Interior designer to create artisan rooms at annual marketplace

INDIANAPOLIS Chip Kalleen, owner of Indianapolis-based Kalleen & Co., will lend his design talent to give guests at the third annual Indiana Artisan Marketplace a new experience: room settings showcasing furnishings and decor by Indiana's highest-quality artists.

Kalleen will design two spaces - a dining room and bathroom - at the marketplace, an art and food experience. The annual tradeshow is April 6-7 at the State Fairgrounds, with an opening exclusively for designers, retailers, and other wholesale buyers from noon to 6:30 p.m. April 5.

"The Indiana Artisan Marketplace is a chance to buy one-of-a-kind artwork, furnishings, accessories, and food products directly from the Hoosiers who make it, meet the artisans, and take home pieces that will be enjoyed in your family today and for generations to come," said Eric Freeman, Indiana Artisan director. "Chip has been designing commercial and residential projects for many years in Indianapolis, and is associated with some of the city's best art and design events. He will design two rooms that will be built in the Expo Hall, with the primary goal of showing guests how easily and beautifully they can incorporate authentic Artisan work into their own homes."

Kalleen already has visited some of the studios of Indiana Artisans who build high-quality furniture to select individual pieces that will "anchor" both spaces. Furnishings will run the gamut from rustic to refined and highlight some of the diverse design talent in the state. In addition he will select accessory items such as paintings, pottery, textiles, metalwork, glass, and unique food items to complete the rooms from the more than 150 artisans participating in the annual tradeshow.

"The work of nearly 250 artisans has juried into Indiana Artisan, and it makes quite an impressive collection of talent," said Kalleen, a professional member of the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID). He has served on the board of the Hoosier Salon Patrons Association and currently serves on the boards of the Design Arts Society at the Indianapolis Museum of Art and the Indiana Glass Arts Alliance.

"Creating these room settings is a challenge only because there is so much beautiful and dynamic work from which to choose," he said.

Kalleen brings more than 35 years of design experience to the Indiana Artisan Marketplace. His design work has received a number of awards and been published in both local and national magazines as well as newspapers and several coffee table books.

His design for the "Guest Retreat" in the 1996 St. Margaret's Decorators' Show House was selected by House Beautiful magazine as one of the "Ten Best Show House Rooms in America" in 1996. He has authored a number of articles over the years and is co-author of the book Indianapolis Architecture published in 1975.

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Interior designer to create artisan rooms at annual marketplace