Gala 2020

“The funds our community donated at the gala will ensure the most diverse and talented pool of students continues to flow into our industry. Thank you!”

— David Sprouls

The Most Successful Gala in NYSID’s History

This year’s gala, held on March 3, 2020, raised more money than any event in NYSID’s history, securing nearly $580,000 for NYSID’s scholarship fund. Over 350 friends of NYSID and members of the interior design community turned out to honor Brian J. McCarthy, who was awarded the Albert Hadley Lifetime Achievement Award; Gale Singer and Andy Singer, who were awarded the Larry Kravet Design Industry Award; and Elizabeth Lawrence, who was awarded the Rising Star Award (sponsored by The Shade Store). David Sprouls, NYSID’s president, and Ellen Kravet, chairman of the Board of Trustees, welcomed the who’s who of the Greater New York interior design community. Dennis Scully, host of the Business of Home podcast, emceed the evening. Much of the credit for the success of this event goes to gala co-chairs and trustees Alexa Hampton, David Kleinberg, Dennis Miller, Susan Nagle, Betsy Ruprecht, and Maria Spears.

Upon receiving her Rising Star Award, Elizabeth Lawrence, a former NYSID student, now a partner at Bunny Williams Inc., thanked her professional mentor Bunny Williams for guiding her career. She also said, “NYSID opened up a world to me, a career, a community, an industry. I’m now a lifelong student because I have found the thing I love.”

Perhaps the most affecting presentation of the night came from BFA student and scholarship recipient Atique Rahman. He told the story of his immigration to the United States from Bangladesh with nothing but a $700 loan in his pocket, in order to fulfill his parents’ wishes that he obtain a computer engineering degree. He recounted his loathing of his engineering classes and his feeling of being utterly lost until he stumbled on interior design and found his passion. He was lucky enough to meet Scott Ornstein of Ornstein Rabiner, who encouraged him to look into NYSID. He started with the Introduction to Interior Design course, got the Associates degree, and went for the BFA. Says Rahman, a stellar student, president of multiple NYSID student organizations, and recipient of NYSID’s LaVerne Neil Scholarship, “Because of this scholarship, I was able to avoid dropping classes and I will meet my goal of graduating with a BFA this year. Thanks to the generosity of donors such as yourselves, I’m convinced I’m already living my American dream.”

View the Gala 2020 photo album.