The three designers will each receive a five inches by eight inches tufted area rug based on their winning design. Each design will be developed and manufactured in Merida’s Fall River weaving facility for launch in early 2010; and Merida will make a $5,000 donation to AFH to support their innovative art apprenticeship programs.
The three winners and their designs will be showcased at ‘For the Love of Art,’ AFH’s annual Holiday Open house on December 15, and the winning rugs will be sold through Merida’s new e-commerce Website, MeridaHome.com, starting in early 2010.
The contest, which was announced in early October, challenged AFH’s young artists to design sustainable textiles for Merida’s tufted area rug line, which is made from 100% New Zealand wool in Fall River. The final submissions scored on a number of criteria, including clear expression of the contest’s sustainability theme, originality, color and style trends, and marketability.
Merida, a designer of sustainable natural fiber textiles, and AFH, a nonprofit that works with teens to provide paid employment in the arts, developed the rug design contest out of both organizations’ desire to combine the creativity and enthusiasm of the young AFH designers with Merida’s expertise in sustainable textile design to create beautiful, inspiring products with a compelling story.
