ZAAR Design Center Showroom Concept Showcases Local Artists, New Talents And New High Point Market Exhibitors

Furniture World News Desk on 10/9/2012

Blogger/ Designer Traci Zeller

ZAAR Design Center, an innovative showroom concept that offers a year-round presence for home furnishings exhibitors —as well as showroom space during the bi-annual High Point Market—announced that it is stepping up its game this Market with new exhibitors, an emphasis on showcasing local artists, and a special educational event featuring popular blogger/designer Traci Zeller.

At noon on Sunday, October 14, Zeller—a Charlotte-based interior designer as well-known for her clean, sophisticated spaces where children are welcome as she is for her popular design blog—is headlining a free Lunch & Learn Seminar aimed at the growing numbers of interior designers attending Market. The event, “Using Social Media to Define and Establish Your Presence as a Designer,” is a must-attend for any time-crunched interior designer who yearns to create a compelling online presence that will set them apart from their peers.

“Traci’s straightforward, manageable approach will empower you to use social media in a way that works for your business and your schedule,” says ZAAR Design Center founder Ruth Olbrych. “Traci is a dynamic speaker who understands the importance of good time management. As a successful businesswoman, who is also the mother of multiples, her presentation will center on the same easy and effective techniques, time-saving tools and strategies that she uses in her own business everyday.”

In addition to founding ZAAR Design Center, located in a former Drexel Heritage upholstery factory at 741 West Ward Avenue as an incubator and affordable option for companies new to High Point, Olbrych serves as president of Antiques by ZAAR, a purveyor of Chinese antiques. This Market, Antiques by ZAAR will show alongside Total Design Source, a line of Made-in-America custom upholstered chairs produced in North Carolina, Cabeen Originals, custom solid wood tables and chairs made in Chattanooga, TN, and three U.K.-based furniture makers, including Lorna Dewey Company, featuring European antiques and reproduction sculptures, Touchwood UK offering fine handmade reproductions and Distinctive Chesterfields, producers of handcrafted leather furniture.

Olbrych has also made it her mission to showcase the work of fine artists and craftspeople from the Triad area and beyond. Among these is High Point native Katy Allgeyer, a mixed-media artist who has traveled to Asia more than 100 times as a fashion designer. A professional feng shui consultant for 25 years, and author of the popular blog “Feng Shui by Fishgirl,” Allgeyer imbues her paintings with auspicious feng shui symbology.

Another High Point-based exhibitor, Kathleen Holterman is a calligrapher, painter and mixed media artist who is inspired by a wide range of subjects, from playful pieces for children to spiritual experimentations.

Based out of Springfield, MA, photographer Bruce Barone offers “distinctive photography with soul,” while photographer Sylvia Walks features beautifully crafted photography inspired by the landscape of East Hampton, Long Island. Artists Dave and Barbara MacInnes of Wood and Clay Studios are a husband-and-wife team from Greensboro who specialize in turned wood and hand-built pottery respectively.

Rounding out the offerings is New Growth Designs, a producer of faux plants and trees, one of several companies showing in multiple showrooms at Market, as well as year-round at ZAAR Design Center.

ABOUT ZAAR DESIGN CENTER: ZAAR Design Center is an exquisite collection of home furnishings and accessories which makes product available to the design trade during the High Point Market, as well as throughout the year. The Center is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day during Market times, and the second Wednesday of each month, or by appointment. For more information, contact Ruth Olbrych: ruth@antiquesbyzaar.com or (866) 868-9227.