UIC School of Design chosen for international furniture exhibition

The University of Illinois at Chicago’s School of Design is one of 14 schools selected to exhibit at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF) during NYCxDESIGN week, May 14-17.

It is the first time UIC is participating.

The School of Design was selected from graphic and industrial design programs around the country. The ICFF takes place at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City.

“The exhibitions chosen for this year’s ICFF Schools program showcase what’s new and what’s next from design futurists currently enrolled in the top design programs,” said fair director Kevin O’Keefe.

“Being selected for ICFF underscores our commitment to providing one of the best design educations in the country,” said Marcia Lausen, director of the UIC School of Design. “It provides an opportunity to feature student work developed in the rich intellectual context of a leading public urban research institution.”

Work by Ricardo Garcia, UIC School of Design student

The School of Design’s theme is “How Do You Read Design?” Relating the textual and the spatial, the exhibit features a collection of works with a distinctive play on the dimensions of design. At an intimate scale, arranged in vignettes, book forms and objects demonstrate the connections and distinctions of graphic design and industrial design, Lausen said.

UIC faculty Felicia Ferrone, director of graduate studies and clinical assistant professor of industrial design; Ted Burdett, instructor of industrial design; and Sharon Oiga, associate professor of graphic design will solicit and curate the students’ work. Those students selected to exhibit will also participate in the design and construction of the exhibition and travel to New York for the event.

Other institutions selected to participate in the ICFF include Fashion Institute of Technology, Parson’s School of Design, Pratt Institute, Rhode Island School of Design and the School of Art Institute.