Local Student Wins Pratt Scholarship
The face of infant Gigi Nieson came through on a fax from China shortly before her American parents adopted her. "I was imaging even then," the 18-year old Friendship resident and fashion student said. Nieson recently received a full scholarship to attend New York City’s Pratt Institute this fall.
According to her adoptive parents, writer/filmmaker Marc Neison and dancer/choreographer Beth Corning, their home environment in Minnesota left quite an impression on young Gigi and everyone else. "We lived on a farm in the country where food was grown, not purchased, and live animals were raised. Seeing nature up close every day made me very protective of the environment,” Marc aid. “It was an experience I wouldn't have traded for the world."
When Corning was offered a job at Dance Alloy, the family moved to Pittsburgh, which meant a major transition from its rural lifestyle. After several attempts to find the right educational fit, Neison ended up at The Ellis School, an independent school for girls located in Shadyside. Ellis provided Nieson with opportunities like "Girls of Steel Robotics," a CMU initiative open to girls from all Pittsburgh neighborhoods, regardless of their family’s financial status. In 2015, with Nieson in charge of the electronics, her school won the Chairman's Award in its first regional robotics competition. The young thinker was also was involved in "Future Cities," a youth-oriented program aimed at creating cityscapes. "I built a whole Gigi community," Nieson said. "We had to learn about architecture and development, and even put a budget together. We had to learn about sustainable resources, too."
From her earliest recollections, Nieson’s basement was her very own creative lab; a place where she could invite other neighborhood children to draw and paint, it was also a place where stepping on Legos was a fact of life. Considering a career in science and engineering, Nieson was well into her high school years before she was bitten by the fashion bug.
Click here to continue reading this story on page 11 of The Bulletin.
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When Corning was offered a job at Dance Alloy, the family moved to Pittsburgh, which meant a major transition from its rural lifestyle. After several attempts to find the right educational fit, Neison ended up at The Ellis School, an independent school for girls located in Shadyside. Ellis provided Nieson with opportunities like "Girls of Steel Robotics," a CMU initiative open to girls from all Pittsburgh neighborhoods, regardless of their family’s financial status. In 2015, with Nieson in charge of the electronics, her school won the Chairman's Award in its first regional robotics competition. The young thinker was also was involved in "Future Cities," a youth-oriented program aimed at creating cityscapes. "I built a whole Gigi community," Nieson said. "We had to learn about architecture and development, and even put a budget together. We had to learn about sustainable resources, too."
From her earliest recollections, Nieson’s basement was her very own creative lab; a place where she could invite other neighborhood children to draw and paint, it was also a place where stepping on Legos was a fact of life. Considering a career in science and engineering, Nieson was well into her high school years before she was bitten by the fashion bug.
Click here to continue reading this story on page 11 of The Bulletin.
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