In collaboration with Jane Dagmi from HPxD (High Point by Design), ASID Carolinas organized a field trip to High Point Market on January 12, 2023. The 50 attendees were students from Wake Tech in Raleigh and Forsyth Tech in Winston-Salem.  The students were accompanied by their instructors Isabelle Odjaghian, Gisele Taylor Wells, and Karyn Reilly.

The trip began at Metropolitan Gallery where students were fed a delicious breakfast and shown the gallery’s processes, from fabrication to customization.  Metropolitan Gallery also discussed with the students how they work with designers. 

We then headed to the Baker factory, specifically to see their upholstery operation, where the students were treated to the full demonstration - from the design template to the frame fabrication.  We also caught a glimpse of the cutting of fabric and leather. The 8-way, hand-tied demonstration was a major hit. 

We toured and had lunch at Woodbridge and John Richards showrooms (the group was split in half).  We then toured the Eichholtz Furniture showroom. Each of the showrooms we toured was very different in what they offered, and it allowed the students to see a wide breadth of options of how much, or how little, customization is possible.

We ended the tour at Splashworks, which offers home décor, where art and technology meet in a highly sustainable manner.

All-in-all, the students were absolutely elated over the day’s experiences, as you will see in the event photos.