DALLAS – October 01, 2015 – ART and Dallas Market Center, co-founder and producer of the ARTS Awards, today announced the 27th annual ARTS Awards judges. The distinguished judging panel selects winners from 23 different categories. The awards will be presented during a gala event on Friday, Jan. 22, 2016 at the Hilton Anatole Hotel.
ARTS Awards is the premier international awards program dedicated to home industry excellence held each January during the Dallas Total Home & Gift Market. The judges are Alan Galbraith, Snoa Garrigan, Jason Harris, Susan Inglis, Connie Post, and Mark Vaughn.
Alan Galbraith: Galbraith is the President of John-Richard, a high-end furniture manufacturing company based in Greenwood, Mississippi. Galbraith is involved in all aspects of the business including design and sales as well as overseeing all operations in several countries. Galbraith was recruited into the home furnishings business in 1994 when he joined Fine Arts Lamps and became CEO of the company. After his tenure with FAL, he held the position of President of the Portable Lamp division at Kichler Lighting and later became CEO of Corbett Lighting before the company was sold in 2004. In 2005, Galbraith joined John-Richard where he is known as a dynamic leader who has spearheaded the design and development side of John-Richard. Inspired by the creativity of the design team and the artisans in their factories abroad, Galbraith continues to guide the growth and progress of the company.
Snoa Garrigan: Snoa Garrigan has served as Executive Director of the Interior Design Society (IDS) since January 2013, overseeing the national office operations to include financial management, volunteer management and program development. Garrigan works closely with the IDS National Board of Directors on strategic planning and organizational development. Garrigan is instrumental in advancing IDS’ mission of business development, continuing education and community service.
Jason Harris: Jason Harris grew up in the epicenter of home furnishings: High Point, NC. A graduate of UNC Chapel Hill, Harris spent 18 years developing sales and marketing strategies for his family’s retail furniture business, Furnitureland South, the largest furniture store in the world. In April of 2013, Harris created a new broadband TV network for ‘all things HOME’ called The Design Network. TDN features all original high-quality programming hosted by some of the top designers, architects and influencers in the industry. The TDN platform utilizes broadband’s interactive capabilities to integrate and sell products curated and influenced by the design community. Harris lectures to professional groups and college students across the country on business development, entrepreneurship and technology application. With a young family, five kids sixteen and under, Harris enjoys family time, golf, running and traveling.
Susan Inglis: Susan Inglis, Executive Director of Sustainable Furnishings Council and founder of From the Mountain, has over twenty-five years of experience working with artisans and in sustainable manufacturing in the home furnishings, fashion, and gift industries. Susan’s direction of the SFC has gained national attention and brought the organization widespread recognition as the primary source for verified sustainable home furnishings. Susan has spoken on behalf of SFC throughout the U.S. and abroad and has inspired many companies to adopt a sustainable platform for the future. As a consultant, she has worked in twenty-seven countries on five continents providing services ranging from identifying procedures for insuring the sustainability of a natural resource base to market-led product development and how to access new markets effectively. She received the 2009 WithIt WOW Award for Education. Susan exclusively serves as the Green Category judge and reviews only the manufacturing finalists submissions.
Connie Post: Retail design strategist, trend expert, author and idea merchant Connie Post understands what excites consumers and makes cash registers ring. As the standard bearer of visual marketing in the home furnishings industry for nearly three decades, she is responsible for the look of more than 18 million square feet of retail and wholesale space around the globe. An in-demand speaker and columnist, Post is regularly sought for her expert commentary, and the empowering message she brings to consumers everywhere: “A Beautiful Room Will Change Your Life.” She is a founding member of With It (Women in the Home Industries Today). With It is a North American association founded in 1997 and headquartered in High Point, NC, that encourages and develops leadership, mentoring, education and networking opportunities for professional women in the home furnishings industries.
Mark Vaughn: Mark Allan Vaughan is Vice President of Domain XCIV, Inc., retailer of high-end furniture, dinnerware, linens and home accessories. Mark has a BA of Art History from Texas Christian University. Before graduation he and his partner, Tad Watts, conceived the idea of a home-furnishings retail store filled with European antiques, traditional accessories and anything else the pair deemed worthy. Domain XCIV opened in shotgun, 900 square feet space of a 1920’s strip center on the old bricks of Camp Bowie Blvd. in October of 1994. In 2005, after over a decade in business, a new venture was launched and dh Collection was opened within a block of Domain to fill a niche for a more modern aesthetic. In 2014, dh Collection won an Arts Award as best home accents store in the Midwest/Southwest.
The 27th annual ARTS Awards are sponsored by enLIGHTenment, FANDECK, Gifts & Decorative Accessories, Giftware News, HFN, Home Fashion Forecast, Home & Textiles Today, Home Accents Today, Lyon Credit Services, Residential Lighting and the Sustainable Furnishings Council.
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About ART: ART is the creative home furnishings network representing manufacturers, retailers, representatives and other individuals and companies interested in promoting and enhancing the market position of the home furnishings industry. Each year ART sponsors programs such as the ART conference, regional educational seminars, the ART card and the ARTS Awards. The ART website is available at http://www.accessoriesresourceteam.org/.
About Dallas Market Center: Founded in 1957, Dallas Market Center is the world’s most complete wholesale marketplace. Within its marketplace of more than five million square feet, retailers from around the globe source products ranging from home furnishings, gifts, decorative accessories and lighting to textiles, fashion accessories and men’s, western, women’s and children’s apparel. With more than 50 markets each year attended by more than 200,000 retail buyers from all 50 states and 85 countries, Dallas Market Center offers hundreds of events and seminars geared toward helping retailers expand business and increase profits. The Dallas Market Center website is available at dallasmarketcenter.com.
About the ARTS Awards: The ARTS Awards is the premier international awards program dedicated to the home industry. Up to 27 categories exist under the headings Manufacturer, Retailer, Product Designer, Interior Designer, Sales Representative, Rising Star, Green and Academy of Achievement. Anyone in the industry can nominate including manufacturers, retailers, sales representatives, designers, suppliers, consultants and other industry officials.
Academy of Achievement and Rising Star honorees are selected by an ARTS Awards committee each year. Companies that have won an ARTS Award five times are inducted into the Hall of Fame. Hall of Fame members are: BJ’s Home Accents, C.S. Wo & Sons, Distinctive Designs International Inc., Feizy Rugs, Fine Art Lamps, Global Views, Montaage, Natural Decorations Inc., Palecek, Paragon, Robb & Stucky and Schonbek Worldwide Lighting.
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