Hagopian announces rug design competition winners

Published: Wednesday March 10, 2010

L-RProf. Don Kilpatrick, CCS, Shannon McPartlan, CCS, Phyllis Canvasser (holding first place), Paul Feiten (holding 3rd place), Suzanne Hagopian (holding 2nd place) and Trish DeWald, CCS 2010 First Place by Anthony Kiernan.

Birmingham, Mich. - On a snowy evening, a panel of judges braved the weather to choose the winning designs for the 21st annual Hagopian World of Rugs / College for Creative Studies Student Rug Design Competition.

The evening began with dinner at the Hagopian showroom for the judges and members of the faculty from CCS.

After dinner, the judges were asked to review and select a first, second and third place design. Lively discussion about colors, feasibility, and marketability ensued. Final selections were made and this year's winners were: first place - Anthony Kieren, Senior, Illustration, who based his design on "natural forms", second place was awarded to Kristina Prybula, Freshman, Interior Design, whose inspiration came from "combining things to make something larger" and 3rd place to Veronica Bayagich, Junior, Illustration, who was inspired by "music".

The competition, a collaboration between the College for Creative Studies and Hagopian World of Rugs gives students the chance to submit their designs based on specific criteria and compete for scholarship moneys funded by Hagopian.

In addition, the first place design is made into a rug and displayed at the annual CCS Student Exhibition in May. The competition was originally conceived by Edgar Hagopian to mentor students and encourage interest in the textile arts and support the school.

The theme for the 2010 competition was "green". Students were to design a rug that would be fabricated using 100% Hemp. Suzanne Hagopian, director of the competition, hosted a tour in for interested students in her Birmingham showroom prior to the deadline so that they could see a Hemp rug and discuss the design parameters for 2010.

2010 Judges were Phyllis Canvasser, Phyllis Canvasser Designs and Paul Feiten of Paul Feiten Designs. These experienced local interior designers donate their time and lend their knowledge to the project designed to encourage students in their career paths.

The Hagopian Family of Companies are long-time enthusiastic supporters of the cultural arts in metro Detroit. In addition to this competition they sponsor a statewide room design competition in conjunction with the American Society of Interior Design for students enrolled in a design curriculum; they host (17 years in 2010) the Detroit Chamber Winds "Night Notes" series in their Birmingham showroom bringing fine music to local venues at an affordable cost; and, Hagopian World of Rugs / Hagopian Cleaning Services is a Signal Benefactor to the Detroit Institute of Arts.