#Xdesign and go printing llc series#

But I have to ask: What intentionality is being placed in this organization in reference to diversity and inclusion? What efforts are you guys putting in place to ensure that is addressed and valued as you continue to grow?” At the end, they asked for questions, and I raised my hand and said, “I’m very excited about all that you’re doing. I attended a panel discussion in June hosted by High Point x Design at the Universal Furniture showroom. “It was really unfortunate, but it also proves what we’re talking about in our organization-we need more communication, more intention and more action to affect change,” says Van Dessel.īOH spoke with Cloud to discuss her vision for the role, why she accepted it and how the design industry can create meaningful, lasting change when it comes to race and inclusivity. Though High Point x Design and the HPMA are separate organizations, their audience of designers and showrooms is largely intertwined. But the announcement of Cloud’s appointment also comes just weeks after the High Point Market Authority and Esteem Media faced a public outcry upon revealing a campaign highlighting 10 design influencers, all of whom were white.

High Point x Design’s board of directors has been taking shape in recent months, with the appointment of fellow North Carolina designer Don Ricardo Massenburg, who joins as design chair to focus on establishing deeper partnerships with the interior design community. “During COVID, I’ve been dreaming and journaling about what that looks like-and how I can turn that into actually bringing awareness of these issues in the Black community, not just through talking about it on social media, although I’ve been very active in that regard, but also: What do we do with these hands of ours?”

#Xdesign and go printing llc series#

“I want to branch off with my business so that my hands and my talents are actually contributing to the community in a way that is tangible,” she told Business of Home in an interview for the 50 States Project series in 2020. The designer, who started her business in 2017 after a four-year stint at Sherwin-Williams, has always made community engagement a priority in her work. The relationship between HPxD and Cloud began at a panel event earlier this summer. Initially a consortium of fewer than two dozen businesses, the organization’s membership swelled to more than 50 companies in February, when it merged with the High Point Showroom Association, which had been hosting its own events to drive showroom traffic off-Market. High Point x Design (HPxD) was founded in 2020, born out of like-minded showroom owners and local industry entrepreneurs meeting amid the cancellation of that spring’s High Point Market to chart a path toward opening the town’s showrooms in a more consistent manner. Those talks led to us eventually asking if she had time to serve on our board and to help us develop specific, intentional actions around diversity and inclusion.” “We began having conversations with Marie earlier this summer, and she displayed her passion for being a spokesperson and an ambassador for diversity in the industry. “These topics have always been part of our narrative, but to be honest, there weren’t specific actions behind them,” says Tom Van Dessel, the chairman of HPxD. High Point by Design, an organization with the mission of making the North Carolina city a year-round destination, has tapped Marie Cloud, principal of Charlotte-based Indigo Pruitt Design Studio, as its first diversity and inclusion officer.