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Five professionals will get grants from IFDA in 2024.

Published: August 31, 2024
Author: HFT

Lewisville, North Carolina — The International Furnishings and Design Association’s Educational Foundation (EF) has announced the recipients of its 2024 grant recipients. This year, $31,500 in monies have been granted, and a portion of the EF board of trustees performed the judging.

The chairman of the board of the Educational Foundation of IFDA, Stephanie Graham, expressed her pleasure at presenting the awards for a wide range of projects. “Each of the grant winners exemplified the goals of the award they were granted, whether it be the advancement of interior design programs, historic preservation, universal design, or professional development through expanding horizons. Their skills and initiative in taking on new challenges are impressive.”

Undergraduate students are not eligible to apply for EF funds; instead, professionals in the interior design or furnishings industries are. Earlier in the month, the winners were contacted.

Recipients of grants are:

Elizabeth Brown Award of $2,500 to Interior Design Programs: Georges Fares has nine years of expertise in project design and management throughout the Levant, Europe, the Gulf area, and North America. He is an assistant professor of interior design at Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama. Fares has been teaching for more than five years. His research focuses on how technology might be integrated with architecture to enhance the lives of people with special needs. The money will go toward buying supplies that are necessary to aid students in honing their design, drafting, and drawing abilities.

$2,000 Irma Dobkin Universal Design Grant: For the most of her career, Jane Dagmi of High Point by Design has worked as a journalist. The City of High Point has been designated as a Certified Autism Destination, and we are currently preparing for a two-day conference focused on Designing for Neurodiversity,” stated Dagmi. Our intention in organizing this two-day event is to educate designers, families, real estate agents, and builders on how different senses are supported by the environment and how it affects the senses. The award will assist in defraying the speakers’ travel expenses to High Point.

Grant for Historic Preservation Ina Mae Kaplan ($2,000): For more than 20 years, Amy Hetletvedt has worked as a professional architect, preservationist, and teacher. She holds degrees from the Universities of Washington and Michigan. She has lived and worked on four continents, working with others on projects of various sizes and contexts. She has taught master’s level design studios and architectural ethics. She was formerly a commissioner for the City of Detroit’s Historic District. Her work has been published in national architecture journals, and she is the author of a book that Island Press will publish soon. The grant would be used to pay for this subvention of publication.

Tony Torrice $1,500 Professional Development Award: Rosa Otero is an architect and educator with a strong interest in design and construction. She is an assistant professor at Salem Women’s College in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. She is eager to become certified in Revit and further develop her talents. One of the best building information modeling (BIM) programs available is Revit, which has unmatched capabilities for accurate documentation and detailed design 3D visualization. She can provide her students with cutting-edge training by becoming proficient in Revit.

Memorial to Valerie Moran Grant ($3,000) to members of IFDA: Georgia Kukoski has almost 13 years of experience as a senior designer at Closet Factory. Her art has appeared in five Richmond Symphony Orchestra League Designer Houses, R-Home magazine, and “Virginia This Morning.” Kukoski achieved more than $1 million in sales annually and is a member of the Closet Factory Presidents Club, having joined in 2018. “I would be able to increase my industry knowledge by attending the Kitchen and Bath Industry Show (KBIS),” Kukoski stated.

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