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Ron Treister is president of Communicators International, a Jupiter, Fla.-based marketing firm. He can be reached at rlt@communicatorsintl.com. You were a judge that helped select the winning backlit mosaic mural for the Las Vegas MGM Grand's legendary "Wet Republic. " With so many great submittals, why this one? I liked the idea of getting the design community involved. The un- veiling of this mural took place at the "Party by the Pool" during HD Expo. Attendees included well over 1,500 hospitality designers. Our new mural was an expression of tomorrow's technology relative to producing this type of artwork. Visually, it was electrifying. The sponsors of the competition, Bostik and Artaic, exhibited strong versatility of production for this medium, offering an interesting forum for expression. From my standpoint, I was intrigued by the process of ro- botic mosaic mural production combined with a grouting material containing glass that further illuminated the glass mosaic tiles, giving the visual a life of its own. I also found and enjoyed the process of deciding upon the best of so many excellent designs, to be quite awesome. What do you see as the future for large-scale hospitality resort projects? I'm fortunate to sit on the board of the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture, and intermittently travel to both Taliesin in Wisconsin and Taliesin West in Arizona to interface with both faculty and stu- dents. I've always been a fan of organic architecture and having this conduit with the talent of tomorrow helps me grow as well. I love how the students there have such a strong belief in bringing in organic materials at a macro level to their respective projects. And, through that mindset, it clearly appears that architectural design can indeed go full circle. It's great to see more organic, natural materials brought back into design. I hope to see more of that within the arenas we participate as time goes on. CCR In early 2016, "Design 'N Gather 2016" (DNG), the international mo- saic design competition sponsored by Bostik (Bostik.com/us) and Artaic (artaic.com), went into full gear. For months, hundreds of mosaic enthusiasts had submitted mosaic mural designs based upon the theme, "The Essence of Las Vegas." Semi-finalists and, ultimately, the winner, were to be selected by a panel of judges, all with strong industry ties. "We found ourselves in a conundrum," says Scott Banda, Bostik's director of marketing & business development. "We had ironed out the details of our contest with our marketing partner, Artaic, however, we didn't have a high profile, prestigious location for it to be permanently installed." As luck would have it, we came across the right per- son responsible for the perfect location to debut our winning mosaic." In late February, "We attended HD Summit in late February, with just 10 weeks to decide upon a win- ner, have Artaic build that person's creation, and then have it shipped and subsequently installed in Las Vegas. At the Summit, we met Joyen Vakil, MGM Resorts' Senior Vice President of Design & Development. He saw the benefits of our contest, how we were focused on not only resurrecting an ancient architec- tural art-form… but also, how we intended to find new talent within the hospitality design sector and help these potential superstars with their careers. Within just a day or two, we began working with Joyen's team on plans to permanently install our winning mosaic creation," Banda said. "I think it was meant to be." The grand prize winner, Nicole Faith Kohri, had her creation "Delta Waves," unveiled in front of 1,500 hospitality design professionals as a 20-foot x 8-foot backlit mosaic tile mural, installed on a poolside wall at MGM Grand's "Wet Republic" HD Expo's "Party By The Pool" event. The final tier of Design 'N Gather 2016 concluded with another high note at the American Institute of Architects Convention in Philadelphia, where Banda and Dr. Ted Acworth, CEO and founder of Artaic, introduced Nicole Kohri, an inspiring architectural designer, at an industry party. "Bostik and Artaic want to bring back the popularity, appreci- ation and enthusiasm that comes along with true mosaic design," Acworth said. "Together, we want to find highly talented, motivated young designers who see mosaics as their future. And if possible, we want to help them jump-start their design careers." Bringing back mosaic mural design included a bit of karma To chronicle the timeline of DNG 2016, see this video produced by Bostik: https://youtu.be/qBatC3BOjV4 Bostik's Scott Banda announcing the DNG '16 winner at HD Expo alongside Joyen Vakil. 107 JULY : AUGUST 2016 — COMMERCIAL CONSTRUCTION & RENOVATION