The Bernice Bienenstock Furniture Library named the winners of its annual design competition, awarding scholarships to students pursuing careers in furniture design.
The winner of this year’s competition was Ben Bridges of Appalachian State University, who won the top prize of $5,000 along with a free professional association membership and $1,000 for his school. Britnie Cowling of San Diego Mesa College won the second place scholarship of $1,500.
Finalists in the category included: India Hillis, Art Center College of Design; Hong Hu, Kendall College of Art & Design; Refaeli Ma, Art Center College of Design; Matthew Johnson, Kendall College of Art & Design; Frederick John Barton, Appalachian State University and Eric Schroeder, Kendall College of Art & Design.
The library based in High Point, NC, holds the world’s largest collection of rare and significant books on furniture design and history. Its annual scholarship competition is open to juniors, seniors and graduate students enrolled in an accredited college design program. Competitions are held in furniture design and interior design categories each year.
For this year’s furniture design competition, entrants were tasked with designing an aesthetically pleasing original chair. The competition drew 50 entries from students at 15 different colleges.
"Our founder, Sandy Bienenstock, advanced his long-standing desire to invest in the education and future of the furniture industry by establishing the Library itself and by initiating the Bienenstock Scholarships," said Russell Bienenstock, President of the Library Board. "The intention of these scholarships is to encourage and inspire the best and most creative minds and to help them to develop their talents.”
