Justin Morgan

I'm originally form Atlanta, GA. As a child I was always being noticed for my artistic abilities. So, my mother had me put into a special program for visual and performing arts at the age of 11. I started the arts program at Avondale Elementary where I excelled in the area of visual arts. When it was time to leave, at the end of the seventh grade, I received the Farthing Art Award. This was the highest honor for this school's visual arts program. I went on to Avondale High School where there was no visual arts program. I was frustrated and started to focus my interests in set design, lighting, and costume design. We didn't have a program or classes for these areas. So, I got involved by helping with the stage work behind the scenes of the plays. I still had to perform at least twice a year to stay in the school. I eventually went back to my home school and spent half of my day there and half of my day in Dekalb College for their visual arts program before leaving for college in 1998. I developed an interest in fashion and I started to design dresses for the girls at school who had mothers who could sew.

As soon as I was old enough to move away on my own. I made it happen. I started college in 1997 at 17 years of age in Atlanta at AIU. Three months later I transferred to the Los Angeles campus. I was originally a fashion design/ fashion marketing student, because that was my passion, and everyone knew that about me. I never lost interest in fashion itself, but I did not feel like I was a good fit for fashion. I started to gravitate towards the interior design program, as well as the students in the program. I was told at an early age that I should be an architect, because of my Lego building abilities.Interior design was about as close as I wcould get to architecture without transferring schools. I immediately started to make better grades in my new interior design classes. That is probably because interior design is more technical, and I liked the challenge.

I decided to move to San Diego and live there for about five years. I attended The Design Institute of San Diego for my first two years of interior design education. I eventually went back to LA to AIU to finish my last two years. They had a really wonderful architect there. She basically taught all of the core curriculum and we really clicked well. She motivated me.

I finished my BFA in the Fall of 2007. I already had a job lined up in NYC for position as Junior Designer for a reputable modernist interior designer. About this time, the economy went down the tubes and everyone was being laid off, including myself. I moved myself back to Atlanta after job hunting in NYC for a while. Nobody in NYC was hiring entry level designers.

At least in Atlanta I have family, and I have met some interesting people that I've had the pleasure of working with and learning with. After working for Charles Neal for two years I started up own company, Studio Dane Interiors.