Spring in the Rockies

Sorry for the lack of posts. Spring has been pretty busy but I'm enjoying a little lull at work. I thought I should catch everyone up before things get crazy again. 

In April I was able to attend my first groundbreaking ceremony for a project I worked on. Speeches were given, project boards were displayed and everyone, including me, took turns posing with shovels. I'd like to tell you all about the project, but it's for the government and if I put up details on the internet I might get audited. But here are a few photos of our presentation boards and some of the people I've been working with. The building is under construction and it will be exciting to see it as it goes up.

In May I participated in a Spring Swap hosted by my friend Susan. I sent a package of my favorite organizing supplies to Marilyn in Utah, and I got this lovely box of goodies from Raphelle in Brooklyn.

It included all her favorite things for spring, from makeup to sidewalk chalk. It was wonderful to come home to a box of spring fun!

In May I was part of my office's IIDA Pret-a-porter team. We were teamed up with an office furnishings dealer in town and our challenge was to turn their products into high fashion. We chose one of their task chairs, tore it apart, and remade it into a dress. It was so much fun, and we won 2nd place in the professional category. You can check out photos of the night here.

Memorial day week I flew home to visit my family. I was there for nine days and had absolutely nothing to do. It was wonderful! My niece Paige turned 8 years old and was baptised. She even asked me to give a talk at the baptism. As you can see she was very excited.

Her message in chalk says "Party on!" I'll post more photos of my week home when I download them from my other camera.

When I got back to work I found out I'm going to be on the IIDA chapter board as the new Student Liaison. For the next two years it will be my responsibility to represent students in four states. I'm not quite sure what I've gotten myself into, but it should be fun.

After all my hard work this past year I decided to splurge a little and on Saturday I bought myself an oil painting. I went to an art market held by a local art league and fell in love with this painting by George Coll. It was painted in the Denver Art Museum and is finally bringing some color into my beige living room. 

It's much richer in person. You'll have to stop by and see it.

That's my quick recap. I really need to write about my trip to Qatar and a few other things I've been thinking about. Unless I get distracted by the warm weather. 

 

Walking and Sketching

Inspite of an overwhelming amount of work to do before the end of the semester I took a break and went for a walk around campus. A storm is moving in and the ground is covered with a beautiful dusting of snow. I stopped by the bookstore and bought a new sketching pencil in terracotta to break out of my usual black and white mode.

I stopped outside the Merrill-Cazier Library and made a quick sketch to try out the pencil. It has a waxy feel, but the color lays down nicely and doesn't smear. It was truly a quick sketch - I was sitting on cold concrete.

I was gone almost an hour and it felt good to get some fresh air. I think I may be able to get some work done now.

When I got back to my desk an envelope was waiting for me. It contained our IIDA (International Interior Design Association) Campus Center certificate. We're official! This is the first year our school has been a Campus Center and it's exciting to have proof of all the hard work.

I would like to thank the judges . . .

I'm still not used to this, but my dialysis center is now up on the IIDA website. Watch out Gensler (or HOK, SOM, Perkins + Will, IA), here I come.

IIDA Student Sustainable Design Competition

The dialysis center I designed in my Commercial Studio class last fall means a great deal to me. The assignment was to design an out-patient healthcare facility and Professor Woolley let us decide what type. After a debate we made the decision as a class that it should be a kidney dialysis center. It was an opportunity to design a facility for people who truly need it.

In October our class visited a dialysis center at a local hospital and saw how depressing and inadequate the space was. The nurse who showed us around told us what they needed and what they wished for. Afterward a friend of my mom named Marianna agreed to speak with us. She underwent dialysis at a center in Ogden and eventually received a kidney transplant. Her experience was very emotional and she made the project real for us.

After my project was featured in a Statesman article Woolley, who is now teaching design at a school in Qatar, wrote me the following. I'm sharing it because he describes the significance of this better than I could.

If you weren't there that day - you don't understand the meaning of this project. If you don't know someone personally who is undergoing dialysis treatment - you won't understand this project. But I was there in class and heard what she said. I saw the pain and appreciate the work the class did because it changed them as designers. Design took on meaning, and that is rare in the educational realm.

The research behind my design also became a year long Honors project exploring sustainability and metaphors for spiritual healing. With Woolley's encouragement I entered the project into the International Interior Design Association's (IIDA) Student Sustainable Design Competition. I wasn't expecting much but he thought I had a good chance.

The judging is now complete and I found out late last week that I received the competition's honorable mention. I am excited and I am grateful. Grateful for the opportunities this award will bring me and the ways it will help me to accomplish my goals. Grateful for everything I learned this year, and grateful for the chance to find a mentor who helped me exceed my own expectations.