Introducing The Hadley Court Center For Design Collaboration at the Bienenstock Furniture Library

Today, Hadley Court readers, it is my deep joy to share with you the completion of the Hadley Court Center for Design Collaboration at the Bienenstock Furniture Library in High Point, North Carolina.

In this post, I will share with you the journey [ and the before and afters ] that led Leslie Hendrix Wood to make this generous contribution to further the library’s mission of becoming a collaborative environment for anyone wishing to help educate others and at the same time maintaining for future generations free access to the knowledge contained in the rare book collection [dating back to 1640] and modern book and magazine collections of the library about the history of furniture design and interior design.

But first, for those readers who may not know of the Bienenstock Furniture Library, here’s a little history.

The library was founded by Sandy and Bernice Bienenstock in 1970 and contains the country’s largest collection of extremely rare books on furniture and furniture history and design that is free and open to the public.

In addition, the library contains our country’s largest selection of modern books, magazines and periodicals on all aspects of furniture, furniture history and interior design. The library underwrites scholarships to furniture design and interior design students and has, since 1984, given out more than $370,000 to deserving students through a juried national competition.

Last November, American Craft magazine named the Bienenstock Furniture Library #1 on their list of must see small craft research collections, in this article, here.

The library’s resources are used for research by scholars from all over the world who know of it, by furniture designers and interior designers for research and enjoyment, by students studying in these fields and by visitors to the Triad area simply seeking a place to spend a few peaceful hours in a comfortable chair, in slanting sunshine, being inspired - by the beauty of the building itself which is on the National Historic Register, by the books and magazines on the library’s shelves or by simply enjoying an outside picnic, listening to the fountain in the new Pat Plaxico Sculpture Gardens, installed earlier this year.

[ For more extensive information about the history of the library, please see the links at the bottom of this post ]

BEFORE AND AFTER - THE BACKSTORY ON THE HADLEY COURT CENTER FOR DESIGN COLLABORATION AT THE BIENENSTOCK FURNITURE LIBRARY

Last spring, Leslie visited the library with then Chairman of the Board, Mr. Charles Sutton, whose vision and leadership led the library through a period of renovations and acquisitions, until he resigned last year -although he remains very involved.

Now, the grandson of the founders, Mr. Russell Bienenstock, the editor in chief of Furniture World magazine, our country’s longest, continuously published trade magazine, has taken the helm as the Chairman of the library’s volunteer board of directors and is leading his grandparents’ legacy, the library, into the era of high tech collaborative experiences for the library’s patrons and visitors.

Leslie Hendrix Wood with Mr. Charles Sutton in the Vuncannon Meeting Room upstairs in the library, this past spring.

Mr. Russell Bienenstock, standing in front of the oil painting of his grandparents, the founders of the library - Sandy and Bernice Bienenstock.

Leslie, after visiting with Mr. Sutton, fell in love with the gracious charm and the history of the library and what it represented, and decided to do something to make a difference to carry on the Bienenstocks’ family tradition of providing a free learning & research environment for future generations of furniture and interior design students and scholars.

Now, with the completion of the Center, the library’s visitors can collaborate, via state of the art high tech equipment, in ways that, until today, had not been possible. The former basement of the Hadley Court Center For Design Collaboration looked like this when Leslie saw it last spring.

And today, thanks to the design skills of Bienenstock Furniture Library volunteer board member, Christi Spangle of High Point, North Carolina headquartered Barbour Spangle Design, the Hadley Court Center for Design Collaboration looks like this.

What Can International Visitors to High Point and Interior Designers, Retailers, Local Businesses, Furniture Manufacturers, High Point and Triad Citizens Use the Center For?

1. You can collaborate with anyone -anywhere in the world - for free, via LiveStream, using the Center’s state of the art 80″ screen and audio system, for a superior sound and visual experience than what is currently available from web based services such as Skype or G+ Hangouts.

The library’s executive director, Karla Teague Webb, is trained in how to use the equipment and available to help with set up and the technical aspects of livestreaming video presentations.

2. Hold business meetings with both onsite and offsite participants, using the Center’s high tech equipment, for just a small donation { the center holds 25 people comfortably }. The library has free parking and a small kitchen for caterers to use.

3. Use the Hadley Court Center For Design Collaboration as a free soundproof space for recording high quality video presentations. The Center’s tables can be moved to the walls and the space can be staged and set up with furniture or whatever else might be necessary.

The goal of the Center is to make it possible for current and future generations to always know they have a free place to come where they can continue to spread the knowledge of furniture and interior design - using the latest in technology.

Hadley Court readers: if you are ever visiting the Triad area of North Carolina, whether to attend High Point Market or just to visit friends or family, we invite you to visit the Bienenstock Furniture Library and its new Hadley Court Center For Design Collaboration.

MARY DOUGLAS DRYSDALE TO SPEAK AT THE DEDICATION

+

A SPECIAL INVITE FOR 10 OF OUR READERS ATTENDING HIGH POINT MARKET

At the upcoming Fall High Point Market, noted international interior designer, Mary Douglas Drysdale, of Washington, DC, who has had more magazine covers of her interior design work published than any other female designer in our country, will be speaking at the dedication ceremony on *Collaboration In Design.*

Mary’s favorite room to design is a library, as can be seen by one of her designs that appeared on the cover of Home and Design, below.

Mary’s talk itself is an invite only event for the 25 guests the room can hold, but for the 1st 10 readers to leave a comment on this post, who will be attending #HPMkt and would like to meet Mary and the guests - and who can definitely attend the celebration reception afterwards at 5 pm on Friday, Oct. 17th at the library, located at 1009 Main Street, just 5 minutes from the Transportation Terminal by a Go Anywhere bus,

you are invited to be part of this very special dedication event. { UPDATE: There are now 5 spots left }.

Please email us your contact information using our contact form, after leaving your blog comment, so we can confirm your attendance ahead of time for the caterers and please know you are welcome - anytime - to visit the http://furniturelibrary.com and/or use the new Hadley Court Center For Design Collaboration for your meetings, video recording sessions and collaborative events.

To make a reservation to use the Center, please email Karla Teague Webb at [email protected].

Have a beautiful Fall Weekend ahead!

Leslie Carothers

for

Leslie Hendrix Wood
Founder
Editor In Chief

HADLEY COURT

Decorator, Chancellor Interiors
Midland, Texas

Gracious Living. Timeless Design. Family Traditions.

~~~~

We invite you to please subscribe to Hadley Court here and to follow Hadley Court on
Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter and G+, here, here, here and here.

For more information about the history of the library, please see the posts by author Saxon Henry for the Curated Object here, and the post by Richard Rabel of The Modern Sybarite here.

To follow the library on Facebook, please click here, and on Twitter, please click here.

Also, please be watching for our final #TimelessDesign giveaway launching on the blog the last week of this month, September 2014.

Thank you for reading and subscribing to Hadley Court.

We sincerely appreciate you.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribing to the RSS feed to have future articles delivered to your feed reader.