Celebrating Lesley's Practice

The following narratives highlight the diverse ways in which alumni practice has made an impact around the world. These works define Lesley, showcasing our distinct domains in the Arts, Business, Counseling, Design, Education, Expressive Therapies, Humanities, Mathematics, Psychology, Science and Social Sciences.

We define practice through three lenses

1. Ways of Seeing
   Work that represents a diversity of perspectives
    
2. Ways of Being
   Work that represents growth from student to professional
    
3. Ways of Working
   Work that represents a diversity of disciplines and practice

If you wish to share your own alumni practice or that of another alum, please do so here.

Visual Narratives from the Classroom

There is a long history of Lesley alumni creating unique practice experiences within a classroom space. From Froebel blocks to cardboard arcades, individual practice has had impact in the classroom and beyond. The following visual narratives present the interpretations of how an individual practice has transformed the classroom.

Global Visual Narratives

Outside the classroom, alumni have integrated their practice on a global scale. Their work has impacted their community by the way they create, and also to greater populations as their practice allows them to share and learn with different communities.

Growing Visual Narratives

Alumni from across the university have brought their practice into careers that meet the needs and interests of people in their community and beyond. They established their way of seeing, being and working during their course of study to ultimately combine them into a singular practice today.

Heritage

In 1909 Edith Lesley founded a Froebel school, considered a progressive model for education at the time. Lesley Normal School provided learning space for women to enter the workforce as progressive and dedicated teachers. Her founding vision proclaimed, “I plan for us to be different.” 

Before the College of Art and Design was part of Lesley, it began as The School of Practical Art in 1912. Its founder, Roy Davidson, intentionally created a school for those who may be “different from the rest, and seek a different sort of life.”

What did our founders mean by "different"? One conclusion may be Edith and Roy shared a similar vision in helping people access different ways of seeing, being and working in the world. Today, we are a university different from the rest because individual practice is emphasized across our undergraduate, graduate and Threshold schools.