The Design Center of the Americas hosted its sixth-annual Stars of Design Awards ceremony and reception February 1. Held at the DCOTA in Fort Lauderdale, the event drew more than 300 people and added a new category, Stars on the Rise, honoring five designers age 40 and younger.
This year, the committee decided “it was the right time to focus on the next generation of designers, because they are our future,” said DCOTA marketing director Josh Fein.
During past events, the ceremony and reception have been held in separate areas in the center, but with construction this year, both portions took place in the main atrium. “We felt this would be the most convenient way to host our guests,” Fein said. In order to give the awards ceremony and reception their own designated areas, staffers set up an all-white stage to divide the atrium into two parts. In one area, the Stars of Design Award honorees and Stars on the Rise received their crystal awards, designed by Just Call. Two TVs positioned on both sides of the stage displayed images of the honorees' most recent design projects.
On the opposite site of the atrium, DJ Marcelo Magalhaes spun tunes from the second floor. At the blue-themed reception on the first floor, a woman encased in a gigantic, clear balloon rolling around, another on stilts, and a candy girl passing out treats interacted with guests.
The night's main entertainment came from the center’s collaboration with Alliance for Musical Arts, a local after-school program founded by Jo Ann Harris Ingram in North Miami-Dade County. Alliance for Musical Arts’s youth drum line marched through the center and concluded with a performance on the reception floor. “The best thing about working with Alliance for Musical Arts program," Fein said, "is it is a nonprofit and gave us the ability to give back with a charitable donation.”
