DILPOMA PROGRAM GRADUATES

Although Willowbank’s Diploma Program is relatively young, its graduates are already proving to be remarkably successful in the field. This is perhaps best indicated by the fact that there is currently a waiting list of employers wanting Diploma Program graduates.

Some graduates have found work in the planning and design area. One is a planner with a provincial heritage agency, and others have been offered jobs with top architectural conservation firms in Toronto and Montreal. One graduate has chosen to work part-time for an architectural firm and maintain a private consulting practice at the same time. Another is doing design-build work as a self-employed consultant, and also providing specialized drawing skills to architectural firms. 

Several graduates have found work with developers specializing in creative adaptive reuse. Developers find their ability to work equally well in the office and in the field to be an invaluable asset. One graduate’s work for a prominent developer led to her being hired as manager of historic properties for a major municipal government. In this position she is now overseeing the work of other Willowbank graduates.

Others have become skilled tradespeople in the field. One is already establishing a wide reputation as a self-employed historic window specialist, while another is working for a restoration carpentry company. Another is a stone mason who has worked both on high-profile institutional sites and on local residential properties. Others have worked with leaded glass window specialists and with specialized painting contractors. 

Another Willowbank graduate has used her masonry skills to become a successful construction manager for restoration projects. 

Willowbank graduates are also writers and teachers. And they are beginning to be asked to speak at conferences and workshops because of the strength of their perspective as people who operate so comfortably at the intersection of theory and practice.

One of the more rewarding aspects of the program is the number of collaborations that are developing between Willowbank graduates and their Willowbank faculty associates. The network of mentors who form the core of the Diploma Program teaching faculty become a lifelong source of professional contact and collaboration for Diploma Program students.