This month, a group of sophomore interior design students visited the Buffalo location of California Closets.
During their outing, students learned more about the company’s 30-year history and how they work with their clients to design and install quality custom storage solutions for closets, bathrooms, garages and more.
Nicole Sansano, a 2013 graduate of Villa’s interior design program, led the group on a tour of the facility, explained their design process and why specific materials are used in certain projects. Sansano currently works as a design consultant at California Closets.
At the end of the tour, site owners Chris Pinto and John Romagnola surprised students with an unexpected opportunity. “We are excited to announce that we will be sponsoring a scholarship at Villa Maria College,” said Pinto. “We are proud to support the mission of Villa Maria and assist interior design students in realizing their dreams.”
The $2500 project-based award will be embedded into the program’s Studio II class, in which sophomore students design a forever home. The total value of the award will be split between students in the BFA ($2000) and AAS ($500) interior design programs.
The project requires students to design a storage space in their forever home and to present it to a panel of judges during their final critique at the end of the fall 2018 semester.
“The entire interior design program is so grateful for the generosity and support from California Closets and specifically the local owners, Chris Pinto and John Romagnola,” said Sandra Reicis, professor of interior design at Villa. “This will add real excitement to the studio project. The experience of the competition will benefit each and every participant, and the Scholarship Award will be so very helpful to the winning students. I’m certain we will see some very creative and innovative design solutions.”
Students’ designs will be judged by an independent jury, and the winners will be announced after final critiques on December 7.
