The French-American Cultural Foundation's Artisan Scholarship Program sponsors the Watin Gilding Prize. The scholarship allows recipients from each country to travel abroad and work in a master craftman's atelier for three to six months.
     The Artisan Scholarship Program  was created to preserve the practice of traditional crafts while promoting international cooperation between French and American artisans. The Watin Gilding Prize was established through the foundation's fund-raising efforts. It was named for Jean Felix Watin, who was born in 1728 and worked in Paris as a master gilder and interior designer. Award recipients will receive a stipend for living expenses, travel, and continuing education. At the end of their internships, the recipients will give an oral presentation for the Artisan Scholarship Committee.
     The U.S. prize recipient must be an American citizen who has a minimum of four years of gilding experience. The committee seeks a gilder who demonstrates commitment to his or her craft. French is not required, but some abilitiy is helpful. The application deadline is December 31, 2007. Call Marla Moffet at 202-944-6234 or send e-mail to: facf.washington-amba@diplomatie.gouv.fr for more information.

Southern Moulding Supports Frame Vue
Southern Moulding has captured more than 400 mouldings into a format that can be easily imported into a frame shop's PC. The format allows the user to pull up existing moulding pictures by entering the moulding number in Frame Vue in lieu of having to find the sample on the moulding wall while the customer is forced to wait. This presents a huge time savings for a shop and a great benefit to a customer, who will receive a wider variety of moulding choices.
     Frame Vue visualization software allows frame shops to work with customers to create a complete frame design on a PC. Customers can view how their artwork will look in different frame, mat, and design layouts. The integration of Frame Vue into Lifesaver also allows immediate design creation, as well as invoicing and inventory tracking capabilities.
     Normally, shops must digitally capture each moulding desired, one corner sample at a time. Today, shops are running on very tight labor budgets and capturing unique mouldings each time can be very time consuming, even for a experienced users.
     Framers wishing to integrate Southern Moulding  into the Frane Vue program can receive a copy of the CD with the images and instructions on how to install the images onto their computers by sending an e-mail to sales@southernmoulding.com.

Neschen Americas to Distribute Expolinc
Neschen Americas has announced that it has entered into a distribution partnership with Expolinc®, providers of a premium range of portable displays, pop-up exhibits, and banner stands. Expolinc display products are manufactured by Expolinc AB of Solna, Sweden, and are managed and warehoused in North America through the company's Gilead, OH, office. With the new distribution agreement, Neschen Americas will market Expolinc products through its Neschen® brand reseller channels.
     This agreement offers customers a one-stop source for complete display solutions that include print media, film and liquid laminates, and a broader range of durable, lightweight, display frames and stands.
     “Expolinc's products nicely complement our existing line of PrimeX™ display solutions, filling in the mid and premium levels,” says Dave Conrad, product manager for Seal® and Neschen brands. “We were looking for a display range that could be matched with Neschen overlaminates and backing films in exhibit solutions, for example, and with Neschen textile media for soft exhibit and banner applications. We are impressed with Expolinc's build quality, light weight, and ease of use.”
     For more information, contact Neschen brand at 800-257-7325 (U.S.) or 866-212-7325 (Canada) or visit www.neschenbrands.com.

Framerica Launches New Website
Framerica has completely redesigned its website, www.framerica.com. The company employed a team of web designers and graphic artists to make it among the most useful tools in the industry. Visit the website or call 800-372-6422.

Plaskolite Acquires Lucite Division
Plaskolite has acquired the continuously processed acrylic sheet division of Lucite International. Plaskolite will purchase the manufacturing plants located in Olive Branch, MS, and Monterrey, Mexico. Completed acquisition is anticipated for the early part of the third quarter.
     The acquisition is a landmark event for the acrylic industry.  Plaskolite was one of the original domestic companies to help build the foundation of the extruded acrylic sheet industry in the U.S. nearly 60 years ago. Today, Plaskolite remains the only privately held, family-owned business in the industry,” states James R. Dunn, president of Plaskolite.

Larson-Juhl's Concerto Chosen for PGA Tour
Larson-Juhl has collaborated with Fogle Fine Art of Jacksonville, FL, to design Concerto finished corner frames for the PGA Tour. The custom designs were created to frame several large-scale paintings by artist Bart Forbes, which were unveiled in May before an audience of top golf talents at the opening of the new 777,000 square foot clubhouse at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL. The paintings represent famous moments in the history of the players, including Tiger Woods, who was onhand for the event.
      The Concerto frames created were seventeenth century Spanish designs representative of the Baroque period. The lumber for the frames came from the Czech Republic and was sent to Larson-Juhl’s 100-year-old atelier, Senelar in Hazebrouk, France, for milling and ornamentation. The Larson-Juhl studio in Toronto, Canada, gilded the frames in 22K gold and hand-finished them to create an antique look. Fogle Fine Art then oversaw the framing.

Studio Appoints Petruno
Studio Moulding has named David Petruno director of marketing and product development. He brings 18 years of experience with him. Petruno was most recently with Roma Moulding. He can be reached at 800-262-4174.

Ban Joins CTD
CTD Machines, Inc., has announced Kiwon Ban will head its management team. Ban has more than 20 years’ experience in the service, manufacturing, and construction industries. He can be reached at 213-689-4455.

Max Moulding Names Cohen 
Stuart Cohen has joined Max Moulding’s sales team. He will be covering the state of Florida. He can be reached at 904-307-0226 or through the Atlanta office at 888-883-6055.

Framerica Assigns Sales Rep 
Framerica's Bill Hoffman has assumed all sales responsibilities for its Southeast customer base (FL, GA, AL, MS and LA). Dan Murray, who had been servicing that territory, will now handle the Mid-Atlantic region—extended west to Oklahoma (DE, MD, WV, VA, NC, SC, TN, AR, and OK). Contact them at 800-372-6422.