Design students to get look behind furniture and design
Oct. 28—HIGH POINT — A group focused on trying to make High Point a year-round destination for designers is bringing a group of interior design students here for a behind-the-scenes look at the furniture industry.
Attracting university-level students to High Point in between Markets is a new initiative, said Jane Dagmi, managing director of High Point by Design, or HPxD.
"High Point is an amazing learning lab, and when we at HPxD speak about an open and activated High Point year-round, the education piece is vitally important to our vision," she said. "Our city is an amazing destination, with opportunities to see how products are created, to engage with the manufacturers and makers, and to understand how all the parts of the design industry work together."
The 50 students from the prestigious Savannah College of Art and Design will be here Sunday through Tuesday and will see manufacturing processes, trade showrooms, creative design professionals and resources available to designers, such as custom upholstery, furniture, finishes, textiles, lighting and art.
Kia Weatherspoon, who teaches interior design at SCAD's Atlanta campus, reached out to Dagmi in the summer and expressed interest in bringing a class to town.
"HIgh Point has always been the intersection of interior design, manufacturing, artisans, creatives and makers," she said. "For me, it was important that my students experience the diversity of creative practices and understand how it translates into production and manufacturing."
HPxD and Cohab.Space also have planned a visual merchandising competition in which the students will design the showroom's street-facing windows on English Road.
