People

Under the leadership of Travis Hicks, the Main Street Fellows won four awards at the Annual NC Mainstreet Conference. Awards included Best Façade Rehabilitation for Less Than $15,000; Best Façade Rehabilitation for More Than $15,000; Best Historic Rehabilitation Project; and Best Upper Story Redevelopment.

Dr. Asha Kutty received the 2024 International Interior Design Association Educator Diversity Award during the 2024 IDEC conference.

Dr. Amanda Gale received the Special Projects Grant Award during the 2024 Interior Design Educators Council (IDEC) conference.

Travis Hicks, Director of the Main Street Fellows Program published his second book, Community-Engaged Interior Design, with Routledge/Taylor & Francis in September 2023.

Dr. Amanda Gale received the Interior Design Educators Council’s 2023 Award of Excellence for Best in Category: Scholarship of Design and Research, “Students’ Perceptions of Wellbeing in Campus Buildings: A study of university classrooms and lounges”

Derek Toomes installed his exhibition Lost + Found at Alexander/Heath Contemporary. The exhibition is open March 3 – March 31, 2023.

Dr. Asha Kutty, in connection with Dr. Regis Kopper from the Department of Computer Science, and Dr. Deborah Barnes, Research Associate with The International Civil Rights Center & Museum, were awarded a grant for their project that will raise social justice awareness through Interior Design and VR Walkthroughs. (more)

Dr. Asha Kutty, in partnership with Dr. Kimber Thomas has been accepted to participate in the prestigious 2022-2023 Sawyer Seminar at the University of Virginia on the topic of “Reimagining the American Landscape: Race and the Future of Public History.”

Welcome to Kate Horton (lecturer) and Kista Mansell (lecturer, Historic Preservation Certificate Advisor) who were recently hired as lecturers in the Department of Interior Architecture.

Stephen Skorski with collaborators from the UNCG School of Music received the “Best Creative Scholarship” Award for “Manifestations/blurred edges between now and then” at the Fall 2021 Interior Design Educators Council (IDEC) Fall Symposium.

Dr. Amanda Gale was appointed a board member for the Journal of Interior Design as of May 1st, 2021.

Congratulations to Dr. Amanda Gale, who got tenure as an associate professor in August.

Welcome to Cameron John (lecturer), who was recently hired as a lecturer in the Department of Interior Architecture.

Welcome to Derek Toomes (Assistant Professor) and Matthew Jones (Academic Professional), who were recently hired to full-time positions in the Department of Interior Architecture.

Travis Hicks is the recipient of the 2020 IDEC Community Service Award.

Dr. Amanda Gale and Dr. Anna Marshall-Baker received the 2020 Award of Excellence, Best Design Research Presentation, “Multidisciplinary Views Regarding Interior Design Features That Promote Student Wellbeing,” Interior Design Educators Council.

Stephen Skorski Recently completed two international solo art exhibitions at the Ye Gallery in Gumi, South Korea, the Anhui Jianzhu University Gallery in Hefei, China.

In partnership with History Department professor Torren Gatson, Dr. Asha Kutty received a College of Arts and Science Research Award for their project: “The African American Porch, Exploring Experience, Meaning, and Agency in Wilson, North Carolina.”

Dr. Lucinda Havenhand published her book Mid-Century Modern Interiors: The Ideas that Shaped Interior Design in America (Bloomsbury Publishing).