In 1978, Paula Wallace (formerly Rowan) and Richard G. Rowan founded Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, Georgia. At the time, they were both educators in Atlanta, their intentions were to provide college degree programs not previously available in southeast Georgia.

According to scad.edu, today the school is a nonprofit, accredited university with locations in Atlanta, Ga; Hong Kong, China; and Lacoste, France. 2018 is SCAD’s 40th year as a private art school, and it’s 35th year as an accredited school. There are more than 40 programs with B.A., M.A., B.F.A, and M.F.A across their 4 campuses. SCAD reports that they accept 70% of applicants, but according to Moody’s bond-rating firm, they accept about 94% of applicants. For many, this is problematic because many students arrive unqualified and unprepared. That being said, anyone can apply to SCAD, being they’re undeterred by the $55,000 cost of attendance and minimal institutional aid.

Under Wallace’s presidency, SCAD has received recognition in historic preservation. The school was placed top 4 universities in America and Europe 2015, 1st place in America’s best architecture and design schools for interior design programs.

In 2014, she was the highest paid college executive, earning $9.6 million. She successfully created many arts festivals around the city of Savannah, including Sidewalk Arts Festival, Savannah Film Festival, SCAD deFINE ART, SCADStyle, and SCAD aTVfest.

In 2016, she wrote a memoir “The Bee and the Acorn”, a metaphor for SCAD and herself. “The bee, our mascot, defies logic — a fat little creature that isn’t supposed to fly, yet does,” she wrote. “Bees are busy. They build, collaborate, are drawn to beauty and color, and bounce across the summer. And what bees make is sweet, full of light. Next to the bee is the acorn, laughably insignificant at first, one of the thousands of hopeful ideas in a world full of them, most of them trampled.”

SCAD has compensated Wallace with a restored 19th-century house in Savannah, an allowance for a home in Atlanta and maintains a residence that she uses in the Provence region of southern France. For international events, Wallace travels on SCAD’s private jet. Although Wallace’s compensation is on the more extravagant side, many people in the SCAD community agree that she has worked hard enough to earn it.  

Wallace has also helped 13 members of her family acquire positions at SCAD during the past 20 years, with combined earnings of $60 million. She married Glenn Wallace, a SCAD graduate who oversaw the school’s physical plant. She was 52. He was 30. Glenn Wallace became senior vice president and, later, chief operating officer. In 2016, SCAD paid him $595,000. Wallace made millions more through a real-estate transaction involving SCAD.  

Wallace has little to do with the quality of education at SCAD, but she definitely has a say on who can teach on her campuses. A former professor at SCAD Hong Kong, Peter Sakievich, said that Wallace sat in on his art class just before spring commencement in 2016. She didn’t say much and left before the class was over, Sakievich said in an interview. A few weeks after Wallace’s visit, his supervisor texted him, saying he was being fired. Sakievich, who now teaches at the Pennsylvania College of Art and Design, said he was told Wallace didn’t like his students’ work.

Many students have complaints about education at SCAD, how it doesn’t prepare them for how competitive the fine arts industry is. The lure of celebrity alumni is enticing, in fact, many students feel that the students and alumni are talked about more than the academics.

Wallace wouldn’t be under speculation if her school was thriving as much as other art and design schools of the same standard. The school has had a suspicious past, and not because Savannah is one of the most dangerous cities in Georgia. In 1991, a series of crimes plagued the campus. Julie Lansaw, a former student and now a professional artist, found the architecture professor, Juan Bertotto, on the ground after he set himself on fire. A student was raped in her dorm room; another killed himself by leaping from the roof of the downtown DeSoto Hilton; and Mike Walsh, a senior, went to the roof of SCAD’s Habersham Hall, took off his clothes, and jumped to his death.

When students were told to stay quiet, Lansaw and others questioned administration about where the $115,000 worth of student activities went, and how Wallace could live so lavishly on a nonprofit salary. Wallace said that students were “bored” and told professors to assign more work, but her condescension only drove the students to create a student government to voice their concerns. The faculty also prompted their own representative body, but the Rowans (Paula and Richard) had no sympathy. A week before graduation, they fired a dozen professors, including David Stout who proclaimed, “SCAD is a school, not a conspiracy.” The students brought chaos to the city, throwing pipe bombs at multiple school buildings. The 1990s for SCAD ended in lawsuits and settlements.

Today, SCAD remains one of the most popular art and design schools in the country, but not necessarily the best. Compared to the Rhode Island School of Design, Pratt Institute, or the University of Cincinnati, they are not regarded the same in the academic community. SCAD’s reputation is dubious, many people have either a very positive or very negative opinion. Wallace is the embodiment of the dream that SCAD sells its students. Fashion shows, art installations, film festivals and other gala events in the United States, Europe, and Asia put her close to the famous and the glamorous. Her memoir named three dozen celebrities with whom she has mingled: designers, authors, photographers, movie stars. The implication is obvious: Like Wallace, SCAD students can be stars.

Paula Wallace has had input as a SCAD executive for 40 years now and has done many things to positively affect the staff and students. Although some believe her personal opinions and ideas can inhibit the quality of education, it can’t be argued that she has a tremendous impact on the school.