A former practicing attorney studying for a new career has been awarded a prestigious and valuable scholarship to cover all expenses of her senior year at The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Tidwell is the third consecutive UTC student to be awarded the Angelo Donghia Scholarship.
Dalton, Georgia, resident Cindy Tidwell is one of 12 interior design students from across the US to be selected for the Angelo Donghia Foundation Award. Her selection was based on a juried competition of portfolio submissions.
Rooftop Terrace CAD Rendering
Tidwell, who celebrates her 40th birthday as fall semester begins, said the project she entered was a combination of commercial and residential—a hypothetical art gallery with a residence for the owners (both artists) on two floors above the business. Green design was an important element in her project.
“I interviewed Chattanooga artists Patricia and Rey D’Alfonso in Chattanooga for my ‘hypothetical’ artists so that I could get a sense of what a client would want,” Tidwell said. “They had a lot of input about the style of furniture they like and their needs for a residence and gallery space. They even made requests to accommodate their two bull mastiffs which I was able to incorporate into the design. Knowing their cultural backgrounds and their tastes made it easy to choose colors and select furnishings for the project. I used vibrant colors to reflect their rich cultural heritage (Patricia is from Venezuela and Rey defected from Cuba) and selected additional furnishings to compliment the classic pieces they already own.”
Planning, programming, sketches, AutoCad (computer-aided design) drawings, floor plans and perspectives were included in Tidwell’s project. “After taking the AutoCAD courses as juniors most students do not want to go back to hand drafting projects. It saves so much time and gives you a lot of flexibility to make changes to projects,” Tidwell said. “It's a common misconception that only architects can draft and draw in AutoCAD. As design students we get a lot of training related to space planning, architectural drafting, codes compliance, materials, etc. There is much more to the program than just learning to select paint colors and the right fabrics.”
As a big fan of Home and Garden TV (HGTV), Tidwell quickly began to understand there is a difference between a thirty-minute redesign show and the reality of the planning and execution of a remodel or new construction project. Some projects take a month and students may spend 100-150 hours on one project. Tidwell’s Materials class participated in the redesign of the UTC Media Center.
The jury for the 2010 awards included Laura Bohn of Laura Bohn Design Associates, Inc., Doris Athenios, Art & Antiques Editor of Traditional Home, and Doretta Sperduto, Decorating Director of House Beautiful.