Abigail Kolar was honored in Las Vegas
Two Kirkwood Interior Design students won national awards in a very prestigious design competition. Abigail Kolar and Tia Brannaman placed in the top five in the 2014 Durkan D*SCOVER Student Design Competition. Brannaman placed fifth and Kolar came in first place to win the event. No community college student has ever placed in the competition, and Kirkwood had two in the top five. The two students were competing against more than 1,300 other interior design students from around the country.
Kolar, a second year Kirkwood student, was recently honored at the 2014 Hospitality Design Expo show in Las Vegas. She won a $2,500 NEWH (The Hospitality Industry Network) scholarship from Durkan and her wining carpet design was highlighted in the Durkan booth at the expo. Durkan will also promote and catalog her winning design. Over 100,000 people attended the expo, serving as a great opportunity to showcase Kolar’s exemplary work, as well as the first-class design program at Kirkwood Community College.
The Durkan D*SCOVER Design Competition was established to exhibit the talent of designers in the hospitality design field and contribute toward the education of future designers, in partnership with NEWH. Students who entered the contest were required to design a carpet pattern for a ballroom and pre-function area.
Kolar’s design uses two patterns that conceptually match the ballroom space and many of the events that will be held there.
“The concept of these designs are centered around the idea of community,” said Kolar. “The initial design was inspired from photos of stained glass windows found throughout Iowa. Just as stained glass windows are made up of several pieces of glass, each unique and important, so are communities. Each person is a unique individual, and when brought together, each individual is critical in making up the completed, beautiful picture.”
Durkan is the leading U.S. manufacturer of custom designed carpet to the hospitality industry. Specializing in durable Public Space, Corridor and guest room carpet, Durkan offers solutions to any custom design need. As design leaders, they offer the largest selection of archived patterns in the USA or make your custom design vision a reality.