NEWS RELEASE

February 16, 2017

PHOTO: Lisa Vanlannen (top left), Danielle Powers (top right), Kayla Domaszek (bottom left), Lisa Martinek (bottom right)

The participation of three students from Fox Valley Technical College’s Interior Design - Kitchen & Bath Design program in the prestigious 2017 National Kitchen & Bath Association’s (NKBA) Design Competition is gaining increased visibility at the state level as well.

Each year, the students from the Advanced Kitchen & Bath course are required to participate in the annual NKBA student design competition. The project is based on actual clients with anticipation to be built from the students’ winning designs. The students are to design a kitchen and/or bath based on client requests, utilizing their hand drafting skills as well as computer-generated design skills. The yearlong submission process culminates with an NKBA judging period during the summer, with winners announced in September.

A panel of industry professionals judges the entries accepted from all parts of the nation as well as Canada. The NKBA Student Design Competition acknowledges the talent of student kitchen and bath designers to plan safe, functional, and personalized spaces that incorporate imaginative design statements and aesthetically pleasing solutions.

Three of the participating FVTC students involved in this year’s NKBA competition are Kayla Domaszek, Amherst Junction; Danielle Powers, Suamico, and Lisa Vanlannen, Green Bay. Under the leadership of their instructor, Lisa Martinek, the students will also be attending this year’s Wisconsin Technical College System (WTCS) Student Showcase at the State Capitol Rotunda on February 21. Domaszek, Powers, and Vanlannen will all highlight their NKBA work at the Madison event.

The WTCS event includes students from all 16 Wisconsin technical colleges displaying projects that portray their career-focused pathways. It’s also an opportunity for students and college officials to raise awareness with state legislators about the value of technical education in today’s skills-gap economy.

“The NKBA competition is a real-world form of student engagement,” says Martinek. “Students must go through the process of working with actual clients and completely understand their needs before applying design elements. It’s quite an extensive project that brings out the best in students, and I’m honored they’ll get a chance to show these illustrations at the Capitol.”

The three students will be showcasing the state’s only accredited Kitchen & Bath program at the technical college level on February 21. Each learner will share her own design scheme with visitors. Kayla Domaszek’s rendering displays her proposed design of a kitchen remodel within an existing home. She remodeled the space to align with the client’s physical needs while achieving a look that conveys timelessness.

Infused with a passion for travel, Danielle Powers used a recent study tour trip to New York City to help create a new kitchen design based heavily on energy and originality. Her out-of-box thinking brings a sense of lifestyle into the design she’ll be displaying in Madison.

For Lisa Vanlannen, the updating of a kitchen for a family member inspired her project. Her skills were put to the test by designing a workable kitchen with various accessibility points, juxtaposing functionality, and pleasing aesthetics.

Coming off the heels of winning awards, including a top honor at the 3rd Annual NKBA Wisconsin/Upper Michigan Student Design Competition in Madison last year, FVTC continues to develop top-notch interior designers. The Kitchen & Bath program also established the Wisconsin/Upper Michigan first-ever NKBA student chapter in 2016.

Recent graduates of FVTC’s Interior Design and Interior Design – Kitchen and & Bath Design associate degree programs all earned careers within six months of graduation, reaffirming industry demands for their skill sets.

The NKBA is the premiere association for kitchen and bath professionals. Fifty years after its inception, it is comprised of more than 60,000 members.