Back in May 2018, before we announced our option to purchase the O’More property, WilliamsonSource.com compiled this great list of “10 things you may not know about the O’More College of Design.” Enjoy:
By: Donna Vissman
As O’More makes the move out of Franklin, we thought we’d share 10 things you may not know about the Franklin campus.
1. O’More College has been at its current location at 423 South Margin Street since 1980.
2. O’More College was founded by Eloise Pitts O’More in 1970. Classes were held in her home on Main Street in Franklin.
3. A native Middle Tennessean, Eloise became enamored with art, fashion and culture as a young woman in the 1920s. Eventually, she studied art and fashion in Paris and New York City. Those experiences inspired her to found the college that bears her name.
4. Abbey Leix Mansion, the College’s Administration Building, is on the National Register of Historic Places.
5. The mansion has been a regular stop on the monthly Franklin Art Scene.
6. Eloise Pitts O’More lived in the mansion until her death in 2002.
7. O’More offers Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees in Fashion Design, Fashion Merchandising, Interior Design and Graphic Design.
8. The Fashion Department is ranked as one of the Top 10 in the South by Fashion-Schools.org.
9. O’More has had a longstanding relationship with the Nashville Predators. In recent years, O’More students have designed graphics for a goalie’s mask, designed graphics and painted a Zamboni, and painted interior pillars at Bridgestone Arena.
10. The O’More Fashion Show has been held in numerous locations around town including War Memorial Auditorium, Andrew Johnson Theater, The Factory at Franklin, The Franklin Theatre – even a hangar at John C. Tune Airport! However, the show was only held on campus once, in 2017.