New York—The artistic talents of flooring suppliers were on full display at ConsoCon 2024 as vendors created works of art—in some cases out of flooring products—that adorned the walls of a Manhattan studio.
Unlike previous ConsoCon events where suppliers set up tabletop exhibits with samples, this year vendors used their imaginations to conceptualize portraits of Marilyn Monroe, the New York City skyline, a mannequin and even the family dog.
“We wanted to do something different this year,” said Dave Meberg, president/CEO of Consolidated Flooring, which hosts the annual event. “We scaled it down to 16 vendors and wanted it to be more of a social scene [than a trade show.]”
More than 150 people attended the festive event and were treated to a wide range of artistic projects. AHF Products created “Shining Star,” a portrait of actress Marilyn Monroe that took first-place honors. Shining Star was constructed with Armstrong Flooring Feature and Imperial Texture vinyl composition tile (VCT), as well as Duo, Exchange, Theorem and Terra luxury vinyl tile. Other products used in the portrait were: AHF Contract’s Iliad and Highlights VCT, AHF Products’ wall base, stair treads and landing tiles. Armstrong Flooring’s Medintone homogenous sheet vinyl was used for the background. Shining Star was designed by Oxana Dallas, principal designer-commercial products, AHF Products, and was created by using the AquaJet Services’ waterjet process.
Apollo Distributing, meanwhile, presented “One Stop Skyline, 2024.” (The mural was made with various flooring materials on plywood.) Just as a city’s iconic skyline is defined by the strength and diversity of its buildings, Apollo built its reputation over the past 100 years on quality flooring solutions, products and services. Each “building” in its skyline represented one of its unique flooring brands—Next Floor, Flexco, Välinge, Inhaus, Armstrong Flooring and OneFlor USA. “While beautiful on their own, they truly shine together,” the description said.
One work of art that drew attention was “Mr. Archibald the Dog,” which was designed by Courtney Shite, sales rep for sur4ces flooring. Mr. Archibald was constructed of a select mix of sur4ces flooring and wall covering products focusing on the most sustainable materials. It took third place.
Spartan Surfaces earned second-place honors with its cork “Lady Mannequin.”
The winners received checks toward their favorite charities. Other participating supplier artists, who were also sponsors of ConsoCon, were: Bentley, Gerflor, Michael Halebian & Co., TEC, J+J Flooring, Küberit, Matter Surfaces, Milliken, Mohawk Group, Roppe, Shaw Contract and Tarkett.
Additional sponsors included H.B. Fuller, Crosby Street Studios, Pliteq, Manhattan Concrete Systems and Patcraft.
