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$5,400 in Cash Prizes and Art Materials Gift
Certificates Awarded
to Top Designers Among Metro Detroit High School Students
Presented at the Automotive Hall of Fame
Dearborn, Michigan, on Monday, March 31, 2008 |
 Paul
Miller's showroom-restored white R-2 Studebaker Avanti on display
in the atrium of the Automotive Hall of Fame. |
Paul Miller trailered his showroom-restored
white R-2 Studebaker Avanti all the way from Valparaiso, Indiana
into the atrium of the Hall of Fame, where it reposed proudly
during the entire ceremonies and the preceding day. |
A
Night to Remember
Hall of Fame
Hosts Avantis From Different Eras
Like the classic Studebaker Avanti
it honored, the Stellar Scholars
Avanti Awards were created on a whirlwind schedule
by less than a handful of designers and a few supportive architects
who turned the original vision into palpable reality. The
premise: A college-level car design competition for Metro
Detroit high school students with entries submitted through
their Art teachers. The contest exercise car to be designed
was in the schematic mold of the original Avanti: A two-door
sports coupe that would carry 4-5 passengers in spirited comfort.
Avanti owners honored the Avanti Awards
Night at the Automotive Hall of Fame bt displaying Avantis
from the Studebaker model, the Avanti II, and the Blake 20th
Anniversary car. Paul Miller trailered his showroom-restored
white R-2 all the way from Valparaiso, Indiana into the atrium
of the Hall of Fame, where it reposed proudly for the entire
ceremonies and the preceding day. Mike himself unleashed one
of his fleet of four to provide transportation from Greenfield,
Indiana for him and his nephew Kyle.
Perhaps the most influential supporter of the
Avanti Awards was General Motors, whose Design
and Communications Departments played vital roles. Tom
Peters, Head Designer on the current-generation Corvette, the
Cadillac XLR Roadster and the 2010
Camaro, provided the passionate, design-driven
narrative to the compelling multi-media presentation: "The
Genesis of the Neo Camaro." GM's Annalisa
Bluhm ably handled the controls on their slide and video show.
The Avanti Awards ceremony was watched by an overflow live
audience in the Hall of Fame's intimate theater and, on closed-circuit,
in the Hall's capacious atrium. Virtually everyone stayed
for the Afterglow, including Mr. Peters who autographed design
entries and even sketched a few of his own for awed student
designers.
People are finding out about the Avanti Awards and, as significantly,
the car that more than any other signaled the shape of automotive
design for nearly the last half-century: the timeless, the
original Studebaker Avanti. All Photography
by Philip Dattilo. Find out more about the competition at:
stellarscholars.net
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Tom Peters of General Motors Global Design
opening his presentation. |
Close-up of the 2010 "Neo-Camaro." |
Camaro sketches projected at wall size. |
Samples of future designs. |
Sportscar designs from the 1960s. |
Some Avanti body style variations. |
| In memoriam to Ford management supervisor Joseph
Douglas Earl, the Avanti Awards have been established to
recognize and encourage classic contemporary designs created
by Metro Detroit high school students and submitted through
their art instructors. Cash prizes totaling $4400 plus an additional
$1000 in Dick Blick Art Materials Gift Certificates were awarded
to the top designs at the Automotive Hall of Fame on March 31,
2008. The Design Committee hopes to cultivate innovation and
elan in future car stylists. In the early 1960s, the most popular
car model was the 2-door hardtop, It was an era of space age
adventure and the romance of the open road. Fast-forward to
the early 21st century. Euro four-door sedans and box-shaped
SUVs abound. Utility takes precedence over style. The Joseph
Douglas Earl Avanti Awards Committee seeks submissions that
recapture the spirit and flair of more daring times when designs
were new and strikingly different. Model to be designed: Two-door
sports hardtop or coupe seating four or five. The design can
incorporate retro styling cues but it should be a 2009 model.
Be original. Medium to use: Any art medium from charcoals, pastels,
oils, watercolors, pencils, inks, airbrush, or mixed media.
Computer-enhanced entries with color and halftones are acceptable
but they cannot contain photo elements of real cars, past or
present. Submission copies: All entries must be 8 x 11 color
copies. No originals. Contact Frank
Dattilo (313) 271-8339 or for more information go to stellarscholars.net |
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