Wilsonart Rolls Out Multi-City “Cre8ivity Tour” Featuring Well-Known Industry Leaders

Summer-long roadshow celebrates creativity; showcases TED speakers, Wilsonart innovations

TEMPLE, TX (June 17, 2014) – Wilsonart, a leading manufacturer of decorative surfaces for more than 50 years, presents the first-ever Wilsonart® Cre8ivity Tour, a summer-long roadshow to celebrate the never-ending journey of discovery, innovation and creation. Catering to design professionals, building contractors and fabricators alike, the series of free invite-only evening events will include keynotes from influential leaders in design and architecture, interactive discussions, an exhibit of the winning chairs from the 2014 “Wilsonart Challenges…” Student Chair Design Competition and debut the 2014 Wilsonart® Contract Laminate Collection and 2014 Wilsonart® Solid Surface Collection.

The multi-city Cre8ivity Tour will begin in the Midwest and travel throughout the country making stops in Chicago (June 17), Philadelphia (June 26), Los Angeles (July 8), Seattle (July 15), San Francisco (July 17), Dallas (July 29), Denver (July 31), Atlanta (August 7), and Houston (September 18).

Featured speakers will discuss design innovations, forthcoming national and regional trends, as well as a variety of hot topics in architecture and design. Featured speakers include:

• Mitch Joachim, celebrated TED presenter and innovator in urban and ecological design, will be speaking in Chicago.
• Reed Kroloff, author of “Black Like Me” and current director of the esteemed Cranbook Academy of Art, will be speaking in Philadelphia. He is well known throughout the architecture community for his work as editor-in-chief of Architecture magazine.
• Rachel Armstrong, TED presenter and thought leader in creating materials that possess properties of living systems, will be speaking in Los Angeles. She specializes in speaking on the merging of biology and chemistry with architecture and design.
• Grace Jeffers, design historian, materials specialist and graduate of the prestigious Bard Graduate Center for the Decorative Arts, will be speaking in Seattle, Atlanta and Houston.
• Stanford Hughes, partner at BraytonHughes Design Studios and award-winning designer who does extensive work renovating historic buildings, will be speaking in San Francisco.
• Jessica Green, TED speaker and biodiversity scientist interested in the role microbes play in our lives and designing microbe-friendly architecture, will be speaking in Dallas.
• Boris Srdar, principal at NAC Architecture with a background in European design, and award-winning lead designer, will be speaking in Denver.

“We are excited to host the Cre8tivity Tour as a way to foster conversations about innovation within the architecture and design community,” said Alison DeMartino, marketing director at Wilsonart. “The hope is that this roadshow provides a platform for uncovering new ideas and discovering fresh perspectives in a fun and interactive way.”

To supplement the keynotes and interactive discussions, on display will be the winning chair and runners up from the 2014 “Wilsonart Challenges…” Student Chair Design Competition and the 2014 Wilsonart Contract Laminate and Solid Surface Collections. These commercial market-focused launches feature 25 inspiring new laminate designs and seven new solid surface designs that borrow the spirit from years past while embracing modern trends. The collections provide a wide variety of options for designers and fabricators to transform and modernize commercial or residential spaces.

For more info on the Tour and how to get your name on the invite list, visit www.cre8ivitytour.com. For more information about Wilsonart products, visit www.wilsonart.com.