installation
NTCA Five-Star Projects of the Year shine with installation, community, and collaboration prowess
By Lesley Goddin, Editorial Director and Senior Writer
In this issue, we feature two stunning
installations that earned NTCA Five-Star Contractor Projects of the Year awards at the Coverings 2024 show.
Five-Star Contractor members are NTCA members who undergo a rigorous application process to prove their expertise and reliability. These companies often collaborate nationally and regionally, sharing best practices and supporting each other in maintaining high standards. In the last year, accreditation has been added to the requirements of those aspiring to this elite status, which ensure that accredited companies demonstrate scrupulous business practices and are committed to advancing the professionalism of the tile and stone industry.
Hohn & Hohn, Inc.: Five-Star Project of the Year
Residential Artisan Achievement of Excellence Award for Collaboration in Tile
Hohn & Hohn, Inc., of St. Paul, Minn., is a renowned woman-owned tile installation company, led by Jan Hohn, one of the first women to achieve the Certified Tile Installer credential. A member of the NTCA Technical Committee who led a subcommittee to draft the “Handmade Tile” document and “Techniques and Tips for a Good Handmade Tile Installation” document in the NTCA Reference Manual, she is currently working with industry members to develop a guide book on installing handmade tile.
Hohn & Hohn won her prestigious award for collaborating with tile maker Josh Blanc, Owner of Clay Squared to Infinity, located in neighboring Minneapolis. Blanc used his home as the experimental palette for new patterns that he had created.
NTCA’s Becky Serbin (l) presented Jan Hohn with the Five-Star Project of the Year Residential Artisan Achievement of Excellence Award for Collaboration in Tile award, joined by tile maker and collaborator Josh Blanc of Clay Squared to Infinity.
Hohn & Hohn won her prestigious award for collaborating with tile maker Josh Blanc, Owner of Clay Squared to Infinity, located in neighboring Minneapolis. Blanc used his home as the experimental palette for new patterns that he had created.
“Knowing that I was a Five-Star [Contractor], [Blanc] asked me to work with him on three bathrooms in his house,” Hohn said. “He knew that I could help him with details on how to work with the tiles he made, and of course, provide excellent installations according to industry standards.”
Trillium bathroom floor pattern.
Cosmic Rain shower niche and Stained Glass window.
Trillium bathroom wall pattern.
Cosmic Rain shower with Coco Moon Elongated Hex floor.
Trillium bathroom wall detail.
Copper Patina Aguila pattern with Coco Moon floor.
J&R Tile: Five-Star Community Impact Award
The Uvalde Love Project
NTCA’s new Community Impact Award honors NTCA Five-Star Contractors members who donate their time, material and energy in their communities by bringing the community together through the use of tile. The Uvalde Love Project, installed by J&R Tile of San Antonio, Texas, was the first recipient of this award.This project promoted community healing through a combination of workshops that included creating handmade ceramic tile and art in response to the lack of mental health care and support in Uvalde, Texas, after the Uvalde Elementary School shooting. The final part of the project was a custom mosaic mural of handmade ceramic tiles by art therapy workshop participants and other members of the community affected by this event.
Receiving the first ever NTCA Five-Star Community Impact Award from NTCA’s Becky Serbin are: (l to r) Triniti Vigil and Erin Albrecht, J&R Tile; Serbin; Wanda Montemayor, founder of Community Arts Therapy of Austin and The Uvalde Love Project.
The finished mural features over 5,000 tile pieces made by members of the Uvalde community.
Some of the tiles that were made by community members as a way to heal after the shooting in Uvalde, Texas.
Artist Wanda Montemayor, founder of Community Arts Therapy of Austin and The Uvalde Love Project, engaged the community in a series of tile-making activities as a creative way to express emotions resulting from the shooting. The therapists and artists working with Montemayor are a highly-experienced team of former teachers who became mental health professionals who have dedicated themselves to children and healing. They conducted therapy sessions with community members, teachers and students from area schools and churches over a series of months. The tiles that were created during these sessions formed the basis for the mosaic mural installed at Jardin de los Heroes Park in Uvalde by J&R Tile. The mural was dedicated a year ago on Saturday, August 26, 2023.
Wanda Montemayor of Community Arts Therapy of Austin and The Uvalde Love Project with the finished mural, Jardin de los Heroes Park in Uvalde by J&R Tile.
J&R Tile generously contributed its time, expertise, and resources pro bono to the project, playing a pivotal role in the project’s success. J&R provided invaluable consultation on product selection, procured materials, enlisted volunteer contractors, prepared the installation site, and facilitated the transportation of custom mosaics from Austin to Uvalde. It also provided wall prep and waterproofing, as well as fabrication of custom panels to fit the mural at the park and installed and finished the mural. Terry Hall, Ardex Americas, introduced J&R Tile, Inc. to the project.
J&R Owner Erin Albrecht surveys the ongoing installation of the Uvalde Love Project.
Over 2,000 individuals in the community from area schools and churches gathered to make tiles during art therapy sessions over a series of months, designed to help the community heal.
“J&R Tile had the opportunity to learn from Wanda and her team throughout the process on this project, discovering that tile can become therapeutic art, and a way of healing a community,” said Erin Albrecht, Owner J&R Tile. “I believe we can all empathize with grief and loss, but the willingness to learn, participate and open our hearts to help our communities in need makes us not only better contractors, but better human beings.”
One of the children who made tiles reaches for her piece on the mural.