Furniture Library Names Future Designers Scholarship Winners

The Bienenstock Furniture Library concluded its fourth-annual Future Designers Summit, held Sept. 11-13, by awarding scholarships to three exceptional students.

Three industry sponsors contributed to the scholarship awards: Verellen, the Broyhill Family Foundation, and J Black Design. Additionally, Verellen was the Platinum sponsor of this year’s summit event and the Broyhill Family Foundation was its Gold sponsor.

The Verellen Furniture Scholarship winner in furniture design earning $5,000 is Mason McKay, a student at Appalachian State University.

The Broyhill Family Foundation Scholarship recipient of $5,000 for interior design is Arianna Repack, a student at High Point University.

The John Black Scholarship of $2,000 was awarded by Joyce Black for interior design to Elise DeGraef, a student at Mount Mary University.

The students were three of 34 selected from 12 colleges and universities that were invited to attend. All of them submitted personal essays and provided work samples from their portfolios during the application process.

The annual Future Designers Summit offers students an immersive three-day educational and networking experience. Keynote addresses were presented by TV design personality Hilary Farr and holistic interior design expert Gala Magrina. 

Additional sponsors included Calligaris USA, Century Furniture, Davis Furniture, Furniture World, IFDA Educational Foundation, Jessica Charles, Hancock & Moore, Hickory Chair, Highland House and Maitland-Smith, among others.

Their contributions helped to offset the costs of travel, accommodations and meals for each student attendee, and also covered expenses for the program’s development and marketing.

For the full list of contributors, or to inquire about future sponsorship opportunities, visit the Future Designers Summit page located on the Bienenstock Furniture Library website, or write to Karla Jones at executive-director@furniturelibrary.com.