DETROIT — Edmond Hagopian and Angela Hagopian Snow recognized the 2023-2024 Student Rug Design Competition winners at the 2024 College for Creative Studies Student Exhibition on May 10.
This year’s theme called for students to design an area rug inspired by American art from the 1960s through the 1980s and the winners were recognized and awarded scholarships provided by Hagopian; first place Rachel Barker, MA, Design and Materials; second place Milena Pukalo, product design; third place Hoda Solati, MFA UXD; and three honorable mentions went to Samantha Mantua, communication design; Morgan Newby, interior design; and Kyleigh Kotulis, interior design.
The competition, a long-standing collaboration (the longest partnership recognized by the school) between the College for Creative Studies and Armenian owned Hagopian World of Rugs gives students the chance to submit their designs based on specific criteria and compete for scholarship moneys funded by Hagopian who also makes an annual donation to the school. In addition, Hagopian has the first place design made into a rug and displayed at the annual Student Exhibition. The competition, originally conceived by the late Edgar Hagopian to mentor students and encourage interest in the textile arts through community involvement, continues under the direction of third generation owners, Suzanne Hagopian, Edmond Hagopian and Angela Hagopian Snow and has become a much-anticipated annual event.
The Hagopian Family of Companies are long-time supporters of the cultural arts and community projects in metro Detroit. In addition to this competition they host (22+ years in 2024) the Detroit Chamber Winds “Night Notes” series in their Birmingham showroom bringing fine music to local venues at an affordable cost; and, Hagopian World of Rugs / Hagopian Cleaning Services is a Signal Benefactor to the Detroit Institute of Arts.
