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Room & Board To Host Experience Soy Style: Be in the KnOH! Exhibition

Furniture World Magazine

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Cargill announced that the first Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD) student retail exhibition will take place the weekend of Oct. 10-11 at Room & Board’s flagship store in the Minneapolis suburb of Edina, Minn. Experience Soy Style: Be in the KnOH!, sponsored by Cargill’s BiOH® Polyols business, will take visitors on a journey “from soybean to sofa,” showing how soybeans can reduce consumption of petroleum and leave a smaller environmental footprint when used in furniture cushions.
 
The exhibition culminates a design competition sponsored by the BiOH product line during MCAD’s spring semester. Students were challenged to design a furnishings retail event around soy-based cushion foam that would educate, entertain, endear, encourage interaction and engage all five senses.
 
“It is only appropriate that the next generation of young leaders tell this story of sustainability and innovation,” said Jessica Koster, marketing manager- BiOH polyols. “The fabulous creative work being done by these student designers will educate and inspire. Cargill’s partnership with Room & Board and MCAD on this project has produced results far more gratifying than we could have imagined.”
 
The contest winners – MCAD students Nick Kriegler, Stephanie Polus, and Ruth Sauvageau – will receive their cash prize of $5000 as part of the ceremonial Soybean Watering and Student Awards ceremony at 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 10.
 
The ceremony kicks off a community event with both design and children’s activities from 1-3 p.m. A special interactive play space called “Kids KnOH Zone,” located in the youth furniture department, will engage children, ages five through 10, with activities from learning about growing soybean plants, to having fun with foam blocks and sharing their ideas on how to help the environment. Older children will have an opportunity to act as “journalists,” capturing Flip camera videos of attendees.
 
Exhibits throughout the store will display soybean plants, sculptures made of furniture foam, videos, banners, and sustainability-themed exhibits describing how small, sustainable choices can add up to a large environmental impact.
 
Renewable, soy-based BiOH polyols replace a portion of the non-renewable petroleum polyols from which polyurethane foam is traditionally made. The percentage of soy content depends on the type of foam and how it is manufactured. Over time, the goal is to replace a higher percentage of petroleum while still maintaining foam performance.
 
The BiOH® Polyols business will purchase carbon offsets for the event and will match two percent of the Room & Board store’s retail sales from the Oct.10-11 weekend to donate to TreeTrust – a Minnesota non-profit dedicated to transforming the green landscape. For event news and updates, visit www.experiencebioh.com or visit our Facebook event page at http://bit.ly/1RU8nJ.
 
About Room & Board: Room & Board is a Minneapolis-based furniture retailer offering unique home furnishings that combine classic, simple design and exceptional quality using natural materials. More than 85 percent of its furniture is manufactured in America. Room & Board is proud of its commitment to supporting American manufacturers and small, family-owned businesses. For more than 29 years, Room & Board professionals have helped people furnish their homes, translating their passion for well-designed home furnishings into outstanding value for customers. Room & Board has stores in Minneapolis, Chicago, Denver, Orange County, San Francisco, New York and Atlanta. It will open its 10th store in Los Angeles in the fall and eleventh store in Washington, D.C. in the spring of 2010. Its unique collection of home furnishings is available nationally through Shop From Home, which includes a catalog, Web site and team of knowledgeable Design Associates to help with selection and professional, in-home delivery service. For more information on Room & Board, visit roomandboard.com or call 800-486-6554 to order a catalog.
 
About Cargill’s BiOH Polyols: Cargill’s BiOH® polyols business markets renewable-based products to manufacturers of polyurethane foam for use in home furnishings and other consumer products. Cargill is an international producer and marketer of food, agricultural, financial and industrial products and services. Founded in 1865, the privately held company employs 159,000 people in 68 countries. Cargill helps customers succeed through collaboration and innovation, and is committed to applying its global knowledge and experience to help meet economic, environmental and social challenges wherever it does business. For more information, visit www.cargill.com.
 
About MCAD: Recognized nationally and internationally for its innovative approaches to visual arts education, the Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD) is home to nearly 800 students pursuing Bachelor of Fine Arts, Bachelor of Science and Master of Fine Arts degrees. The College offers majors in Advertising, Animation, Comic Art, Drawing/Painting, Filmmaking, Fine Arts Studio, Furniture Design, Graphic Design, Illustration, Photography, Print Paper Book, Sculpture and Web + Multimedia Environments, and its MFA program is ranked one of the Top 50 in the country by U.S. News & World Report. The College has earned the highest accreditation possible for an art and design school and has been named a "Best Midwestern College" for six consecutive years by The Princeton Review. MCAD also offers Continuing Studies courses; certificate programs in Graphic Design and Sustainable Design, as well as a Post-Baccalaureate certificate; online learning; and youth programs, along with free exhibitions and lectures. For more information, visit www.mcad.edu.