Students' designs help raise CASA funds

Words that strike fear: “Student projects.”

Not so in the Interior Design Department at Pikes Peak Community College, where Chair Tara Gray’s assignment included a television star, 10 environmentally friendly rooms, raising money for charity and an opportunity to show off student work to 350 people from the public.

“Design for Hope,” unveiled at a gala reception June 19 at Promenade Shops at Briargate and open for viewing the rest of the weekend, split the PPCC design students across 10 teams and offered up “rooms” with three blank walls and a floor. Students had two months from start to finish, and besides being creative and innovative, their designs had to focus on sustainability, energy efficiency and being wholly environmentally friendly.

Furniture, lighting, accessories and even a bathtub were donated by sponsors, including premier sponsor The Showroom at Rampart Supply.

Working with Gray and spending time with the students was Air Academy High School graduate Matt Locke, personable finalist on HGTV’s “Design Star” and now busy with design conventions, doing filming with production companies, being featured in industry magazines and still under contract with HGTV.

Looking around the completed rooms, Locke said that since he now works in Los Angeles, he had not anticipated the student show to be as good as it was.

Locke — who had an opportunity to visit with his family, school classmates and even his girlfriend from seventh grade, Emily Troy, while he was here — offered a two-hour design consultation for auction and met with the winners, Pat and Kelly Shaffer, the next day.

The design team taking home two top awards was Irma Christie, Rose Smart, Dreama Christie-Ramirez and Holly Minary. Their glittering black, silver and white residential spa won the People’s Choice and Judges’ Innovation Awards. It had taken them 225 hours to smash glass and glue it back together in mosaic circles on the wall. The entire wall was auctioned off.

The Judges’ Award went to a stunning Tibetan Lounge with a large hand-carved calligraphy focal point. Designers were Victoria Garcia, Sarah Calvert, Ashlyn Selk and Josh Coates.

PPCC President/CEO Tony Kinkel noted that Coates was sleeping in his car when he started at the college.

“I had an addiction when I was younger and have spent 15 years working my butt off to clear it up,” said Coates.

“I’m proud for people to see what we accomplished.”

Winning the Judges’ Environmental Award was a bright pink, yellow and green kids’ center created by Ria Hurst, Renee Lachance, Becky Cook, Kaeli Wendt and Stefenie Franck.

The inaugural Design for Hope raised $36,000 for CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) and utilized a volunteer corps from CASA’s Circle of Impact. Plans are already under way for Design for Hope 2010.

FAC docents

A bright spring day, with just a touch of sprinkles, drew 65 Fine Arts Center docents to a German lunch June 15 at the Edelweiss.

Small wonder that animated chatter centered around art and the center’s newest exhibits.

Affable FAC President/CEO Sam Gappmayer told the volunteers he was grateful for their service to the center and the community.

Special docent awards for the most touring hours went to Tom Mou — “I’m 89,” he announced, smiling — and Helen Newell. Brenda Miller received a quarterly award.

Docent emeritus Leslie Bergstrom, class of 1965, introduced the newest docents: Linda Barnard, Pat and Vern Conner, Maryelln Ebarp, Dianne Gidley, Debbie Humphrey, Gail Ralston, Nancy Winter and Jan Zellmer.

Mary Lou Roesler was cheered for her selection as The Gazette’s Best of the Springs Volunteer of the Year.

The center’s staff, engrossed in conversations with the volunteers, were Tara Thomas, Katie Walker, Danielle Grenier, Tariana Navas-Nieves and Blake Milteer.

Docent officers include President Kay Turner, Wendy Gray, Claudia Moore and Sylvia Nolte.

Celebrate Youth in the Arts

Four local youth arts organizations reach an audience of 200,000 young people each year.

“There’s enough art and music and theater to go around,” and that’s why the June 16 Celebrate Youth in the Arts breakfast at the Antlers Hilton was a collaborative effort, said educator Marijane Paulsen.

There was music by the Colorado Springs Youth Symphony, songs and dancing by the greeters from Colorado Springs Children’s Chorale, art and performers from Imagination Celebration, and performances by PAYO’s Charles Sjolander and Beth Epley, among others.

She appreciated the performances, said Paulsen, confessing that she “was remarkably untalented in the arts.” When she was the snowflake fairy, “I melted.” She played four instruments, but they all sounded like an oboe.
And, she quipped as laughter erupted, she stood in as a fourth singer in a school quartet but was so bad “they made me lip synch.”

Emcee Don Ward, who requested that next year’s fundraiser be a bit later than 7:30 a.m., “maybe a Celebrate the Arts Brunch,” confided to the audience of 370 that he had possibly been a little bit better at the arts than Paulsen because he starred in “King of Hearts” and was the King in “The King and I.”

Breakfast committee members from the four groups were Patti Boles, Patty Carbone, Marcia Hendricks, Kris Jasperse, Debi Krause-Reinsch and Deborah Thornton.