The 2012 Alpha Awards, taking place May 14 in New York, will honor Matthew Patrick Smyth; Jonathan Rose Companies; and design team Judith Nasatir, Andrew French and Gianesini Design.
A long-term donor to Alpha, interior designer Matthew Patrick Smyth of Matthew Smyth Interiors served on Alpha’s board from 2005 to 2010 during which time he was instrumental in helping to launch their line of custom-finished parsons and panel tables which has generated almost $225,000 in sales to date.
A mission-based green real estate policy, planning, development, civic development and investment firm, Jonathan Rose Companies currently manages over $1.5 billion of work, much of it in close collaboration with not-for-profits, towns and cities. They have been very supportive of Alpha’s work, helping to facilitate projects at New York School of Interior Design Graduate Center and the Polytechnic Institute of NYU.
Gianesini Design, writer Judith Nasatir and interiors photographer Andrew French will receive a collective award for their work in creating The Alpha Workshops’ new website, online now at www.alphaworkshops.org, who all completed all work on a pro-bono basis. They also completed Alpha’s 2011 rebranding initiative and other promotional materials.
The Alpha Awards originated in 2000 as a means for The Alpha Workshops to honor and acknowledge those who have served as ambassadors to their mission of providing job training and supported employment to HIV-positive decorative artists.
To date, 36 individuals and companies have received awards including: Bloomberg; New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn; Kate Kelly Smith and Newell Turner of House Beautiful; Tiffany & Co.; Koroseal; Larson-Juhl; Jamie Drake; Steelcase/Jeannie Bochette; Lifetime Television; Benjamin Moore & Co.; Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum; Cindy Allen; New York Design Center; eBay; Margaret Russell; Christopher Coleman; Samuel Botero; and Mark Pollack.
Presenters have included Clodagh; Mayor Michael Bloomberg; Mayer Rus; Rachel Kohler; and Marian McEvoy.
The Alpha Awards are regularly attended by over 350 prominent individuals from the field of interior design. Individual tickets cost $175 and sponsorships from $500 to $50,000 are available.
Now 17 years old, Alpha’s multi-faceted organization encompasses The Alpha Workshops Studio School, a vocational school licensed by the New York State Department of Education, and Alpha Workshops Studios, an award-winning professional design and decorative arts atelier staffed exclusively by graduates.
Most of the HIV-positive individuals who enroll in the school are struggling to survive on public assistance and have not been steadily employed in years due to illness. Alpha teaches them marketable techniques (faux finishes, decorative painting, wall treatments, casting, gilding) alongside work readiness skills and career counseling. Alpha’s studios specialize in: collections of hand-painted wallpaper, hand-cast gilded lamps and custom-finished tables; wall treatments and decorative finishes for commercial and residential spaces; and custom installations for interior designers and architects.
