Sappi Fine Paper North America Announces Grant Recipients for the 13th Annual Ideas that Matter Program

BOSTON – Sappi Fine Paper North America announced today the 13 grant recipients for its 13th annual Ideas that Matter program, the industry's highly respected grant program aimed at helping designers create and implement print projects for charitable causes. Since 1999, Sappi's Ideas that Matter program has awarded over $12 million worldwide in grants to designers around the globe to support their work for nonprofit programs and organizations. This year's winning projects reflect the on-going commitment in the design community to utilize design in combination with innovative thinking to solve social problems. Grantees submitted outstanding proposals outlining their ideas, creative execution and their unique ability to instill positive social, cultural or environmental change.

The selected proposals were determined by an independent judging panel of leaders from the design profession. This year's judges, all widely recognized for their forward-thinking commitment to design for social good, included Rich Hollant, Principal/Design Director at co:lab inc., Hartford, CT; Sam Shelton, Principal/Designer, Kinetic, Washington, DC; Mariana Amatullo, Vice President, Designmatters Department, Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, CA; Mike Weikert, Partner, Weikert Design, Baltimore, MD; and Tracy West, Creative Director, 50,000feet, Chicago, IL.

"Sappi started the Ideas that Matter program because we wanted to give back in a way that we felt could make a real and lasting impact," said Patti Groh, Marketing Director, Sappi Fine Paper North America. "After 13 years, we are proud to see this legacy continue and to be able to recognize the critical role that good design plays in inspiring people to take action."

The 2012 Ideas that Matter grant recipients are:

David Rager, David Rager Studio, (Newport Beach, Calif.) Backyard Skills—creating skill set books, brochures, and postcards to expand outreach for the program The Ecology Center—educating communities and local households in Southern California on natural solutions to reduce the impact of environmental issues through workshops and programs www.theecologycenter.org

Esther Chak and Mary-Jo Valentino, Imaginary Office,(Chicago, Il.)

New Urban Arts Quinceañera—celebrating fifteen years of community arts education in Providence, R.I. through a commemorative publication

New Urban Arts— supporting emerging artists and high school students in Providence, R.I. by offering a nationally recognized interdisciplinary studio with access to art supplies, mentors, and educational programming www.newurbanarts.org

Michael Osborne and Katy McCauley, Joey's Corner, (San Francisco, Calif.)

Wellspring Strategic Communication System—sharing the mission of Wellspring with a broader audience through identity design and collateral

Wellspring—addressing the need for supportive housing for adults with psychiatric illness across Kentucky www.wellspring-house.org

Tim Ferguson Sauder, Return Design (Wenham, Mass.)

LOOKLOOK—visual game cards and field guides teaching students ecological literacy and understanding

Kestrel Educational Adventures—connecting K-12 students with the natural world around them in Massachusetts through hands-on science education http://kestreleducation.org

Robert Sedlack and Andrea Pellegrino, Sedlack Design Associates and Pellegrino Collaborative (South Bend, Ind.)

together+ — combating xenophobia in South Africa by providing educational resources to empower people to embrace diversity

University of Notre Dame, Kgosi Neighborhood Foundation and Pellegrino Collaborative— advocating for understanding, unification, and tolerance of groups in local communities facing discrimination in post-apartheid South Africa http://togetherplusza.squarespace.com

Kenneth Botts, Visual Marketing Associates, Inc. (Dayton, Ohio)

Hawthorn Hill: Home of the Wright Brothers' Family—establishing a sustainable brand outreach strategy to secure the Wright Brothers' legacy

The Wright Family Foundation of The Dayton Foundation—preserving the Wright Brothers' story of inventing the first successful airplane through the research and conservation of family's personal artifacts and historic property http://aviationheritagearea.org/wrightFoundation.htm

Anna Rubbo, Megan Bullock, and Matthias Neumann, Global Studio, Center for Sustainable Urban Development, Columbia University (New York, N.Y.)

People Building Better Cities: Participation and Inclusive Urbanization—a multi-lingual exhibition on the importance of community engagement in the design and planning of sustainable cities

Global Studio—collaborating with students, academics, professionals, local government and NGOs to improve the lives of disadvantaged communities www.theglobalstudio.com

The IDEO.org team, IDEO.org (San Francisco, Calif.)

Spreading Human-Centered Design—sharing the first year of goals and human achievements in a year-one report

IDEO.org—a nonprofit organization dedicated to spreading human-centered design in the social sector https://www.ideo.org

Tony Ong, Fantagraphics Books (Seattle, Wash.)

What to Read in the Rain—a book that will showcase the writings of 826 Seattle students

826Seattle—mentoring talented young students and encouraging them to explore their imagination through creative writing www.826seattle.org

Celia Poirier, University of Connecticut (North Windham, CT)

Think Positive—a new identity for the Windham Harm Reduction Coalition

Windham Harm Reduction Coalition, Inc—providing HIV prevention, drug overdose prevention, and drug treatment referral services to individuals and families in Connecticut's Windham and Tolland counties http://harmreduction.org

Maria Moon, Designmatters at Art Center College of Design (Pasadena, Calif.)

WHERE'S DARYL?—teaching students the reality and negative impacts of juvenile violence and guns

The Los Angeles School District—partnering with middle school health teachers across Los Angeles to teach anti-gun violence through fun and engaging curriculum tools http://home.lausd.net

Marc Moscato, The Dill Pickle Club (Portland, Ore.)

Comics for Change—a series of ten comics telling stories of Oregonians working for social justice

The Dill Pickle Club—broadening knowledge of Portland's past, present and future through tours, programs, and publications http://dillpickleclub.org

Douglas Barrett, and Matt Leavell, University of Alabama at Birmingham and Alabama Innovation Engine (Birmingham, Ala.)

Telling the Story of the Cahaba River—a visual storybook of video, photography and illustration to educate and engage the public on the importance of the Cahaba River

Cahaba River Society—promoting solutions for conservation and community growth to restore and protect the Cahaba River and its rich freshwater wildlife and drinking water resources in Alabama www.cahabariversociety.org

"Serving on the Sappi Ideas that Matter jury was such a true privilege," said Mariana Amatullo, Vice President, Designmatters Department, Art Center College of Design, and member of the 2012 Ideas that Matter judging panel. "This is a rare platform that brings to the forefront outstanding talent and initiatives that speak loud and clear about the potency of design driven by purpose."

For more information about Sappi's 2012 Ideas that Matter grant recipients in North America, please visit Web site: www.sappi.com/ideasthatmatterNA or call 800-882-4332. The Call for Entries for next year's Ideas that Matter program will be announced in the spring of 2013.

 

About Sappi Fine Paper North America

Sappi Fine Paper North America, known for innovation and quality, is a preeminent North American producer of coated fine and release papers and market pulp headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. Its coated fine papers, with highly recognized brand names such as McCoy, Opus, Somerset and Flo, are used in premium magazines, catalogs, books and high-end print advertising. The company is also the world's leading supplier of release papers for the automotive, fashion and engineered films industries, including the globally recognized Ultracast brand. Sappi's release papers provide the surface aesthetics for synthetic fabrics used in footwear, clothing, upholstery and accessories, as well as the textures for decorative laminates found in kitchens, baths, flooring and other decorative surfaces. An integrated pulp and paper producer, with state-of-the-art pulp mills, Sappi is the third largest seller of hardwood pulp in North America.

Sappi Fine Paper North America is a subsidiary of Sappi Limited, a global company headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, with manufacturing operations on four continents in eight countries, sales offices in 35 countries, and customers in over 100 countries around the world. For more information, visit: www.sappi.com/na.

 

Contact a Sappi Representative

Olga Karagiannis

+1 617 423 5049

Olga.Karagiannis@sappi.com