MILWAUKEE, WI (November, 2005) - Sheboygan-based Nemschoff, a leading provider of quality healthcare furniture, has partnered with the School of Architecture and Urban Planning (SARUP) at UW-Milwaukee to sponsor a unique exhibit of chairs designed by undergraduates.

Nemschoff will produce full-size prototypes of the top designs from the last six years and show them in an annual public exhibit.  This exhibit will also include many of the small-scale models built by the students.

The partnership grew out of a required activity in the school’s large Architecture 100 course, taught by associate professor Mark Keane. Students create a miniature chair (usually 8 to 12 inches tall) and a description that details the chair’s features. Then the designs are put on display and juried by faculty and graduate students. 

“We happened to be at the school last year on a day when the annual ‘chair’ exhibit was up,” says Amy Nemschoff Hellman, Director of Brand Marketing at Nemschoff. She and her father, Mark Nemschoff, President/CEO of Nemschoff and a UWM alum, were so impressed that they decided to add a “reality” component, she adds.

In January, Nemschoff officials & SARUP will co-host a public exhibit of this year’s top models as well as the full-size winning prototypes from 2005 and the previous five years. The company will also produce the winning chair design for the next two years, culminating in public exhibits in January of 2007 and 2008.

Nemschoff’s support helps our school demonstrate to students that their studies -- from the very start – are in synch with the work world,” says SARUP Dean Bob Greenstreet. “Mark and Amy are showing great foresight through their involvement, and we are grateful for their investment in our students.”

Nemschoff Hellman says that the company hopes the partnership and its resulting exhibits will attract more attention to the school and its innovative projects.  “We think the school is a hidden gem in Milwaukee,” she says.

Representatives from Nemschoff will join the judging this year, helping sort through the hundreds of entries. “There are typically 450 students from all majors enrolled in the course,” says Keane, “and the chair design is the first design project they attempt.”

He says he chose a chair because it reflects the same design principles used in structural architecture.  “A chair has similar elements such as structure, function, and style,” he says. “Furniture has its place in architecture.”

The 2005 winner will be chosen in December. Past winners of the SARUP chair design competition include:

2004

Andy Frank is a current UWM chemistry student.

2003

Dan Merkel was a UWM engineering student when he won the competition. He switched to architecture after taking the course and is currently a senior.

2002

Elliot Eakin is a former UWM architecture student now attending school in industrial design at Columbia College.

2001

Alyssa Fordham is a UWM architecture alum now attending graduate school in Minnesota.

2000

Bryan Finnegan is a UWM architecture alum now working for an architectural firm in Northbrook, Ill.

Nemschoff is the country's leading healthcare furniture specialist, manufacturing seating, tables, and casegoods specifically for use in hospitals and other healthcare settings.  For additional information, please visit www.nemschoff.com.