Decorators Club President Victoria Hagan presented awards to five students from the New York School of Interior Design, the Fashion Institute of Technology, the New York Institute of Technology and the Pratt Institute at the 21st-annual Scholarship Awards ceremony earlier this season, held at the SMART Technologies Showroom in the New York Design Center.
Victoria Hagan and Lisa Kim
The Decorators Club Education Fund, established in 1960 to support interior design education, sponsors this annual portfolio competition and awards grants to students in the New York City’s interior design programs.
2014 Decorator's Club Scholarship winners
“The focus of the DC's mission for the past 100 years has been design education,” said Hagan. “Each year the Club awards a series of scholarships to promising students who are pursuing degrees in interior design, in an effort to encourage future generations of talented designers. “
The winners were as follows:
First Prize: $10,000 to Lisa Kim of the Pratt Institute
Second Prize: $5,000 to Reut Ravhon of the Fashion Institute of Technology
Third Prize: $3,000 to Chakeya Ottley of the New York School of Interior Design
Elsie May Gross Award for Residential Interior Design: $1,500 to Mary Mills Thomas of the New York School of Interior Design
The Nancy Mannucci Scholarship Award for Universal Design: $1,000 to Amanda Navarro of the New York Institute of Technology
Participants in this competition were selected by their respective schools to be considered for the five prizes. Interior designers Sarah Blank, Allison Caccoma, Clare Fraser, Ellen Hamilton and Barbara Ostrom selected the award recipients—students in their second or third year of interior design school—based on the projects they conceived. The students’ digital design submissions included floor plans, furniture choices and renderings. They were also asked to submit a description of their project in 250 words or less including the concept, the client, the square-footage, the location and the completion time.
The scholarship committee, which supports the judging panel, was co-chaired by Courtney Coleman and Judy Girod and included committee members Eileen Boyd Cahill and Doreen Stempien.
The 2014 prizes were awarded to assist the students in pursuing their interior design education. These grants are made possible by the proceeds from fundraising events and the Jacqueline Beyer Lebenthal Lecture Series, which was established in 1991, and through the generosity of corporate and individual sponsors, as well as industry publications.
