On April 24, a group of graduating seniors from the Crossland College of Technology’s interior design program took part in the Pittsburg State University Interior Design Exhibit, an exhibition of their works as part of KC Design Week. KC Design Week is a week-long celebration of design that has happened since 2010, and this year, Pittsburg State was one of three universities invited to attend, with the others being the University of Kansas and Kansas State. This was the second year Pittsburg State joined in on KC Design Week, having been an attendee at last year’s KC Design Week as well.
“We have members on our leadership council that practice in Kansas City. They said that this would be something great for Pittsburg State’s interior design program to participate in” stated Denise Bertoncino, the program coordinator for interior design at Pittsburg State.
Twelve seniors were in attendance for this event on behalf of Pittsburg State. Their work consisted of posters that displayed their work across the four years that they had attended Pittsburg State, including floor plans, design elements, renderings, and other aspects of interior design. One such showcase was by senior interior design major and business administration minor Bailey Tuggle. Her board showcased not only her work within the program, but also outside of it.
“I featured my summer internship as well as the Big Design Gala (BDG), where I competed with a small team of fellow classmates to design and build a sustainability-focused sculpture using materials like flooring, textiles, and acoustical products” commented Tuggle. “Our team was honored to receive a couple of awards, and it was a highlight of my time at Pitt State that I wanted to showcase.”
Tuggle also displayed a personal project as part of her board, that being a restoration of a truck made in 1982.
Senior interior design major Vivian Kimerer was also in attendance at the showcase. Kimerer showed off some of the renderings, which are visual references of a space in an interior, that she had created. Such renderings included The Veil, a luxury resort inspired by Turkish culture, the Share Hope Regional Medical Center, which she created as part of a group to serve the needs of a rural town in Alaska, and Wonder Works, a children’s museum with various interactive aspects for children to learn and play.
KC Design Week was open to all designers across Kansas, with different workshops, speakers, and other exhibits being present. The Pittsburg State students that attended saw this as an opportunity to network and improve their existing skills. Tuggle attended Adobe’s “Create Now” workshop, which gave attendees tips on how to optimize their usage of Adobe products like Illustrator and Photoshop, while Kimerer networked with other interior design students.
“KC Design Week was a great opportunity to not only display our work but also engage with other students and professionals. Schools like KU and K-State also had exhibits, so it was interesting to see a variety of student work and different design approaches,” commented Kimerer.