Faculty

  • Sharran F. Parkinson, PhD, IIDA, IDEC
    •
  • Christiana Lafazani, NCIDQ
    •
  • Camden Whitehead
    •
  • Rab McClure
    •
  • Roberto Ventura
    •
  • Robert Smith
    •
  • Deloris Young
    •
  • Eleanor Barton
    •
  • Megan Johnson
    •
  • Peter Fraser
    •
  • Shannon Dowling
    •
  • Chris Arias
    •
  • Kate Oliver
    •

Sharran F. Parkinson, PhD, IIDA, IDEC

Professor
Department Chair
Director of PhD Program in Design Environments

Dr. Sharran Parkinson is Chair and Professor of the Department of Interior Design at Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA. Her background in higher education, business management, design, and design history brings experience and breadth to the department. She holds a BA in Graphic Art from Stephens College, a MS degree in Interior Design from Florida State University, and a PhD in Comparative Arts from Ohio University. She is a professional member of the International Interior Design Association and a corporate member of the Interior Design Education Council. She is a review editor for the Journal of Interior Design and has served as an accreditation chair for the Council of Interior Design Accreditation for over ten years. She has over twenty years experience teaching interior design courses at the university level.

Dr. Parkinson has published several articles on design history, design education, and healthcare design. She serves as a design consultant to Kay Trimmer, IIDA, President of Senior and Assisted Living Design, Sarasota, Florida. Recent projects include hospice design, assisted living projects, and advanced medical centers.

Christiana Lafazani, NCIDQ

Assistant Professor
MFA Program Director

Christiana Lafazani is an assistant professor and director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Interior Design at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia. Born and raised in Thessaloniki, Greece, Christiana moved to the US and received a Bachelor of Science degree from James Madison University and a Master of Fine Arts from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Prior to returning to academia in the fall of 2003, Christiana Lafazani practiced as a design project manager for an architecture and design firm focusing on corporate design, as a store layout and prototype designer for a large electronics retailer, and as a design manager for an office furniture remanufacturing company.

Christiana’s area of research and study focuses on pedagogy in Interior Design education with particular interest in the effect of technological changes, and in sustainable and ecological issues of the profession. Her work has been presented in the following conferences: Third International Conference In Typography, Thessaloniki, Greece, June 2007, Hawaii International Conference of Arts and Humanities, January 2007, Design Research Society, Wonderground Conference, Lisbon, November 2006, CIDAE International Conference, Lisbon, 2006, EDRA Conference 2006 & Hawaii International Conference of Arts and Humanities, January 2006.

Camden Whitehead

Associate Professor

M.Arch., Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
B.A. Art, Averett College
Principal, Sadler and Whitehead Architects

Camden received his bachelor’s degree from Averett College in 1976 with a major in studio art. While there, he was honored with the C. L. Davenport Award for General Excellence.  He received his master’s of architecture from Virginia Tech in 1980. After practicing architecture with several Richmond firms, he joined the faculty of the School of the Arts at Virginia Commonwealth University where he has taught for more than 20 years. Having served in several administrative positions, his love remains teaching beginning design students at the graduate and undergraduate levels.

Camden’s practice as an architect is characterized by work that is sensitive to the site and program, enobles the mundane and demonstrates a thoughtful, responsible use of materials. Taking seriously his stewardship of the earth and its resources, he mediates design solutions on a range of scales, from neighborhood planning to furniture design, from houses and additions to watercolors.

Camden is active in public service, having served on the City of Richmond’s Urban Design Committee and the Public Arts Commission. He has provided pro bono work to local schools, organizations and agencies.

Rab McClure

Associate Professor

Rab McClure’s teaching and creative scholarship mine the sweet spot where design and fine arts overlap. His work investigates form, light, space, material, memory and imagination. He has been invited to present papers and exhibit his work most recently in Helsinki, London, Montreal, Kyoto, the Netherlands, and Kortrijk, Belgium.

Rab is a registered architect, an NCIDQ certified interior designer, and an Associate Professor of Interior Design at Virginia Commonwealth University. He holds a Master of Architecture degree from Yale University and a Bachelor of Science in Architecture degree from the University of Virginia. He has written for Architect magazine and is a frequent contributor to the journal Inform. A solo design project, “Breezecatcher House,” won Best In Show in the 2008 IDEC International Design Competition.

Roberto Ventura

Assistant Professor

Roberto Ventura, Assistant Professor, LEED AP, has practiced and taught sustainable design for almost a decade in Richmond and North Carolina. He has worked on a number of design teams which have earned awards from AIA Richmond and the James River Green Building Council. His work has been exhibited nationally via the HOME House Project sponsored by the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art.

In addition, he has also taught interior architecture at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro and Virginia Commonwealth University, and he has lectured at The University of Oulu, in Finland.

He volunteers at the Virginia Center for Architecture and Habitat for Humanity, and he has been a juror for Virginia Society AIA awards. He holds a Master of Architecture from Miami University.

Robert Smith

Administrative Director
Adjunct Professor

M.F.A., Interior Environments, Virginia Commonwealth University
B.S., Theological Studies, Kentucky Christian University

Deloris Young

Administrative Associate
Fiscal Manager

Deloris Young is the administrative assistant of our department with 29 years of dedicated service to VCU. She is a graduate of the Pan-American Business College with a certificate in Business Management and Secretarial Science. Her passion for service and administration in the University community has been very rewarding. Her work with the students and administration has been advantageous in meeting, communicating and learning from people of different backgrounds and ethnic origins. Mrs. Young is often considered the central axis of the department and is able to answer or redirect most questions associated with our program and department. She is an invaluable resource to the School of the Arts, the faculty as well as the students and alumni.

Mrs. Young enjoys working in the University community and looks forward to new experiences each year.

Eleanor Barton

Adjunct Professor

Eleanor Barton, an alumna of the VCUarts Interior Design program, leverages her years of experience in the design profession through helping to prepare our students for the business side of interior design. She is Director of Interior Design at Glave and Holmes Architecture, located in Richmond.

Megan Johnson

Adjunct Professor

M.Arch., University of Michigan
B.S. Architecture, University of Virginia

Megan Johnson, an architect at Glave and Holmes Architecture, instructs our students in design sofware, such as Autocad and Revit.

Peter Fraser

Adjunct Professor

B.F.A, Interior Design, Virginia Commonwealth University
Owner, Fraser Design Associates, Richmond, Virginia

Shannon Dowling

Adjunct Professor

M. Arch, SCI-Arc (Southern California Institute of Architecture)
B. Arch, Virginia Tech

Shannon Dowling’s teaching reflects her background and interest in research and development as a tool for innovative and forward-thinking design. After receiving her B. Arch from Virginia Tech, Shannon received her M. Arch through SCI-Arc’s Metropolitan Research + Design program in downtown Los Angeles.

Shannon’s work has been displayed at the Van Alen Institute in New York, the Architecture + Design Museum in Los Angeles, and the Venice Bienalle in Italy. She has contributed to several publications on the discourse of design, including the International Archive of Women Architects as well as the “Make It New” Architectural Discourse Journal in Los Angeles, California.

Shannon currently lives in the city with her husband and two boys and works at BCWH Architecture. She founded a private practice in 2007 which designed and constructed a number of projects throughout the city, including an office renovation for a local contracting firm, a coffee and child’s gym in Carytown, and several residential renovations and additions in Richmond and its surrounding suburbs.

Chris Arias

Adjunct Professor

M.F.A., Interior Environments, Virginia Commonwealth University
B.A., Painting and Printmaking, Virginia Commonwealth University
Owner, Arias LLC Design Service, Richmond, Virginia

Kate Oliver

Adjunct Professor

M.F.A., Interior Environments, Virginia Commonwealth University
M.A., National Security Studies, Georgetown University
B.A., International Studies, George Mason University
Owner, Oliver Design LLC, Richmond, Virginia