NEW: Becker College Students Reimagine Worcester’s Salisbury Mansion

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Wednesday, April 10, 2013

GoLocalWorcester Lifestyle Team

The Worcester Historical Museum will host interior design students of Becker College at the Salisbury Mansion this Thursday.

Ten Becker College interior design students will unveil 3D dioramas to visitors on April 11 at a reception for "Repurposing History," a special exihibit wherein the students imagine the historic Salisbury Mansion would look like as a twenty-first century residence.

The students were invited by the Worcester Historical Museum to design modern reinventions of the museum, which prides itself on being "Worcester's only historic house museum".

So where do you hang a flat screen TV or install a microwave in a home that is more than 240 years old? Such were the challenges of these innovative design students, by they welcomed the task. “The fun aspect of this project was being able to take old pieces and give them a new life. Reinventing a pattern and piece it into a more modern look really sparked our creativity,” said Rebeka Vadenais '13 of North Smithfield, Rhode Island, who redesigned the downstairs drawing room.

Senior Rosalind Ford, of Worcester, Mass., enjoyed attempting to modernize the kitchen “while keeping the Salisbury family in mind as if they lived there in the present time.”

Senior Hayley O’Connell, of Dracut, Mass., found repurposing the mansion’s Glitter Room a bit of a tight fit. ”There are five windows in the space, so furniture arrangement was more of a challenge because of limited wall space,” she said.

“The challenges I faced using a historic space was trying to keep the beautiful architecture of the room while updating the space to a functional living space,” said Heather Fuller '14, of Dudley, Mass., who repurposed the downstairs back drawing room.

“It is so rare to be able to work in and with a museum,” said Barbara Kimball, ASID, IDEC, associate professor of interior design. “The students have studied period furniture, so they recognized many of the pieces and enjoyed seeing them in an original setting. Becker Interior Design students have never worked with a museum before, so we are all very excited about this true hands-on experience.”

Students will unveil their designs on Thursday, April 11 from 4:30-7pm at the Salisbury Mansion, 40 Highland Street, Worcester. The exhibit will be available for viewing until May 4. For more information, visit the exhibit's Facebook page.