认识加里P.

基金会捐献人及校友

加里Polmateer ’99 considers himself fortunate.

Fortunate to have made the choice to attend Hudson Valley when he was accepted to a host of other prestigious four-year engineering schools. Fortunate for the chance to ditch engineering after two semesters when it turns out he really was, 在内心深处, 艺术专业.” Fortunate enough to work hard at building up a company, 红色的菱形花纹, which was recently noted on 公司. magazine’s list of the country’s fastest growing privately-held companies.

So fortunate that he decided it was time to give back to his alma mater. Polmateer recently endowed the 哈德逊山谷社区学院 基金会’s Art for Good Scholarship, which is already funded to provide the cost for art supplies for six Fine Arts students.

Garry’s story is one many Hudson Valley alums can relate to. His twin passions in high school were engineering 和 art. Guess which one the guidance counselor recommended he pursue? 在被RPI录取后, RIT和伍斯特理工学院, Garry 和 his folks looked at their options 和 determined Hudson Valley offered a fantastic value with the same caliber engineering foundation courses.

But two things happened after his first year at Hudson Valley. 第一个, Garry realized that engineering might not be the career field he was interested in 和, 第二个, he saw the host of other opportunities that the college provided.

“I changed majors every semester for the next three semesters. I just dabbled in everything that Hudson Valley had to offer; a little Psychology over here, a little Anatomy 和 Physiology over there. It was so liberating 和 so affordable to go to Hudson Valley 和 just try different things. I think that really shaped the rest of my path. I was just a curious person 和 Hudson Valley really accommodated that with all that it had to offer.”

When Garry finally cycled back to his love of art, he was inspired 和 challenged by the faculty, especially Professors Thom Lail 和 Tara Fracalossi, 和, 在某种程度上, they were the inspiration for giving back. “I considered those art classes boot camp, but in a good way. They really hammered a discipline into their students. But at the same time Thom 和 Tara have provided constant advocacy for the program.”

While finishing his bachelor’s degree in fine arts at The College of Saint Rose, Garry had been working a part-time job in IT. 毕业的时候, he said he could either move to Brooklyn 和 being a struggling sculptor or take the generous job offer his employer was offering 和 do art on the side.

He chose the latter 和 it ended up being a smart move. After a decade of work in the non-profit world, a former co-worker who had started 红色的菱形花纹 invited Garry to join him as a partner.

“I started working out of my basement 10 years ago, 现在我们有45名员工, 和 doing a ton of work with companies around the world,他说.

红色的菱形花纹 focuses on creating customer management 和 process solutions for companies using a software called Salesforce, which touts itself as the world’s #1 customer relationship management (CRM) software solution. Along the way Garry 和 his business partner, 汤姆Patros, have also made sure the company has had a philanthropic compass.

“红色的菱形花纹是誓言1%的一部分, so, 作为一家公司, one percent of our time 和 profits go to non-profits. We’ve been a big supporter for the regional Food Bank 和 I served on their board of directors for three years. We’ve seen real growth over the past three years 作为一家公司, so we’re thinking about how to build a legacy of giving back.”

“My personal passion is making art,他说. “当我还是个学生的时候, I was lucky enough to be able to go beg money from my parents or sell some stuff on eBay to pay for my art supplies. I know there are students who could really use this. The real trigger was when George Floyd was murdered 和 I really tuned in to the conversations 和 the moment. I wanted to put together a fund that combines my love of art 和 also recognizes in some way how important art has been for the Black Lives Matter (BLM) discourse. I wanted this fund to target inbound students who might not have the means to take on this extra expense.”

For more information about donating to the Art for Good Scholarship Fund, contact the college 基金会 at (518) 629-8012 or foundation@todamenu.com. 网上捐款可在 基金会捐赠页面.