MFA Instructor Purvi Shah Honored as LLS Woman of the Year

As an instructor of the Graduate program, Purvi Shah shares her interdisciplinary design experience with her students. For over 15 years, she’s progressed from fashion and textile design to print design and new media. She holds a Masters in Communications Design from Pratt Institute in New York, and has held multiple highly acclaimed positions, including art director at KeepMedia Inc., and creative director at MediaZone.

But she also shares her time and heart with Kids and Art, a non-profit organization she founded after her son was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. This week, she won 2009 Woman of the Year for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, honoring her for her commitment to find a cure.

Purvi’s passion, background and career in design and online media proved the natural inspiration to involve kids with cancer and art. What became the Kids & Art organization provides an outlet for children with cancer and their siblings to express their emotions through art, under the coaching and guidance of local Bay Area artists. The resulting artwork, through auctions, supports leukemia and lymphoma charities.

In all aspects of her life, Purvi actively makes a difference for many – at home, in the classroom, and in the treatment of cancer victims.