Room & Board Hosts MCAD Student Exhibit

The exhibition is sponsored by Cargill's BiOH, which markets renewable alternatives to petroleum-based foam.

Nicholas Tamarin -- Interior Design, 8/31/2009

Sure to please design devotees, and perhaps even a few Betty White fans, the Minneapolis College of Art and Design is holding its first student retail exhibition at Room & Board's flagship store in the Minneapolis suburb of Edina, just a short trip from the town of St. Olaf that White's Golden Girls character Rose Nylund made forever famous.

"Experience Soy Style: Be in the KnOH!," running October 10-11, is sponsored by Cargill's BiOH, which markets renewable products—including seat cushions made of soybean oil—to petroleum-based polyurethane foam manufacturers for use in home furnishings and other consumer products. Ever the environmentalist, BiOH will also purchase carbon offsets for the weekend exhibit, and match two percent of Room & Board's weekend sales for a donation to Minnesota nonprofit TreeTouch

The event will lead visitors "from soybean to sofa," and demonstrate how soybeans reduce petroleum consumption when used in furniture cushions. It's the culmination of a design competition, held during MCAD's spring semester, that required students to design a retail furnishings event around soy-based foam cushions.

Contest winners Nick Kriegler, Stephanie Polus and Ruth Sauvageau will receive a shared cash prize of $5,000 during the Soybean Watering and Student Awards ceremony, scheduled for 1 p.m. on October 10,  which also kicks off an afternoon of design and children's activities. An interactive play space located in Room & Board's youth furniture department will engage children in a wide range of activities, from learning how to grow soybean plants to simply playing with foam blocks. Exhibits throughout the store will display soybean plants, sculptures made of furniture foam, videos, banners and sustainability exhibits.

BiOH's renewable, soy-based polyols replace a portion of the non-renewable petroleum polyols that traditionally make-up polyurethane foam. The percentage of soy content depends on the type of foam and its manufacturing process. Over time, the company hopes to replace a higher percentage of petroleum while still maintaining foam's typical performance.