Taylor Callinan breezed through her undergraduate career at Maryland as an art and graphic design major and used her skills in whatever way she could to help out her sorority, Delta Delta Delta, when it came to anything the sorority needed aesthetically.
“She was always the first to volunteer to do anything artsy and crafty and she was really good at it,” Rachel Ostrow, president of Delta Delta Delta Sorority, said. “She’s always so sweet and genuine.”
Now that Callinan, a Baltimore native, is taking her last semester of classes at the University of Maryland, she’s moved on to what’s after college, and she has big plans for the art world. Callinan, and her mentor and professor, Ruth Lozner, have partnered to create a company that will aid those “seeking to further their learning on design and the arts.” Ruth Lozner is a professor at University of Maryland, as well as a painter, designer, sculptor and author. According to Callinan, Lozner has a passion to help others through her knowledge and experience.
The duo named their new company Creative Attainment, LLC, which will be a cross between Princeton Review and LinkedIn for the art world, Callinan said.
“We want advisors and mentors to be inspirations to individuals who need direction on how to fuel their inner creative assets and to eventually and hopefully find the career path that’s a happy medium of who they are and what they love,” Callinan said.
Though Callinan and Lozner have these goals for the company, there is no “set mission yet,” though the end goal of the company will be to create a new way of thinking.
“We want people to see just how important design is in every aspect of our lives,” Callinan said. “If we can inspire others to embrace their inner creativity and follow their passions in the arts, they will contribute to a better community.”
The company will target students, specifically grades kindergarten through 12, and will work to find the best schools for them to attend based off of their own personal criteria.
“We want to encourage the idea that there can be a design job in any field, anywhere,” Callinan said.
In the long run, the pair plan to hold design workshops for individuals. But at the current moment, Callinan and Lozner are working brand the company and give it a “sophisticated, creative, ever-evolving and impactful name.”
But Creative Attainment isn’t all that’s on the horizon for Callinan.
“I plan on helping Professor Lozner execute another vision of hers through curating an art show at our school’s art gallery,” Callinan said. “She wants to highlight women illustrators of our past who were often suppressed and not appreciated for their remarkable talent and impacts on history.”
The collection will be ready in 2014.