Alumni Lecture for the School of Architecture on Monday, October 12. Ms. Kealey is a graduate of the school's fashion design program.

Kelly Kealey is the owner of Dance Sport Designs of Allen, Texas. Last year, she submitted the winning entry in the "Design a Dance" competition sponsored by Macy's for the song "Great Balls of Fire" on ABC-TV's "Dancing with the Stars." Ms. Kealey has been providing high level dance gowns for fifteen years. Examples of her work, shown below, have been on display for the last few weeks in the School of Architecture Gallery in Quigley Hall. Her design sketch and YouTube video of the dance are available.


Ms. Kealey's design are the highest level of couture design available. She drapes every design by hand and individually places beads and other decorative elements onto each dress. Last year, she also designed the Sony Ericsson Z750 purple cell phone dress used in advertising for the phone. The ad was used by Sony Ericsson worldwide.

In her October 12 talk in Browne Auditorium on campus, Ms. Kealey spoke to the students about her journey after college to her present career in Texas. She encouraged students to pursue their dreams and talked to them about the importance of staying positive and networking with other SIU alums.

The School of Architecture was very pleased to honor Kelly Kealey-Mayton as this year's Distinguished Alumni! The Fashion Design and Merchandising programs at SIUC have approximately 100 students earning the Bachelor of Science degree on the Carbondale campus.

SoA Lecture Series

The School of Architecture's annual lecture series kicked off last week with an excellent presentation by Mr. Jeff Kovel, AIA, an architect from Portland, Oregon. Mr. Kovel presented his talk "Serious Play" to students of the school. Many excellent images of his work were shown and students often commented on how excited there were to see the scope of projects and how creative Mr. Kovel is in his practice.

Mr. Kovel is shown above visiting the dome home of R. Buckminster Fuller here in Carbondale while he was in town. Professors Jon Daniel Davey and Shai Yeshayahu escorted Mr. Koval on the visit to the dome.

The School of Architecture lecture series is coordinated by Professor Peter Smith of the Interior Design program. It is funded with Fine Arts and Activities Fee Money paid by SIU students. Our next lecture is Monday, October 12 when Ms. Kelly Kealy of Dallas, TX will present the Distinguished Alumni Lecture.

School of Architecture Lecture Series

The School of Architecture at SIUC is pleased to announce the lecture schedule for Fall 2009 and Spring 2010. Visit our Lecture Series web page for details.