Meet the Spring 2021 Chairish Scholarship Winner

We’re proud to announce the recipient of our most recent Chairish scholarship, Antoine Gray. He’s enrolled at The Ohio State University in Columbus with the goal of becoming an architect. He also wants to create a scholarship program to increase the number of women and African Americans in the architecture field. As Antoine pointed out in his application essay, only 2% of working architects are African American, and he hopes to improve representation in the industry.

Read on to learn more about Antoine and the Chairish Scholarship Program. To apply for the scholarship in the future, click here.

Can you tell us a bit about how architecture factored into your life growing up and what made you want to enter a field connected to design?

Growing up, I always had a passion for art and crafts. I would always find myself drawing and painting a lot when I was younger. Playing with Legos was another one of my favorite things; I would build almost anything I could imagine. When high school came around, I grew a passion for STEM and with college being not too far away, I had to think of a major that I could see myself pursuing as a career. I knew I loved art/drawing, STEM, and creating things; architecture seemed like the perfect choice for me.

What excites you about a career in architecture?

Being able to see my creations become a reality really excites me about having a career in the architecture field. Being an architect allows you to be as creative as you want. I know once I become an architect, I would like to focus on designing residential architecture, and by working hard, I know my dream will come to fruition.

How did you hear about the Chairish scholarship program?

I heard about the Chairish scholarship program from my identical twin brother. Since the scholarship involved design, he thought it would be perfect for me since my major was architecture.

Being able to see my creations become a reality really excites me about having a career in the architecture field. Being an architect allows you to be as creative as you want.
Antoine Gray

What does this scholarship mean to you?

Receiving this scholarship opportunity will help my mother and I with the financial burden of college, especially since my mother is sending my identical twin brother and I to college at the same time.

You mention in your essay that you would like to start a non-profit program. Can you tell us a little bit more about that?

My dream is to become a licensed architect and start my own architectural firm. I would like to focus on designing and building affordable houses and infrastructures within my community in order to improve it. With some of the proceeds from my business, I would like to create renewable scholarships for underrepresented minorities and women wanting to major in architecture. My goal with this is to help diversify the architecture field as a whole by helping these individuals with the financial burden of college. Currently, I see problems in my community and I know in the future these problems can be solved and fixed, and I want to be a part of the solution!

When not in class or studying, what hobbies or activities can we find you taking part in?

Currently, I participate in the Architecture, Landscape, and City Scholars Program at OSU. So far, we are just getting to know each other and I have already made some close friends from the program. Soon, I will be attending many workshops hosted by architects to get some insight into the field.