Antique & Design Center Sets Itself Apart as a Show-Within-a-Show at The High Point Market

    
Shown are designs from Old Time Marketplace, DeLoach, and Cleveland Art.

Antique & Design Center reported that in just two years, it has set itself apart as a show-within-a-show at the High Point Market by championing great design and consistently capturing new talent. With each exhibitor personally vetted and invited to participate in the bi-annual show by the Center's Director, Karen Luisana, the Antique & Design is an ever-changing enclave of up-and-coming artists, design world glitterati and antique dealers the likes of which cannot be found at any other venue.

According to Luisana, Fall 2012 Market will be no exception with newcomers to the High Point Market including Jason Wein, founder of Cleveland Art; blogger Beth Lewis, the creative force behind Old Time Marketplace; and the high-profile, brother/sister interior design team of Michael and Candace DeLoach, known as DeLoach Design and Decoration.

"These three new exhibitors are a perfect example of what the Antique & Design Center is all about," Luisana says. "Each of these companies is at the top of their game in their respective fields, from the recycled and repurposed goods created by Cleveland Art, to the rustic, original-paint looks of Old Time Marketplace, and the mid-century modern eclecticism of DeLoach Design and Decoration, yet they have never before exhibited in High Point. In seeking out talents like these and others, our goal is to surprise, inspire and intrigue home furnishings buyers and designers attending the Market each season by exposing them to new ideas, people and products on the leading edge of design."

With stores in Los Angles and Brooklyn, as well as its home base in Cleveland, Ohio, Jason Wein's stark, minimalist designs are a favorite of Hollywood celebs. In High Point, the Cleveland Art space will feature lighting, shelves and tables built from industrial components and fasteners that Wein culls from defunct factories located throughout New England and America's rust belt.

"Everything is American-made using recycled and repurposed materials, right down to the fasteners, because I think it's the right thing to do," Wein says. "A lot of the machines that we buy from New England are from the 1700s, before electricity, and have three or four lifetimes of workers behind them. Today, with CNC routers and lasers, one man can operate 100 machines and the jobs have been outsourced overseas. It's a different age and time, and we'll never see this history again."

Beth Lewis too is passionate about giving new life to old pieces, "taking something that someone has discarded as trash and turning it into something that someone else would love to have in their home, simply by visually displaying it in a way that's pleasing," she says.

A veteran merchant who opened her first retail shop at the tender age of 19, Lewis' retail store in Marshville, N.C., about 35 miles East of Charlotte, is a mecca for fans of her blog and singular look, a combination of rustic farmhouse, old architectural pieces and industrial influences brought together by a neutral color palette. The Old Time Marketplace store is housed in a building built in 1910, which movie buffs will recognize as the setting for the general store in the Oscar-winning film, "The Color Purple."

With a unique eye and singular talent for evocative visual merchandising, Lewis says her goal, "when someone comes into my store—from the shop owner who wants to purchase a cupboard to display candles in, or the condo dweller that is looking to decorate with a good trash-to-treasure piece—is to have them want everything. I know they can't purchase it all, but I want them to see the possibilities. I'm very excited about the opportunity to expose Old Time Marketplace to the trade for the first time at the High Point Market."

In their space, the DeLoach Designs and Decoration team will show the DeLoach Fall 2012 Fashion Collection, which combines vintage Mid-Century Modern furniture and antiques with dramatic abstract art. As the children of veteran antique dealers and decorators, who later became antique dealers and interior designers themselves with shops in Charlottesville, VA and Savannah, GA, as well as a slew of major design projects across the country, the pair have been attending the High Point Market as buyers virtually all of their lives.

"I think when you say 'antique' to many of the people who attend the High Point Market, they think of dowdy, old, grandmotherly furniture," says Michael DeLoach. "What we're showing are pieces that have been re-done, refinished and reupholstered, pieces that people can easily incorporate into their homes. It's a strong modern look. There's nothing dowdy about what we're presenting."

Indeed, while the DeLoach team will exhibit their collection of show-stopping vintage pieces—including a pony-skin covered ottoman that once belonged to choreographer Martha Graham, a bed owned by Elizabeth Taylor and a bench from the set of "Cleopatra," as well as abstract art by Jean Sampson, Erin McParland and Jo Neimeyer—they will also be introducing products of their own design for the first-time ever at the High Point Market. The DeLoach Design line of new products will include occasional tables, Lucite floor and table lamps and wastepaper baskets sheathed in stone.

"We've been in the design business for so long," says Michael, "we know the kinds of materials that designers respond to, the type of art they are looking for, and the kind of antiques they seek." Adds Candace, "And as interior designers ourselves, we can put it together. I think our space at the Antique & Design Center is going to be really special."

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.