University of Arkansas Fayetteville - Razorback Yearbook (Fayetteville, AR)

Page 30 text:

INNOVATION PROFILES FAY JONES SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN Two interior design students in the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design at the University of Arkansas were awarded $30,000 from the Angelo Donghia Foundation, a non-profit organization that promotes design education in September. Jessica Baker and Christine Wass both were recognized with Foundation 2016 Senior Student Scholarship Awards based on projects they submitted to the foundation. They were among 15 students selected from a pool of 68 student projects from accredited universities in this year’s competition. This was the second year for Fay Jones School students to receive this honor. In 2015, Kelly Walsh was the first University of Arkansas student to receive this scholarship. Baker and Wass, both in their fourth year of studies, were among winners from top design schools in North America. Twelve of the 15 scholarship winners were from private art schools or universities, and located on the east and west coasts. The remaining three students were from the University of Arkansas and the University of Nevada, the only public schools in the group. “It is terrific to see our students competing and winning against students from the top-ranked interior design schools in North America in the biggest scholarship for our discipline,” said Carl Matthews, professor and head of the Department of Interior Design. “This is equivalent to the basketball team playing in the Final Four or the football team in the playoffs for the national championship. I am amazingly proud of the hard work, discipline and talent of students and faculty for attaining this honor two years in a row.” Baker and Wass said the recognition with this prestigious scholarship brought attention to the quality of their work and the Fay Jones School. “It was just kind of like an affirmation that I can do this,” Wass said. “I can design. It’s possible.” “I would really like to shine some light on the Fay Jones School because I think it is really underrated,” Baker said. The students submitted their projects to the Donghia Foundation as part of their third-year interior design studio with Jennifer Webb last spring. Webb had all of the students create projects for boutique hotels, working with alumni at Looney and Associates in Dallas. Webb narrowed the class’ designs to those produced by Baker and Wass, who then submitted them to the Donghia Foundation. “Both Christine and Jessica began with strong creative ideas and implemented the conceptual framework to every detail,” said Webb, associate professor of interior design. “Even more importantly, they both tackled technical construction details to illustrate that interior design is much more than surface decoration. They demonstrated creative and technical skills that lead to professional success. I just couldn’t be more pleased for them and for our program.” 30 INNOVATION PROFILES

Page 29 text:

STUDENT SKY BOXES 29

Page 31 text:

Wass’ hotel was designed to be located in Phoenix, Arizona, while Baker’s was designed for Cleveland, Ohio. Wass said she took inspiration from the idea of a phoenix rising and styled her hotel to symbolize aspects of the mythical bird, particularly its life, death and rebirth. Baker Qeared the design of her hotel toward clientele who would take advantage of Cleveland’s arts presence and incorporated the city’s arts into her design, she said. Jim Looney and Jenny Tredway of Looney and Associates worked with Baker, Wass and others in the studio to develop their ideas. The firm provided the schematic design of a real hotel project, which the students used for the basis for their designs. Baker said that working from the designs of an actual hotel made their studio project seem much more like a real- world situation because interior designers often have to work with existing architecture. “You’re given this hotel, and you can only change so much about the architecture,” Baker said. After winnin g the competition, both students will be able to begin paying off student loans. Wass’ scholarships ran out last year, and she said that the money will do much to relieve her family’s financial burden, as two of her siblings are also in college. Both students planned to study abroad. Baker said she has never been out of the country before and thinks that the exposure to other cultures would help her become a better designer. “I’m going to get to do so many things that I wasn’t able to do before,” Baker said. FAY JONES 31