Students attend furniture symposium

by SPECIAL TO THE CITIZEN-TIMES
CLYDE — Three students from the Professional Crafts-Fiber program at Haywood Community College recently


attended a symposium sponsored by the furniture industry in High Point.
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The three-day educational program, titled “Fabric: From Concept to Consumer,” was organized and led by the International Textile Market Association.
Attending were students Sherry Neal, Dagmar Morgan and Mary Grover, and Catharine Ellis, college fiber instructor.
The symposium included facility tours and presentations conducted by industry experts at several North Carolina furniture-manufacturing plants. Students also traveled to Charlotte, Winston-Salem and Valdese during the week as part of the program to visit design firms and textile manufacturing plants.
For HCC student Dagmar Morgan, the symposium helped her see what options are available in the field.
“I was able to see how the industry worked,” she said. “It helped me decide whether I want to be a part of it.”
Morgan came to HCC upon finishing Pisgah High School. She plans to continue her education at Western Carolina University.
“Through the program at HCC, I have learned so much about entrepreneurship. I would definitely be ready to open a business if that’s what I chose to do,” she said.
Student Mary Grover said the experience opened her eyes to what designers do.
“I saw the constraints they are under,” she said. “This symposium allowed me to interact with other industry students and internationally known designers who were willing to spend time with us.”
Grover came to HCC with a master’s degree. She is a nurse practitioner/midwife who is pursuing a lifetime interest in learning more about fiber.
After finishing HCC, she plans to return to her field but also participate in the fiber field.
The ITMA is a membership-based nonprofit organization that works with textile students and educators to maximize industry awareness and to encourage students to pursue careers in the home furnishings fabric industry.
The HCC participants were part of a group that included about 20 other students and faculty members from N.C. State University, University of Kansas, Buffalo State University and Savannah College of Art and Design.
In addition to industry tours and presentations, the program provided individual students opportunities to review their portfolios and samples of their work and to develop and refine job seeking skills with the help of industry experts.