The American Society of Furniture Designers (ASFD) has awarded its annual scholarship to Annina Fremgen, a rising star at Kendall College of Art and Design, for the second year in a row. A senior this Fall, Fremgen will receive $2,500 from the ASFD Foundation for Education.
According to ASFD President Catina Roscoe, Fremgen was the unanimous winner of the 2018 ASFD Touching Lives by Design Scholarship, with runners up including Noah Howells, Appalachian State University, and Mary Campbell Gray of Mississippi State University.
Judging the competition along with Roscoe were ASFD board members Adria Torrez, Association of Woodworking and Finishing Suppliers (AWFS®); Abbey Eaton Lane, Redheaded Furniture Design, LLC; and Aimee Kurzner, Currey & Co.
Fremgen, who serves as president of the Kendall College Furniture Club and ASFD Chapter, previously received the scholarship in 2017 and has been the recipient of a fast-growing list of honors and achievement awards since beginning her academic experience. Inspired by the genius of Eliel Saarinen and passionate about furniture design, other awards recognizing her work include the Grand Rapids Furniture Designers Scholarship, the T.J. Amick Memorial Scholarship Endowment Fund, the Joe Withers Endowed Scholarship, the Kendall Academic Achievement Award, and both the Kendall Portfolio Scholarship and the Board of Governors Scholarship. In terms of product development, she has also been selected by her instructors to participate in an interdisciplinary corporate project with Wolverine World Wide, an American footwear manufacturer based in Rockford, MI.
“Annina has impressed me, and her co-workers, at every turn with her high quality of work, demeanor and motivation,” notes Lisa Koskela, Senior Manager of Design and Product Management at Belwith Products, the decorative hardware company where Fremgen has worked as an intern for the past year, and has accepted a part-time position. “I know she is capable of achieving anything she sets her mind to and I can’t wait to see what doors open and to see how high she soars.”
“From day one, Annina has demonstrated that she is ready and eager to get the most out of her education,” says Monty Simpson, Professor of Furniture Design at Kendall. “The first to arrive and always prepared, the quality of her work is always above and beyond project expectations and superior to that of her fellow classmates. Her work reflects a sound understanding of scale and proportion in relation to function and form, and she has been instrumental in organizing events to raise money for the furniture design students’ trip to the High Point Market. What I admire most is that she personally reaches out to underclassmen and those in the furniture major who are on the shy side…encouraging them to join in these activities. I am very excited to see which path she will pursue in the home furnishings industry for I know without a doubt she will be successful.”
“To encourage students to submit applications for the 2019 scholarship, and to promote the work of the ASFD Educational Foundation, in addition to acknowledging Annina’s talents and outreach activities, we will be honoring her during the 23rd Annual Pinnacle Awards Gala on October 15, at High Point University’s Congdon School of Health Sciences,” reports John Conrad, Executive Director of ASFD. The Pinnacles are the premiere home furnishings industry event dedicated to promoting design quality and encouraging increased recognition of product designers and the 2018 competition is quickly coming to a close.
“Awards will be presented in 21 home furnishings categories, with finalists and winning designs promoted to retailers in the U.S. and around the world. Winning products will also have the right to feature the 2018 Pinnacle Award logo on all related media, collateral and packaging. Product designers may enter online at http://bit.ly/2018OfficialPinnacleEntry and are encouraged to act now. Deadline for submission is July, 31, 2018.”
The 2018 Awards are sponsored by the High Point Market Authority, Leggett & Platt, International Market Centers, Designers Today, Continental Hardware, Furniture Today, HSM Solutions, Furniture Design Studios and Sherwin-Williams. For more information, please visit asfd.com.
