Moore College of Art & Design is excited to announce the selection of fashion designer and fine artist Jakia March ‘08 as the 2024 recipient of the Jane and David Walentas Endowed Faculty Fellowship.
As the Walentas Fellow, March will be an active leader and contributor to the creative life throughout the College while collaborating with Moore’s Fashion Design students and faculty.
Throughout her yearlong experience, March will lead workshops, field trips and lectures, including a thesis collection workshop for Fashion Design seniors, a professional development workshop for Fashion Design juniors, and a lecture series on sustainability and technology in fashion. She will also present a public exhibition at The Galleries at Moore in Spring 2025 and participate in Moore’s 2025 Fashion Show in May.
“It’s very important to me to always give back and help the next generation of artists,” she said. “Coming back to Moore is a natural progression for me.”
March first learned about Moore at a National Portfolio Day event and attended Moore’s Young Artists Workshop as a high school student from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. She graduated from Moore in 2008 with a bachelor's degree in Fashion Design and a minor in Fine Arts, and she's been making her mark in the fashion industry since then.
“I met so many artists like me at Moore. I felt like I found my tribe of people who loved to draw, wanted to spend hours at museums, and enjoyed art as much as I did,” she said. “I felt so grateful to be able to be at art school.”
After graduating from Moore, March served as Assistant to the Creative Director of Harlem’s Fashion Row for two years. She participated in the New York Fashion Week x New York Daily News Emerging Designer Competition in 2011, where she presented a sustainable capsule collection from her own brand, Ingram Talley Design Studio. She opened the studio’s inaugural brick-and-mortar location in Los Angeles, California, in 2013.
March’s work as a designer led to collaborations with brands like Laquan Smith, A.L.C., Rachel Roy, Fabletics, Carter’s and Splendid. She earned an IMDb credit for costume design and styling in the 2015 film The Secret to Success: They Can No Longer Keep It From Us, and continues to exhibit her fine art in both solo and group shows.
“I want to encourage students to be resilient and be kind to each other,” she said. “Having a good attitude with everyone is important—you never know where people are going to end up. You want to be able to reach out to your Moore network 20 years later.”
Claudine Thomas, Moore’s Chief Academic Officer, said the Walentas Faculty Fellowship is one example of how the College provides students with access to industry professionals and career development opportunities.
"The Walentas Faculty Fellowship creates opportunities for students to learn from an expert who continues to make an impact in their chosen fields. We're especially thrilled to have Jakia here as an alumna because she understands the experiences of a Moore student and combines that with her career successes. Throughout this fellowship, Jakia will bring invaluable industry knowledge and artistic guidance to our students. We look forward to her collaboration with our students and celebrating her accomplishments with the Moore community, in Philadelphia and beyond."
The Walentas Endowed Faculty Fellowship is a biannual appointment of an artist, designer, scholar or other thinker or maker who is widely renowned for her or his creative and professional work and is passionate about research, learning, and innovation. The fellowship, launched in 2018, was endowed by Jane Zimmerman Walentas ‘66 and her husband David.
Moore College of Art & Design is the only independent art and design college in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Want to learn more about the Fashion Design major at Moore? Contact our Admissions team at enroll@moore.edu or 215.965.4015 to set up a call or a campus visit. We'd love to tell you more!
