Student earns 2011 Datile interior design scholarship
Tyler Burrus
-Staff Photographer-
Many students enter national and global scholarships every year, competing against their peers and hoping to gain some type of achievement.
Jenna Boyko, a graphic design major and soon-to-be interior design and kitchen & bath design major, submitted her school project into the 2011 Datile Interior Design Scholarship Competition.
This scholarship competition was sponsored by Datile and the American Society of Interior Designers.
“I’ve always been interested in interior design growing up. There were no specific things that led to my interest,” Boyko said.
Competing with over 200 entries from two and four year design schools across the globe, according to the STLCC Messenger, Boyko was one of the ten Merit Award Winners. She received $2,500 and a certificate for her award-winning design.
A current classmate saw the Datile ad and told Jenna about the scholarship opportunity.
“I saw it posted and thought might as well. We thought it would be fun to submit designs just to see what would come out of it,” Boyko said.
After almost three months of waiting, Boyko received an e-mail through her phone, getting the news of her achievement.
“When I got the news, I was sitting in class,” Boyko said. “I had to wait until class was over but I was extremely excited.”
After graduating Quincy University with a bachelor’s degree in graphic design, Boyko realized she wanted to explore more into interior and architectural design.
As noted on the National Association of Art and Design (NASAD) and the STLCC Interior Design homepages, STLCC-Meramec is one out of seven colleges, including STLCC-Florissant, in Missouri, to have an Interior Design Program accredited by NASAD.
“[Quincy University] didn’t have an interior design degree so I decided to go to Meramec and see what was available. After taking a few architecture and interior design classes I just fell in love,” Boyko said.
The winning design was based off a school project that was also submitted into the 2011 Daltile Interior Design Scholarship Competition. The theme was to design a residence in a foreign country, of the student’s choice, for a U.S. Executive Ambassador.
“We had to do the research on a country and start from a different point of view. I picked Ukraine because that’s where my grandfather is from and I thought it was interesting,” Boyko said.
Along with the research of architectural style and Ukrainian culture, the students had to find a painting originating from that country and make a 3-D model based off of it.
“I chose ‘Face of a Peasant Girl’ by Kazimir Malevich,” Boyko said. The colors in the painting are very similar to those of the floor plan designed along with hints of the artist’s style of 3-D and cubism.
Boyko designed a floor plan based off of the architecture and culture of Ukraine mixed with that of the USA.
“The executive could feel comfortable yet acknowledge the Ukrainian culture,” Boyko said. “The color scheme and dome-like sky lights are very popular in Ukraine.”
According to Boyko, the board and design layout can be found on display in the interior design hallway.
“It was good to know that all my hard work was acknowledged and that is really cool,” said Boyko.
Boyko said her design would not necessarily be made into a real building.
“It could happen but it’s just a proposed idea. The scholarship was supposed to award those whose work was thoughtfully done, had the best design idea and then in return was awarded a certificate and money,” Boyko said.
More scholarships may be in store for Boyko. She is waiting to hear back from others to whom she has submitted her designs.
“Because I have a bachelor’s degree already and after getting enough knowledge after May, I want to go out and find a real job,” Boyko said. “I want to get started in the working world.”
