06 Feb 26th Annual ARTS Awards – Fun & Smiles All Around!

One night that was a real special treat for me on my trip to Dallas Market this year, was  an award evening that really stands out in the home decor industry: The 26th Annual ARTS Awards Gala. It honors Home Industry Excellence and is presented by ARTS and the Dallas Market Center. In mid-January I attended my very first one at the invitation of ARTS association member, Laura Van Zeyl.

ART is a trade group of home decor professionals who combine their experiences and backgrounds into resources that educate, promote and support people, products, showrooms, and companies in the home furnishings industry. (Find out more about ART HERE).

And before I share my story of how I attended this event at Dallas Market, I want to wish all of the nominees and award winners a big CONGRATULATIONS!!

Now for my story: Last June, while I was up in Dallas presenting my luxury pillow line, Deborah Main Designs, to retailers and showrooms, my friend Laura Van Zeyl suggested I come to the ARTS cocktail reception to meet some of the showroom owners and home accessory representatives.

Me, Deborah Main, with friend Laura Van Zeyl, Publisher/Editorial director of Home Fashion Forecast and Residential Lighting magazines.

She thought it would be a great group of professionals for me to get to know in home décor. And boy, was she right! I met so many wonderful people, learned more about the trade association, and the members were all so welcoming.

ART is also the the only association in the U.S. that recognizes the accomplishments of their members in the industry with the ARTS Awards.

The ARTS Awards Gala was held in in a ballroom at the Anatole Hilton right near Dallas Market Center. This above was a moving art installation we saw while heading up to the ballroom.

A little background on Laura: Mutual friend Leslie Carothers, of Kaleidescope Partnership, connected Laura and I via Twitter back in January of 2013 when I did the Atlanta Home & Gift show and suggested we meet #IRL (In real life) since we’d both be in Atlanta.

I’m going into detail here, not just because it’s a fun story (and I’m long winded), but because it’s a great example of what can happen when you, as a small business owner, are actively engaged building relationships on social media.

So here’s the scoop: Laura and I realized we’re in the same hotel, so I invite her down to my room where my best friend Andrea Vanhoven and I are frantically bagging and labeling vintage brooches for my very first International Home and Gift Market. (Mind you, I have NO idea who Laura is, and Andrea and I are in our PJ’s!!) You still with me now? Well, before you know it, after a glass of wine or two, we put Laura to work helping us bag jewelry and we were all laughing up a storm at how silly the whole thing was.

I only found out later (when Laura showed up at my booth the next day in High Design with a press badge on), what a heavy hitter she was….and I thought, ‘Oh well, so much for first impressions!’  But the best thing out of that whole Twitter rendezvous is Laura and I have been friends ever since!

Laura’s day gig is pretty busy. She travels from trade show to trade show every year because she’s an award-winning leader in the home and lighting industry and Publisher/Editorial Director of two of the top publications: Home Fashion Forecast and Residential Lighting. 

I personally LOVE Home Fashion Forecast because it is a huge tabloid size mag with awesome large photos. The colorful photos are inspiring to me and it helps me keep abreast of the trends in home décor, especially accessories like pillows.

Not to mention, Laura’s a mother, a marathon runner, and was named by Today’s Chicago Women magazine as one of its “100 Women of Inspiration”. I can attest to that last one, because she has inspired me to meet new people, learn more about the home and accessories industries, and to keep plugging away at my business.

Here’s Lauren Grey, Communications Manager for Dallas Market Center AND coordinator of #SneakPeek2015, Laura Van Zeyl of Home Fashion Forecast, and I before we head into the ARTS awards ballroom.

So this year, I was incredibly honored to be asked by Laura to be a guest at her table for the 2015 ARTS Awards! And the bonus, was I got to sit next to Lance Jackson and David Ecton of Parker Kennedy Living , a dynamic design duo that is accumulating accolades from coast to coast! (Watch for their unique style here on my blog during Modernism Week in Palm Springs). I had met both of these fine gentleman briefly in 2013 when they stopped by my booth in Atlanta, so it was really great to reconnect. (If you’re just starting to follow my blog now, you can see many posts about my debut in Atlanta HERE).

Lance Jackson and David Ecton of Parker Kennedy Living, and Laura Van Zeyl and I.

The moral of this story is that we are all connected. It’s important to network, not just in your own circle of friends and colleagues, but in social media and in real life to meet people in whatever industry you are in – be it fashion, art, or design. Step outside of your comfort zone!

Fashion footnote: My earrings were made for me in 2011 by my daughter, Qin, to go with a silver gown from MossAustin for Austin Fashion Week awards. When I asked Qin if she could make me a necklace to go with the earrings for this gown (also from Moss), she whipped up this fabulous long strand of metallic rocks which I love.  Laura is wearing a dazzling short lace dress. I like to think of Laura as the “Goddess of Lighting” as her kindness and smile radiate wherever she goes and with whomever she meets.

A fun selfie of Laura and I.   See that contagious smile of hers?

Now back to the ARTS Awards Gala: Now guess who was the MC for this amazing ARTS Awards Gala?  You got it, Donny Osmond! Having just met Donny, and his lovely wife Debbie, in a private breakfast earlier in the day at #SneakPeek2015, I knew we were in for a night of fun.  (Full disclosure here: I was never a Donny Osmond fan and funny thing is, either was his wife!! (More on that later) The Rolling Stones were more along my line. But Donny and Debbie were super nice, down-to-the-earth people and I can’t wait to share more about their home line in future posts).

Donny Osmond, of Donny Osmond Home as MC for the 26th ARTS Awards Gala. Photography from ARTS Awards website.

A few ARTS Awards Highlights: These three talented and beautiful Dallas women above (photo by ARTS Awards) rocked it at the awards! Interior designers (from left to right) Denise McGaha of Denise McGaha Interiors and Tobi Fairley of Tobi Fairley & Associates were presenters, and Shay Geyer, owner of IBB Design, won the ARTS Award for BEST HOME FURNITURE STORE for the 2^nd year in a row! Congratulations Shay!!

ARTS Award winner for Best Furniture Store, IBB Design.

This pic below is not the best, but to me, it really shows Shay’s incredible enthusiasm not just for winning, but for all the people and companies that work together to create this amazing association. She is a true cheerleader for the home and interior design industries and her hands were waving like crazy with excitement!

Shay Geyer, owner of IBB Design in Plano, and two-time ARTS award winner.

There were too many awards, speeches and laughs to go into great detail here. Just in manufacturing alone there were 28 nominees for six categories – from Home Textiles and TableTop to Wall Décor and Lighting Fixtures.

But I do want to recognize one more award because it is for a company, Rojo 16, whose home decor and accessories I fell in love with last year while at #SneakPeek2014. Even though I have not yet met this dynamic trio, Aaron, Jose Carlos and Raymundo, I was so excited to see them receive the ARTS Award for Home Accents Manufacturer because I share space with this award-winning team at the Doris Sanders Showroom, where my Deborah Main Designs pillow line is now represented. Congratulations! I’m super happy for you and look forward to meeting you at June market!

Photograph from Rojo16.com.

All the presenters were wonderful! You could feel the alive excitement in the room for all who were nominated and then the teams that went to the stage to accept their awards. It was a real treat to witness such dedication and enthusiasm in the home industry.

These magnificent ARTS Awards showed me how proud this group of industry professionals are, not only for what they do and what service they provide to their customers, but for each other.

It was such an inspirational evening to witness for the very first time!

From left to right: Sherwin Horowitz and Nicole Bowling from Residential Lighting and Home Fashion Forecast magazines (proud sponsors of the ARTS Awards and members of ART), Jennifer Jensen and Thomas Reindl from Northwest Lighting and Accents , and Laura Van Zeyl.

First time ART Award winners: Jennifer Jensen and Thomas Reindl of Northwest Lighting and Accents won the ARTS award for Lighting Showroom in the Midwest/Southwest Region.

At the end of a wonderful evening, while waiting for my coat I was happy to be able to capture this precious moment for this young couple with their award, and Laura and her team. I think Jennifer and Thomas’s beaming smiles tell you just how much this award truly means to them! Thank you Laura for a spectacular evening of inspiration! Next week, catch more about #SneakPeek2015, Donna Osmond and Ambella Home right here on PillowGoddess.com Till then, let’s all repeat “spring is coming soon”, “spring is coming soon”! XO, PG

Disclaimer: I was not compensated by any person or company for this post. All photos (except where noted) and views are my own.