Designing a Room for Ronald McDonald House

Posted on June 8, 2014 by sreicis

Recently Villa Maria College was offered an opportunity to design and complete a guest room in the Ronald McDonald House located in Buffalo, New York. The invitation came from the Interior Design Association of Western New York (IDA). The room was to be completed in memory of Julie Roberts, a young Buffalo woman. The students and faculty at Villa did not know Julie, but over the course of the many weeks that we worked on the project we came to understand how special a person she must have been. From her sophisticated style to her love for her cute and funny dog Opal, we tried to capture her spirit in this room. She was clearly loved by many and is dearly missed. Designing this space took on a very personal quality. The theme for our room?…. at the request of Julie’s family and friends it was Diamonds and Dogs. Now there was a design challenge! And of course it needed to service the needs of future guests, cater to their comfort, and focus on the purpose of their stay. To our assistance came Lynne Rider of Rider Frames and Gallery. Artist Laurie Herrmann was commisioned to create a whimsical water color of Opal. As the focal point of the room it provided all the inspiration that we needed. The color pallette became an inviting green with a playful and warm orange accent. Lucite furniture kept the small bedroom airy and light and crystal knobs on the built in wardrobe, courtesy of Creative Storage, played to the Diamond theme. This became a labor of love, to create a space that Julie’s family could be proud of, and that would respect and honor a beautiful young woman who left us much too soon. The dedication was held on Thursday, June 5, 2014… Julie’s birthday. In the presence of the Robert’s family, Julie’s friends and co-workers, members of the IDA, RMH staff, faculty and staff from Villa Maria and two members of the design team, Jillian Schultz ’14, and faculty advisor Sandra Reicis, the ribbon was cut and the room was open for viewing. The attention to detail and comfort, from the spacious wardrobe, to reading material, to extra stuffed dogs for the youngest guests, this room will be welcoming for the young families that will benefit from a stay at Ronald McDonald House. Remaining members of the design team included Tara Clack ’15 and Angela Girdlestone ’15. Earlier in the project Jason Cole’14, also was an active participant.

RE.STYLE Design Competition from ASID

Posted on May 12, 2014 by sreicis

The ASID New York Upstate Canada East chapter sponsored a RE.STYLE Design Competition that challenged members at any level to repurpose any kind of object into a creative, interior design related fabrication. The judging and display occured during the Network 2014 event held recently in Syracuse, New York. Designers were encouraged to create a piece of furniture, light fixture, art object or other item that directly related to Interior Design. What a fun and inventive approach to sustainability and adaptive re-use! Your only limitation was your own creativity. It also placed students in competition with design professionals. Constance Strother, a Junior in the Villa Maria College Interior Design Program submitted the lighting fixture that she designed and fabricated for the Lighting and Acoustics class and came away with a third place prize! Villa Maria College gets to be doubly proud, since the first place award went to Villa Alum Caroline Barr.

Interior Design Student Exhibit and Awards

Posted on April 13, 2014 by sreicis

Villa Maria College hosted the 2014 Interior Design Student Exhibit opening night reception on Friday, April 11, 2014. President Sister Marcella Marie Garus was present at the event. The reception was a resounding success culminating with the announcement of the Distinguished Students of the Year. A jury of 21 distinguished designers and educators assessed the exhibit prior to it’s public opening and based on their votes the 1st place award was given to Harrison Walsh ’14. He receives the Humanscale Diffrient Task Light, donated by Millington Lockwood. The 2nd place winner was Jessica Foster ’14 who receives the HON Motivate Chair, donated by Integrity Office Supply. The 3rd place winner was Tara Clack ’15 who receives the Buffalo Office Interiors chair. Each of the students is pictured in front of the exhibit of their body of work. Members of the jury included Ike Lowry, Cannon Design; Robert Reeder, Robert Reeder Interiors; Lee Schlatterer and Todd Piotrowski, Carmina Wood Morris; Nina Lewis, DIRTT Environmental Solutions; Edna Czyc, Wolf Gordon; Megan Ebert, DalTile; Mimi Fierle, Buffalo Office Interiors; Sandra Zygaj-Borowski, Integrity Office Solutions; Mary Golden, Ferguson Lighting and Bath Showroom; Barbara Reformat, Tiles International; Ryan Renshaw, Schenne & Associates; Jim Constantin, Laura Shoemaker, Ryan Hanes, Charles Gattie, Roswell Park Cancer Institute; Therese Smith, Villa Alum; and Villa Faculty members, Brian Duffy, Michael Bosworth, Joyce Kessel and Bob Grizanti In addition to the selection of the distinguished students there is also a best of show category for the freshmen students. Due to the high caliber of the freshman work, this was a difficult year for voting, but the majority votes went to Ana Spanake. She wins a full-size drafting table donated by Seneca Blueprint. Congratulations to all the winners! The exhibit will run until April 25, 2014.

Krug Showroom Tour with the IIDA

Posted on April 10, 2014 by sreicis

Villa Maria College Interior Design students and faculty were fortunate to participate in the IIDA Buffalo City Center sponsored trip to the Krug showroom in Toronto. Incorporated into the Studio 5 experience, and open to all students at the college, this was a professional development opportunity for students and faculty alike. A CEU presentation on Level was a key component to the visit, as was an informative and entertaining tour of the Krug showroom. We were treated to breakfast as well as lunch. Following the showroom visit there was free time to explore Toronto before catching the chartered coach bus back to Buffalo. A great day that contributes to the body of professional development hours that all Villa students must earn. Together with our alum we were a group of 19 participants strong! Go Villa!

Emily Bolles Participates at the Calico Corners Designer Challenge

Posted on April 8, 2014 by sreicis

Emily Bolles at Design Challenge Calico Corners, a fabulous fabric retail outlet servicing the industry as well as the public, has begun a fun tradition inspired by the many HGTV challenge shows. Students have the opportunity to create beautiful spaces, in one hour, using the Calico Corners product and then present to a panel of design professionals. Representing Villa this year was junior Emily Bolles. She was supported by faculty member Sandra Reicis and internship coordinator Judy Piskun. Emily presented a very professional design, focusing on the rapidly growing importance of being able to age in place. Her design featured many Universal Design principles. Check out the ABC’s of Universal Design on Cynthia Leibrock’s web site, which features her beautiful home, designed to follow the principles of Universal design. Congratulations to Emily for winning a $250.00 gift certificate to Calico Corners!

Making Research a Child’s Game

Posted on March 30, 2014 by sreicis

If children learn through play, why can’t college students do the same? In Villa Maria College Interior Design Studio 5 students are challenged to re-design an early childhood education center. According to the standards of design development research is a critical phase. It’s not uncommon for this phase to be completed through reading and study. But there’s nothing like testing your own theories and observing human reaction. It intrinsically connects the researcher to their work . Motivation becomes stronger. Results grow in significance. In the end the designers gain greater understanding of their primary user group and provide design solutions that surpass text book study. How is this accomplished? Simple child’s play. In order to understand how a child will learn through play the college students designed and fabricated a toy with a specific learning objective. Then it was tested…. on a 4 year old. This also tested their knowledge and assumptions of the cognitive and physical abilities of their test group… the 4 year old. Each student had expectations of how the toy would be engaged, what would interest the child, if the learning objective would be met, and if the toy had appeal. When you’re dealing with a 4 year old results are very honest and research findings are authentic. The benefit of this research project is the quality of design that is evident in the final project. The deeper understanding of the 4 year old and the connection to original research motivates the designer and provides critical insights. And as a bonus….toys that were appropriate were donated to the Bethel Head Start facility that is used for this design project.

Promoting Excellence in Art and Design with a Featured Artists’ Program

Posted on March 22, 2014 by sreicis

This year marked the beginning of an annual honor for two student artists of distinction attending Villa Maria College. Nominated by the Art Department faculty and selected by Sandra Reicis, Art Department Chair, the featured student artists for the 2013/2014 academic year are Valerie Kasinski from Photography and Bonnie Mack from Graphic Design. This program of recognition is a celebration of excellence in Art and Design. At a recent reception a year-long student exhibit was officially opened and Valerie and Bonnie each received the Chair Award. Pictured above is President Sister Marcella Marie Garus (center) with Bonnie Mack (left) and Valerie Kasinski (right). These students serve as role-models for their fellow peers and ambassadors for the art and design programs at Villa Maria College. The year long displays are in the East and West Reception Rooms located adjacent to the main lobby of the college. Pictured at right is one of Valerie’s photographs entitled Whitney, Mount Baldy, CA. Featured at right is Bonnie Blues, a Visual Communications Branding Project for a fictitious clothing company, designed and fabricated by Bonnie Mack. The call for next year’s featured artists has gone out. All students in a Villa Maria College Art Department Program are eligible to be nominated.

Visiting a Masterpiece….Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater and Kentuck Knob

Posted on March 20, 2014 by sreicis

Although I take my sophomore class to Fallingwater and Kentuck Knob each year, I honestly say that it never grows old. This tradition has continued for over 10 years and it can be said that we have a pretty good system right now. The size of this year’s group put us into two separate tour groups. Pictured at left outside Fallingwater are Sara Rozeski, Kaeli Bigelow, Elena Pellegrino and Melissa Wheeler. The visit coincides with a studio project that explores residential design, domesticity and serving the needs of the those who reside in the space. Students are challenged to re-think what a home should be and inspired to create the home of the future. Sustainability and Universal Design are two factors that need to be incorporated, but the ‘idea’ of home is what generates much thought… as well as much thinking ‘outside of the box’. Whether you love Wright’s designs or not, I think everyone would agree that you would not consider these homes to be inside a box. Even more enjoyable is the wonderful sculpture garden installed by current owners, Lord and Lady Palumbo. Works on display include Andy Goldsworthy, Claes Oldenburg, and Sir Anthony Caro among others. The Red Army (1991) by British artist Ray Smith is in Painted Steel. Two section of the Berlin Wall are also on display.

The IIDEX Tradition….change is on the way

Posted on March 19, 2014 by sreicis

For as long as I have been at Villa Maria College….and long before I joined the faculty we have taken our students to IIDEX , Toronto in September. We started with a caravan of cars….making the trek from Buffalo to Toronto. Sometimes we stayed overnight to broaden our experience. Change was not new to us. We had to adjust to stricter rules at the border and required students to have passports or enhanced driver’s licenses. But we were always able to make it work. Students would sometimes be unprepared…and take a chance at the border, hoping their student ID and a Red Cross card would be sufficient to demonstrate good character. In the end we always made it there and back….with everyone in tow. Most recently we started renting a bus and opened the trip to all students, faculty and alumni. We would select an iconic destination for an afternoon tour. This year it was the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) where students marvelled at the Frank Gehry renovations, including the staircase that inspires romance. This always marked the start of the Fall semester. But as I said…change is on the way, and IIDEX 2014 will be held in December. Not only do we have to think about the weather (and if this winter taught us anything it was the power of the polar vortex) but the December dates will come a week before the end of classes. That means it will come immediately before finals, and immediately before final critique. So I think that change is on the way for us as well….. Our students learned a tremendous amount at IIDEX, bringing us back year after year. Even though a few exhibitors were not welcoming to students, most were…and the students remembered them. They worked at forging relationships with the representatives and specified those products in their projects. As professionals they continued to gravitate to furniture, fixtures and materials that they were familiar with. So….looking forward we will make sure that our students not lose the learning experience. We will likely be replacing IIDEX Canada with a field trip that works with the academic calendar…..but losing a beloved tradition will be difficult.

A Class Visit to Phipps Conservatory

Posted on March 18, 2014 by sreicis

Integrating field trips into the studio experience is both educationally beneficial and just out right fun. In the interior design program at Villa Maria College we combine experiential activities with assignments and projects. It not only improves student learning but inspires students to think beyond their normal visions and explore new ideas. Finding inspiration is not always a simple task. Developing a solid concept will take a pragmatically sound project and move it into a new world of creativity and innovation. The sophomore studio, which is Interior Design Studio 2, went in search of inspiration for a sustainably designed home focused on universal design principles at the Phipps Conservatory in Pittsburgh, PA. Included in our tour was a visit to the new Center for Sustainable Landscapes. The center explores water purification as well as alternative energy sources. A vertical wind turbine provides energy but is also safer for birds and produces less noise as well. The purified water is then used to water the plants. The center is a tremendous support to the mission of the conservatory. The students were able to see the introduction of a sustainable strategy followed through to application and environmental benefit. This is one of the ‘greenest’ botanical centers in the country. At Phipps the botanical displays are complimented with glass art that is designed and fabricated not only by the world famous Dale Chihuly, but also by many talented local artists as well. This creates a synergy as well as a balance between the beauty of the natural world and the beauty created by the artist’s hand. In the succulent room a playful Dale Chihuly is suspended from the ceiling, accentuating the prickliness of the botanical display. Local artist Gary Guydosh has created the installation ‘Wonderland’ where we see both flora and fauna interpreted in glass.