Boston, MA - Fusco & Four announces the first annual Boston Design Week, a 10-day citywide design festival, March 20-30, 2014.  Participating organizations, businesses, sponsors and individual designers will offer select design events, exhibitions, speakers, receptions, behind-the-scenes tours, and other activities throughout greater Boston, most presented free of charge and all open to the public.  A “Call for Events” has been issued, with a deadline for registering of January 31, 2014.  For more information or to register an event, visit www.BostonDesignWeek.com or call 617-363-0405.

“Our goal is to increase public awareness and appreciation of all aspects of design and foster recognition of the vital role design and our creative industries play in our lives,” comments Co-Producer Tony Fusco. “We want to offer the public an opportunity to explore architecture, environmental and landscape design, urban design, interior design, fashion, graphic design, product and industrial design, and studio design such as furniture, decorative arts, sculpture, textiles, jewelry and more.”

Boston Design Week kicks off on Thursday, March 20 with the ASID New England Awards Gala at the Mandarin Hotel in Boston, and concludes with the 7th annual AD20/21: Art & Design of the 20th & 21st Centuries show at The Cyclorama March 27- 30, also produced by Fusco & Four. In between these keystone events, dozens of activities, multi-day programming and ongoing exhibitions are anticipated in the inaugural year of the festival.

Partner Organizations in Boston Design Week include: American Society of Interior Designers (ASID), Boston Architectural College, Boston Society of Architects (BSA), Boston Society of Landscape Architects (BSLA), Design Museum Boston, Fuller Craft Museum, International Furnishings and Design Association (IFDA), International Interior Design Association (IIDA), North Bennet Street School, Wentworth Institute of Technology, and others to be announced.

“Our partner organizations, commercial design-related businesses and individual designers will offer an incredible range of events and content for the festival,” notes Fusco.  “We could not be more thrilled with the enthusiastic response we have had to our initial announcements of Boston Design Week.”

Tony Fusco and Robert Four are well-known arts promoters and producers.  For 35 years, their Boston marketing and public relations agency Fusco & Four has specialized in fine art, design, antiques, online arts-related ventures, cultural organizations, performing arts, luxury products and services, lifestyle clients, and authors and publishers. 

They are also the producers of three annual art and design shows in Boston: AD20/21, which includes The Boston Print Fair, and which will be one of the anchor events in the new Boston Design Week; The Ellis Boston Antiques Show, re-launched in 2011; and The Boston International Fine Art Show, celebrating its 18th anniversary in November 2014.  For more information on all of the shows produced by Fusco & Four, please visit www.BostonArtFairs.com

“We’ve been talking about putting on this festival for several years now,” Fusco adds.  “Every designer and design organization we have spoken with was emphatic. This was something that they wanted. This was something that they felt Boston was missing. So we are working with them to make it a reality.”

Participation in Boston Design Week is open to greater Boston designers and businesses as well as national and international design firms looking to showcase their work in the Boston area.  Charter participation fees are as low as $100 for individual designers, and $1,000 for established businesses.  The organizers encourage cross-promotion among participants, collaborative events, and sharing of resources, facilities, showrooms and exhibition spaces where possible.

“Our sponsors will help us keep our participation fees low enough so that anyone can be a part of Boston Design Week,” Fusco explains.  “We have already received numerous unsolicited inquiries from potential participants as word of Boston Design Week has spread.  Our goal is not only to showcase the wealth of design and creative industries we have in the Boston area, but also to facilitate participation from national and international designers and design-related companies.  We have had inquiries from as far away as the UK and Switzerland.”

For more information, to register an event for Boston Design Week, or to inquire about Sponsorship, visit www.BostonDesignWeek.com or call Gregory Scott or Tony Fusco at 617-363-0405.

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