FHSU interior design students go retro; exhibit at Moss-Thorns through Nov. 12

By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

Senior Fort Hays State University interior design students are showing off their skills by making old-style new again.

For their senior interior design exhibition at the Moss-Thorns Gallery of Art on the FHSU campus, the students created four mid-century modern vignettes. The exhibit will run through Nov. 12.

After discussing for a bit, Charles Boyd, senior of Salina, said that the class decided to focus on 1970s mid-century modern style because they saw this as a style coming back in fashion.

Many of the items are personal belongings of students in the class.

“I love the colors of it,” Boyd said. “I’m a huge green person, and I love the yellows and the oranges and especially the style of furniture with the flared-out legs, just kind of the simplicity in modern. It’s just something I really  like.”

Kameron Lowery, senior of Dodge City, said she enjoyed working with mid-century modern style.

“Mid-century modern is a very open concept type of style,” she said. “A lot of it is about bringing the outdoors in. You can see plants and object that have that organic shape and texture that resonate with nature.

“Also the muted tones of browns and oranges and pops of color are really nice, as well, to make the space a little more fun and interesting.”

Nichole Allen, senior of Courtland, also said she loves mid-century modern.

“Specifically, I like the colors like the yellows and the greens. The browns are very earthy and warm and happy,” she said. “I love that feel that vibe of warm. I a very cold person. Mid-century is very clean. It’s modern, but old. It’s very homey. You can just cuddle up in it.”

In addition to the vignettes, photographs on the walls of the gallery feature designs the eight students in the class have created throughout their studies at FHSU. They include various styles and room settings.

Lowery said she did not feel she had a specific style in her work to date.

“We’re taught to research and look into and work with all different styles because everybody’s personality and style’s different,” she said. “When we work with someone someday we’re able to show whatever their style is instead of what we prefer.”

Many of these designs are completed using computer software to render the images.

“I think this process was a lot of fun for us,” Boyd said. “It was really our first time actually experiencing the process of going through and finding all of the furniture, getting ready for the staging process and actually seeing our design come to life. … I think that is really preparing us for the real world.”

Colin Schmidtberger, interior design instructor, said the exhibition is the students’ grand exit from the program.

“It’s the one thing that gives them hands-on experience with design,” he said.

The students’ decision to focus on mid-century modern design was unique, he said.

“This style is coming back,” he said. “It’s making its way back into the world right now. You’re seeing people coming through, the older crowd, it’s bringing back memories for them and a lot of them don’t want it to be in their spaces again. Where the younger crowd and students who are coming in are all about, ‘I want this in my house.'”