Public Relations:

Cathy Guterman

908-755-4700 ext. 107

EMILY SLAPIN OF BASKING RIDGEWINS FABRICLAND SCHOLARSHIP

Emily Slapin, a member of the graduating class at Ridge High School in Basking Ridge has been awarded the $1,000 Philip and Ida Heyman Textile & Design Scholarship from Fabricland of North Plainfield. The award, which is named for the store's founders, is given each year to a high school senior who has been accepted into an accredited educational institution majoring in textiles, fashion , interior design or a related industry. In September, Emily will attend the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, where she will major in apparel design and focus on a career in costume design for either the theatre or film industry.

A member of the National Honor Society and an honor roll student during her four years at Ridge High, Emily is an artist who works in many mediums -- from painting, sculpting and ceramics to sewing, knitting, crocheting and quilting. "I love creating something out of nothing", she said. "My artwork has always been a sort of safe haven for me; it has been something that I could turn to when I couldn't turn anywhere else. " Adding to her love of art and design, Emily is a cross-country runner who was captain of her varsity team this year at Ridge High.

In addition to sewing many of her own clothes and knitting sweaters, Emily created both her junior and senior prom gowns. She began sewing at the age of seven - instructed by her mother and grandmother who were both art teachers. Ever since she was little, she has enjoyed art history and period costumes -- making doll clothes for her American Girl and Barbie dolls. Her love of vintage clothing takes her to many garage sales and flea markets where she adapts the styles, re-designs clothing and puts her own artistic finishing touches on her creations.

Recently, Emily was awarded a scholarship to attend a workshop at Peter's Valley -- a craft community i Upstate New York where she will be taking a needleworking class this summer. Her award-winning paintings and drawings have been exhibited at the Schering Plough Business Center lobby in Madison as well as at the Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University. She has taken art courses at the Somerset Hills Art Association and at the Center for Visual Arts in Summit where her work was exhibited in a members show.

With a love of history, art and creativity behind her, Emily's journey to Providence, Rhode Island this coming fall has all the elements of a very exciting "beginning" for this talented young woman.