Las Vegas—Sarah Garcia is the winner of the inaugural Dal-Tile Interior Design Scholarship presented by the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) Foundation. As grand-prize winner, Garcia received a $10,000 scholarship to continue her education in the field of interior design. Her winning design was on display at Surfaces.
“On behalf of Dal-Tile and ASID, we congratulate Sarah on winning the Dal-Tile Interior Design Competition,” said Lori Kirk-Rolley, the mill’s senior marketing director. “Choosing the winning entries was a daunting challenge, but we feel confident that Sarah, the runners up and merit winners, are the best of what the next generation of designers has to offer.”
Winners of the Daltile Interior Design Scholarship were selected by a panel of industry experts, including Kirk-Rolley; Donna Vining, FASID; Lori Carroll, a professional member of ASID and member of the International Interior Design Association (IIDA), and Robert Nieminen, editor of Interiors & Sources.
In addition to the grand-prize winner, $5,000 scholarships were awarded to the first-, second- and third-prize winners, and $2,500 scholarships were given to each of the 10 merit award winners. All 14 winning entries were on display at Dal-Tile’s Surfaces booth.
The competition challenged students to design a space using Dal-Tile products, inspired by an artistic movement or a specific work of art, Kirk-Rolley said. “The response was tremendous, drawing over 300 entries from across the U.S. with artistic inspiration as varied as the designs themselves.”
Garcia, a senior at Sacramento State University, was inspired by postmodern design in her entry, a concept for a Nike retail space. It used Greek architecture to play off the heritage of the Nike brand and created a sense of movement and fluidity in the space. She used a variety of Dal-Tile products, including one of the company’s newest— SlimLite Panels.
Additional selections, in-cluding Identity and Fabrique, two colorbody porcelains, as well as a variety of natural stone products, were chosen to showcase the Nike brand and create visibility for the space within a high-traffic retail environment.
“Winning this scholarship has been one of the greatest achievements of my life,” said Garcia. “Since [winning], I’ve been recognized by numerous [firms] in the design field. I never imagined I’d be offered career opportunities before graduating. This competition has left me very excited for what will come in my future.”
“Sarah’s winning entry expressed a cohesive design statement in the concept and execution, featuring a variety of colors and textures that were well-coordinated and helped achieve a contemporary effect using an impressive number of Dal-Tile products,” Nieminen said. “Her design also expressed a clear connection to the postmodern genre that she selected as the inspiration for her design.”
Dal-Tile is currently in the planning stages for next year’s Interior Design Scholarship, again partnering with ASID. The upcoming competition will continue to challenge students to push the design envelope.
For more on the 2011 competition, visit daltile.strutta.com.