The Antique & Design Center at Market Square reported that it continues to grow, with nearly 75 exhibitors signed to present exquisite antiques, original works of art, and one-of-a-kind finds in the unique, 60,000-square-foot venue housed in historic Market Square.
According to Karen Luisana, founder and managing director of the Antique & Design Center at Market Square, the carefully edited presentation of dealers and artisans makes this show-within-a-show unlike any other.
“There are a number of very large, well-known antique shows around the country, and we’ve walked the halls and trudged the muddy fields of all of them to gather what we believe to be the cream of the crop for the High Point Market,” Luisana describes. “The extraordinary group of dealers and artisans we are presenting this season--arrayed in one easy-to-shop, indoor venue--is a very special, hand-picked group of exhibitors specifically chosen for what the design trade is looking for today.”
The Antique & Design Center is expanding by more than one dozen new exhibitors this season, many of whom have never before shown at the High Point Market. Antiques dealers showing at the Antique & Design Center for the first time this Fall include Epping Forest, Bridges Over Time and Summerthur. Other notable new exhibitors will be Micah Gerahty of Hudson, NY-based Character Unlimited, LLC, who specializes in reclaimed hardwood floors and custom, handmade furniture from reclaimed wood, and Pandora de Balthazar, a purveyor of exquisite linens and antique textiles. Also new this Market are artists Jan Lukens, who specializes in equestrian portraiture, and outside artist Ron Goins. Pennoyer Newman, which produces distinctive garden pots cast from estate originals, will also be showing in High Point for the first time.
Amanda Lane Kinney, marketing director at the Antique & Design Center, believes that the Center’s unprecedented growth in difficult economic times can be attributed to consumers’ steadily growing interest in design and vintage furnishings.
“Culturally speaking, we are seeing the rise in the number of television shows devoted to the genre, like “American Pickers” on the History Channel; “Picker Sisters” on Lifetime; “Buried Treasure” on Fox; “Oddities,” on the Discovery Channel, and of course, the original “Antiques Roadshow” on PBS. If all of these shows are any indication, old really is new again. We’re also seeing social media--the popular design blogs and Twitter--helping to drive interest in vintage furnishings and antiques by new generations of collectors.”
“At the same time,” Luisana says, “there are a growing number of young, entrepreneurial spirits in the antiques business who have one foot in the antique world, and the other in the design world. They find the juxtaposition of styles exciting, and they are making design exciting for others. Chicago designer Julia Buckingham Edelmann, principal of Buckingham Interiors & Design, who will be appearing in our seminar series next month, is a prime example of this. She integrates antiques and artifacts with modern design, and the touch of old elevates her interiors to art.”
Along with a full slate of exhibitors, the Antique & Design Center at Market Square is hosting a series of seminars for designers and retailers interested in learning more about the category. For a complete schedule of events, read the blog at www.highpointantiquecenter.blogspot.com, or visit, www.highpointmarket.org.
About the Antique & Design Center at Market Square: A favorite venue of the world’s hippest retailers and leading-edge designers, this extraordinary show-within-a-show at the High Point Market features exquisite antiques, original works of art, and one-of-a-kind finds from more than 70 dealers. Housed in historic Market Square on the Ground and Mezzanine levels, just beyond the Suites and Salon, exhibitors' spaces change daily as pieces are sold and replaced. Buyer amenities include free parking on Tomlinson Street and a private entrance at 316 W. Commerce Avenue between Tomlinson and Jacob’s Place. For more information about the Antique & Design Center at Market Square, visit www.hpadc.com, or read the blog at www.highpointantiquecenter.blogspot.com.