The American Society of Interior Designers announced the winners of its 2017 National Awards this week. Award categories for the highest level of recognition from the society are: Designer of Distinction, Design Innovation, Design for Humanity and the Nancy Vincent McClelland Merit Award.
The Designer of Distinction Award honoring an ASID professional member with a superior body of work goes to Steven Clem this year. It’s the premier award for personal achievement and social consciousness in the interior design profession.
“ASID is proud to support and recognize leading professionals who continually push boundaries to demonstrate the impact of design,” said ASID CEO Randy Fiser. “Steven Clem is a true visionary who designs without ego and whose accomplishments inspire and teach us how design can make a significant, positive difference in the world.”
Clem has worked for 39 years at tvsdesign, where he has garnered more than 100 design awards. His design work includes the Georgia Aquarium, the Woodruff Arts Center and the College Football Hall of Fame.
The Design for Humanity Award honoring recipients for contributions made to improve the human experience goes to Susan Szenasy, publisher and editor-in-chief of METROPOLIS Magazine.
“Susan Szenasy is the epitome of what this award embodies,” Fiser said. “Through her work at METROPOLIS and her extended work in the design community as lecturer, author and advocate on the power of design, she is indeed a humanitarian. She has dedicated her career to sharing the power of design with millions through METROPOLIS magazine’s rich editorial and superior coverage of the best in interior design.”
In addition to her work at METROPOLIS, Szenasy has authored several books on design and taught design history and ethics at Parsons School of Design.
The Design Innovation Award recognizing recipients for producing work that advances the profession of interior design goes to The Design Museum Foundation.
“The Design Museum Foundation is a visionary organization that is expanding the reach and impact of design to communities and audiences who may not otherwise have been exposed to it," Fiser said. "Each initiative they launch is more innovative than the last.”
The Design Museum Foundation seeks to educate the world about design thinking and exhibit the transformative power of design. In 2016, it launched the Center for Workplace Innovation, a hub for thought leadership focused on improving the modern workplace.
The Nancy Vincent McClelland Merit Award, which honors recipients for outstanding support of the interior design profession, goes to Paula Wallace. The award pays tribute to the accomplishments of McClelland, the first woman president of the American Institute of Decorators (now ASID) from 1941-1944.
Wallace is the founder and president of Savannah College of Art and Design. She champions a balance between reverence and innovation in SCAD’s spaces and has redeemed nearly 100 historic structures throughout her career.
“ASID is proud to support and recognize design industry leaders who lead by example and leave behind a legacy of excellence,” Fiser said. “Paula Wallace is a trailblazer with a long list of accomplishments that inspire us to imagine the endless possibilities of her talents.”
Winners will be awarded at the ASID Awards Gala on July 15 in San Diego.
