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34th ARTS Awards Legendary Leadership Honoree – Karen McNeill

Oct 3, 2023 | Press Releases

Karen McNeill to Receive Legendary Leadership Award at 34th ARTS Awards

October 3, 2023 – Dallas Market Center and ART, the creative home furnishings network, have announced that Karen McNeill will receive a Legendary Leadership Award at the 34th ARTS Awards taking place at the Hilton Anatole Hotel in Dallas on Friday, January 12, 2024.

McNeill is the President of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer of American Home Furnishings Hall of Fame Foundation Inc., a nonprofit public charity committed to honoring and preserving the legacy of individuals who have made significant contributions to the home furnishings industry and inspiring the next generation of innovative leaders in the industry.  The Legendary Leadership Award honors an individual who has not only achieved esteemed recognition from industry peers, but who has also led the home industry with passion, and whose dedication has helped hundreds of companies succeed.

 

“It is a privilege to present the Legendary Leadership Award to Karen,” said Cindy Morris, president and CEO of Dallas Market Center. “Her leadership has added substantial value to the home industry, and her support of the home furnishings community and history has added an immeasurable value to businesses large and small.”

Added Sharon Davis, executive director of ART: “Karen is a passionate leader and fearless champion of the home industry, and she deserves special recognition this year. The Legendary Leadership Award is a way for us to recognize a true pioneer in the home industry, and Karen exemplifies the best qualities of our business.”

Karen McNeill’s career in the home furnishing industry has spanned over several decades and began with her role as Director of Marketing at the Southern Furniture Market Center and as Director of The Design Center (now ANDMORE).  Karen’s passion for empowering future generations in the home furnishings industry can be seen in her accomplishments during her tenure as President of the Board of Directors and CEO of the American Home Furnishings Hall of Fame Foundation Inc. She created the Leadership Initiative which includes a keynote address at the Induction Celebration, the Paul Broyhill Future Leader Award, and the Home Furnishings Leadership Institute at High Point University.

Her most recent achievement was the opening of the Hall of Fame in High Point, North Carolina, in April of 2023. This 25,000 sq ft hall contains permanent fixtures such as museum exhibits, the Stephen Knight Pond Library, and The Hughes Family History Center, and contains an event space, as well. By yearend, the Hall of Fame will have hosted nearly 100 events ranging from board meetings, design summits, and seminars to cocktail parties, fashion shows, and video and photography shoots.

Her accomplishments can also be seen in the success of her full-service marketing and public relations agency which has served industries such as home furnishings, telecommunications, tourism, and more, for over 30 years.  

“I am grateful for this honor as a tribute to our noble $150 billion industry that is committed to improving the lives of people around the globe by creating beautiful homes,” Karen McNeill, the President of the Board of Directors, and Chief Executive Officer of American Home Furnishings Hall of Fame Foundation Inc, said. “The unifying support across the industry has been unmatched. None of this would have been possible without the Hall of Fame team that took on every challenge with enthusiasm and commitment. The fact that the Hall of Fame was done, from the time we purchased property to opening our doors – during COVID – in less than four years is stunning but even more rewarding is seeing the building in constant use and to see the dream of our founders in 1988 come to fruition. There are no words for how exciting and fun the last four years have been and it has been my good fortune to be the one in this seat.”

In addition to the Legendary Leadership Award, there are dozens of category awards being presented at the ARTS Awards to retailers, manufacturers, designers and sales representatives. The HEARTS Award is being presented to Amir Loloi and the Academy of Achievement honor is being presented to Maria Mullen. All 34th ARTS Awards finalists can be viewed here. Reservations for the ARTS Awards open October 4th. Tickets will be $170 for ART members and $200 for non-members. Discounted rates for full tables of (8) and (10) guests are also available.

Sponsors for the 34th ARTS Awards include Aspire Design & Home; Furniture, Lighting & Décor; Business of Home; Home Accents Today; Décor News Now; Houstonia; Home Textiles Today; Designers Today; Furniture Today; Gifts & Decorative Accessories; Modern Luxury Interiors; Paper City; Interior Design Society, and Sustainable Furnishings Council.

For more information, visit the ARTS Awards website.

34th HEARTS Award Honoree – Amir Loloi

Sep 26, 2023 | Press Releases

Loloi to Receive HEARTS Award at 34th ARTS Awards
—To be honored for service to others and humanitarian excellence—

 

September 26, 2023 – Dallas Market Center and ART, the creative home furnishings network, have announced that Loloi will receive the HEARTS Award at the 34th ARTS Awards taking place at the Hilton Anatole Hotel in Dallas on Friday, January 12, 2024. The ARTS Awards, presented annually during the Dallas Total Home & Gift Market, celebrates preeminent manufacturers, retailers, interior designers, product designers, and sales representatives.

Loloi was nominated for the HEARTS Award by Gift for Life, the charitable organization raising funds for hunger relief via its Home Vs. Hunger initiative. The HEARTS Award is a special honor that began as an entire event during the pandemic. In June of 2021, the annual ARTS Awards was replaced by a one-time special event called the HEARTS Awards held in partnership and solidarity with twelve leading industry organizations to honor companies and individuals that have shown outstanding leadership, empathy, and service during the COVID-19 pandemic. With the return of the ARTS Awards to an in-person event, organizations have been invited to nominate a worthy organization for a HEARTS Award as a special award presented at the ARTS Awards. This year, the ARTS Awards Committee selected Loloi from among the nominees.

Said Sharon Davis, executive director of ART: “The Loloi family and company have personified and enacted the virtues of this award for decades. Their support of their industry, community, and humanitarian causes are worthy of recognition. They are an example to all of us.”

Added Ari Lowenstein, chairman of the board for Gift for Life: “Our organization has observed, and benefitted from, Loloi’s consistent support of many causes. Their passionate efforts in the service of others and the significant impact they have made is felt by many communities. This commitment is in their family and company DNA as they lift others up and offer care and support time and again. Our organization is pleased to recognize Loloi for the important work they do.”

Amir Loloi, a forty five-year veteran of the home furnishings industry, emigrated from Iran to the United States as a teenager. While earning his bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas in Dallas, Amir began his rug career with a traditional rug importer in the city, methodically rising through the ranks before following his entrepreneurial spirit and launching his own company, Loloi, in 2004.

Amir’s sons, Steven and Cyrus Loloi, joined the brand in 2009 and 2011, respectively, and are both actively involved in all aspects of the business. Now coming up on 20 years of the business, Loloi has become the “most trusted, go-to” resource in the industry for major retailers and top interior designers alike. Meanwhile, consumers covet Loloi’s products, including their collaborations with Amber Lewis, Magnolia Home by Joanna Gaines, Rifle Paper Co., and more. Through it all, Amir’s innate understanding of the layered home has resulted in Loloi designs being some of the most celebrated and widely distributed products in the home furnishings industry.

Today, Loloi is a diverse and vibrant global company with more than 600 employees, multiple warehouses and showrooms, and countless customers nationwide and abroad. Amir continues to innovate, excel, inspire, and elevate the home industry and is focused on continuing to evolve the Loloi ecosystem for the next twenty years and beyond. As a philanthropist, Amir supports many causes both local and abroad that work towards the betterment and advancement of families, weavers and artists, and communities in general. Amir resides in Dallas with his wife and his sons’ families nearby, visiting his grandkids whenever he has the chance.

In addition to the HEARTS Award, there are dozens of category awards being presented at the ARTS Awards to retailers, manufacturers, designers and sales representatives. All 34th ARTS Awards finalists can be viewed here. Reservations for the ARTS Awards open October 4th. Tickets will be $170 for ART members and $200 for non-members. Discounted rates for full tables of (8) and (10) guests are also available.

Sponsors for the 34th ARTS Awards include Aspire Design & Home; Furniture, Lighting & Décor; Business of Home; Home Accents Today; Décor News Now; Houstonia; Home Textiles Today; Designers Today; Furniture Today; Gifts & Decorative Accessories; Modern Luxury Interiors; Paper City; Interior Design Society, and Sustainable Furnishings Council.

For more information, visit the ARTS Awards website.

34th Academy of Achievement Honoree – Maria Mullen

Sep 20, 2023 | Press Releases

Maria Mullen to Receive ARTS Awards Academy of Achievement Honor
—CEO of Hubbardton Forge to accept industry’s highest accolade at 34th event—

September 20, 2023 – Dallas Market Center and ART, the creative home furnishings network, have announced that Maria Mullen, CEO of Hubbardton Forge, will receive the Academy of Achievement honor at the 34th ARTS Awards taking place at the Hilton Anatole Hotel in Dallas on Friday, January 12, 2024. The ARTS Awards, presented annually during the Dallas Total Home & Gift Market, celebrates preeminent manufacturers, retailers, interior designers, product designers, and sales representatives.

“Maria’s decades of leadership are respected across the lighting and home industries,” said Cindy Morris, president and CEO of Dallas Market Center. “Her positive impact on the business is significant, her mentorship is outstanding, and she continues to be a visionary leader.”

Sharon Davis, executive director of ART, added: “It’s an honor to present the Academy of Achievement to someone who has added so much value to the industry through her career achievements, but also through her commitment to industry organizations and philanthropic efforts.”

Maria Mullen has served as CEO of Hubbardton Forge since 2020. The 50-year-old company produces made to order lighting in its 100,000 square foot facility in Castleton, VT. Maria began her career in the fashion and sporting goods industries. Stints at Bruno Magli and Gianni Versace as well as Champion Products and Ewing Athletics took her around the world and exposed her to everything from professional sports to high fashion. In 1998 Maria joined Murray Feiss, now part of Visual Comfort & Co. Her eye for design and her sales acumen led founder Murray Feiss to add her to the company’s design committee, where she helped the company to even greater success. In 2005 Maria left Murray Feiss and joined The Uttermost Company as VP of Sales. She led the company’s initiative into fixed lighting and introduced their first lighting line in January of 2007. In 2009 she returned to Murray Feiss, then a Generation Brands company at the behest of then President, Greg Vandia. The company had suffered during the Great Recession and she spearheaded the rebuilding by, once again, focusing the company on great product and customer service. In 2011 she was elevated to President of the newly formed Feiss/Monte Carlo. In 2013 Maria departed Feiss/Monte Carlo and founded Kalizma Home with her partner Barb Cote. Kalizma Home is a design consultancy firm that designs and develops private label lighting products for many industry partners. In 2020 Maria turned over control of Kalizma to Barb to join Hubbardton Forge.

In addition to her corporate leadership, Maria has been committed to industry organizations and charitable organizations. She is an active participant in ALA, Women in Lighting, and WITHIT. She currently serves on The Dallas Market Center’s Lighting Board of Governors. For more than 20 years she has worked tirelessly for the H Foundation, a charitable organization that raises funds for basic cancer research. She sits on their Board of Directors. In 2021 Maria, with the H Foundation, launched a special fund to raise awareness and money for research into BRCA in memory of her friend Karen Krieger.

In addition to the Academy of Achievement, there are dozens of category awards being presented at the ARTS Awards to retailers, manufacturers, designers and sales representatives.  All 34th ARTS Awards finalists can be viewed here. Reservations for the ARTS Awards open October 4th. Tickets will be $170 for ART members and $200 for non-members. Discounted rates for full tables of (8) and (10) guests are also available.

Sponsors for the 34th ARTS Awards include Aspire Design & Home; Furniture, Lighting & Décor; Business of Home; Home Accents Today; Décor News Now; Houstonia; Home Textiles Today; Designers Today; Furniture Today; Gifts & Decorative Accessories; Modern Luxury Interiors; Paper City; Interior Design Society, and Sustainable Furnishings Council.

For more information, visit the ARTS Awards website.

Home vs Hunger Supporting Maui Wildfire Victims

Sep 12, 2023 | Press Releases

Wildfires in Hawaii have become the deadliest blazes in the U.S. in more than a century. World Central Kitchen (WCK) teams are on the ground in Maui working with partners to serve thousands of meals daily to
evacuees and emergency workers.

In partnership with Gift for Life, Home vs Hunger is raising funds to aid crisis-related hunger relief in Maui. Donations will be accepted through the Fall 2023 High Point Market, October 14-18, 2023.

Home vs Hunger was formed in 2023 as a new charitable initiative that unifies the Home industry around a cause everyone can support: No one should ever go hungry!
Join our industry-wide commitment to make a difference in our communities and around the world. Scan the QR code, or visit https://donate.wck.org/HomevsHungerHelpsHawaii to learn more and make a contribution.

 

 

 

Scan the QR code to learn more, join our efforts, or make a contribution.

Uttermost in Partnership with City of Hope

Sep 12, 2023 | Members News

Pink Sea Coral Mirror Project 

Supporting breast cancer research

We are proud to introduce our NEW, Pink Sea Coral mirror (09955) in partnership with City of Hope to help bring awareness to breast cancer and make a positive impact on breast cancer research!
Our hope is that this item not only brings beauty to interior spaces but also warmth and comfort to individuals, families and communities that are affected by this disease. A mirror doesn’t just provide a place to put on your makeup or check your outfit, it is a true reflection of who YOU are – inside and out. We hope this mirror always reminds you of your internal and external beauty and strength!

All proceeds from the sale of this mirror will be donated to City of Hope.

Romans 15:13 ~ May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

City of Hope Mission:
City of Hope is transforming the future of health. Every day we turn science into practical benefit. We turn hope into reality. We accomplish this through exquisite care, innovative research and vital education focused on eliminating cancer and diabetes:©

“City of Hope means so much to many of us here at Uttermost. We are excited to partner in this way and to give back to such a noble organization. Many within our Uttermost family have been affected by breast cancer and this is a special way to honor them.”  – Mac Cooper , President/CEO

Event Information:

Join us for a pink champagne toast and mingling to celebrate the launch and to honor those currently battling breast cancer and celebrate survivors!
Date: Sunday, October 15th
Location: Uttermost Showroom – IHFC – C448
*Front of the showroom. Make a sharp right turn at the entrance.
Time: 3:00 PM

Websites:
Uttermost.com
CityofHope.org