The 2012 Stickley Design Invitational

 

 

 

On Sat., March 31 the Stickley Museum at Craftsman Farms welcomed a group of talented architecture and interior design students representing 12 New Jersey high schools to the Second Annual Stickley Design Invitational.  The Invitational, a free, full-day program is a partnership between the Stickley Museum at Craftsman Farms and the Robert Busch School of Design at Kean University. It was begun in 2011 during the museum’s celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Log House at Craftsman Farms.

 

Through a competitive application process, only 15 participants were selected to compete in this year’s Invitational. On the day of the Invitational, participants were given a 6-hour theoretical challenge – to design an outdoor performance space, including a three-dimensional model, for the grounds of Craftsman Farms.  To help set the context for the project, participants began the challenge with an introduction to Gustav Stickley and Arts and Crafts design including a tour of Craftsman Farms and the proposed site of the project, the open space that was once the site of Gustav Stickley’s gardens.

 

Following the tour, students worked on their intensive project, conceiving and producing their designs.  Along with an exciting and complex challenge, the Invitational offered participants the opportunity to test skills, and interact with design professionals and students sharing similar interests.  A team of volunteer interior designers and architects, who also served as Invitational jurors, were on hand throughout the day to offer encouragement, advice, and feedback as the students made sketches and constructed three-dimensional models. 

 

Special guest, Philip S. Kennedy-Grant, editor and co-author of the recently published AIA New Jersey Guidebook: 150 Best Buildings and Places, published by Rutgers University Press, and principal of Kennedy-Grant Architecture in Bernardsville, New Jersey, spoke to the Invitational participants about careers in architecture and design following the completion of their projects. 

 

The day culminated in a critique session and award presentation. After careful deliberation, the jury selected 2 winners, granting 1st place to Mike Fogarty, a junior from West Essex High School in North Caldwell, and 2nd place to Jack Campbell, a junior from Westfield High School.  Check out our Design Invitational Facebook album for more pictures from this exciting day!

 

We are pleased to announce that students participating in the 2012 Invitational represented the following New Jersey High Schools:

 

Franklin High School

The Hudson School

Mahwah High School

Montclair High School

Mountain Lakes High School

Morris Hills High School

Morris Knolls High School

Pequannock Township High School

The Pingry School

West Essex High School

Westfield High School

Whippany Park High School

 

Congratulations to all of the 2012 Invitational participants!

 

The Stickley Design Invitational was funded, in part, by the Robert Busch School of Design at Kean University, H|AI Architecture, and by Gustav Stickley’s great- grandchildren Cindy McGinn and Louis G. Glesmann III, who share the passion and vision of their great-grandfather toward creative design for everyday life.  Additional funding was provided by generous grants from PSE&G and the Arts & Crafts Research Fund.