Christine Evans Of The American Society of Furniture Designers To Retire

Furniture World News

The American Society of Furniture Designers announced that their Executive Director, Christine Evans who has headed the organization since 1997 has retired. Under her leadership, ASFD has experienced profound growth in membership and participation in the annual ASFD Pinnacle Awards, the pre-eminent design awards for the Home Furnishings Industry. Steve Hodges, ASFD vice-president/president-elect and long time member states that “Christine Evans has been the literal heart and soul of ASFD in recent years and has made a great contribution in making the Society both more visible and viable in our industry. She has been the public face of ASFD and helped us heighten awareness of furniture design within our industry and to the public at large”. Evans has established ASFD as a primary vehicle for communication, excellence and recognition in the design world and has broadened its influence to include designers, manufacturers, educators and students, retailers and other industry leaders. “The American Society of Furniture Designers is grateful to Christine Evans for the eleven years of unequaled contributions to our society. She has been the organizational engine of all society programs, events and every day happenings. She deserves our admiration for orchestrating the past eleven Pinnacle Award competitions to its high level of acceptance by our industry and the design community” says Arto O. Szabó, ASFD, Treasurer. In recapping her years in the role of Executive Director with ASFD, Christine said, "ASFD is an organization that has grown and matured, now reaching a point of equal partnership with other organizations and major players in the furniture industry. Obviously the creation of the Pinnacle Awards has given a major boost to the organization; and those ASFD leaders who had the imagination and experience to bring it to the level it is today deserve the credit for its current success. I have very much enjoyed and am proud of the part I have played in this process and other ASFD initiatives. The utmost benefit of my position with ASFD has been the amazing friends and talented people I have had the pleasure to meet and work with over the years, including both members and a host of others in the industry.” Jane Matteson, Industry Consultant will take on the role of Executive Director effective January 15. She has been active in the furniture industry for the past fifteen years working in design, merchandising, and marketing. Jane brings a strong creative skill bank to ASFD as it goes into the future. The new ASFD headquarters are located in Greensboro, N.C. Both Evans and Matteson can be reached by email at info@asfd.com.