Textile design students win ITMA awards

Will be honored during Showtime fabric show in June

Gary Evans -- Furniture Today, May 20, 2009

HIGH POINT — Winners have been named in the annual Virginia Jackson Design Awards competition, sponsored by the Educational Foundation of the International Textile Market Assn., producer of the semiannual Showtime fabric show here.

Jessica Sheehan of Syracuse University designed this fabric, the first-place winner in the print category in the Virginia Jackson Design Awards.	Saera Lee of the Rhode Island School of Design created this jacquard, which tied for first place.
Boyoung Moon of Philadelphia University designed this winning entry in the dobby category.	This first-place jacquard was designed by Chelsey Bills of the Rhode Island School of Design.

The awards, named for the late textile designer Virginia Jackson, recognize outstanding designs by students in jacquard, dobby and print categories.

This year, the largest-ever pool of entries (79 from eight schools) was judged on aesthetic form, ability to be manufactured, and applicability to furniture products, Ten designs were selected as winners, and will be displayed in Suites at Market Square during summer Showtime, June 7-10.

"A big part of the mission of ITMA's educational foundation is to encourage creative individuals to enter the home furnishings textile field, and we are always thrilled by the excellence of the entries we receive," said Catherine Morsell, ITMA executive director.

The winners are:

Jacquard: First place (Tie), Chelsey Bills and Saera Lee, Rhode Island School of Design; second place, Jennifer Sulikowski, Philadelphia University; honorable mention, Nidhi Reddy Kasula, Philadelphia University.

Dobby: First place, Boyoung Moon, Philadelphia University; second place, Skuzuka Ono, Rhode Island School of Design; honorable mention, Amanda McGonagle, Philadelphia University.

Print: First place, Jessica Sheehan, Syracuse University; second place, Hyunjin Shin, Philadelphia University; honorable mention, Lei Ting, Philadelphia University.

Each winner receives a cash prize, and each first-place winner's school also receives $1,000 donated to its textile design department.

First place winners in each category also will be flown expenses-paid to Showtime to be honored and to meet with members of the industry during an evening social event. Students are encouraged to bring their portfolios with them.

"We want to encourage textile company representatives to set up appointments to review students' portfolios. Each has graduated or will graduate in December and is job hunting," Morsell said. Appointments can be scheduled by calling the ITMA office at (336) 885-6842.

Schools that took part in the competition included Rhode Island School of Design, Philadelphia University, Syracuse University, Kansas City Art Institute, North Carolina State University and first-time participants Michigan State University, the University of Georgia and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Judges were Wesley Mancini of Wesley Mancini Ltd., Kim Grimsley of Circa 1801, Sara Gray of Sara Gray Design, David Petrusch of Marlatex and Laura Levinson of Valdese Weavers.