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Curators Select: Recent Acquisitions, 2003–2008 Tuesday, September 2, 2008 The Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum will present “Curators Select: Recent Acquisitions, 2003-2008,” an exhibition featuring new additions to its permanent collection, from Sept. 12 to March 1, 2009. The exhibition will be on view in the Nancy and Edwin Marks Gallery and will highlight significant works from the 18th century to the present.
House Proud: Nineteenth-century Watercolor Interiors from the Thaw Collection Tuesday, September 2, 2008 The Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum presents “House Proud: Nineteenthcentury Watercolor Interiors from the Thaw Collection,” an exhibition that examines the evolution of the domestic interior in 19th-century Europe. Cooper-Hewitt explores the origins of the modern home through Eugene and Clare Thaw’s generous gift to the museum of 85 19th-century interior watercolors. On view in the first-floor galleries from Aug. 12 through Jan. 25, 2009, “House Proud” features 71 watercolor drawings, alongside selected objects from the museum’s collection of wallpapers, textiles, ceramics and furniture. The exhibition is organized by Gail S. Davidson, curator and head of the Drawings, Prints and Graphic Design Department, and associate curator Floramae McCarron-Cates.
Architecture for Humanity Selected As Design Patron Award Winner in Cooper-Hewitt’s Ninth Annual National Design Awards Monday, August 11, 2008 Architecture for Humanity has been selected as the Design Patron for the 2008 National Design Awards by Paul Warwick Thompson, director of the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum. Architecture for Humanity is being recognized for its commitment to bringing sustainable architecture to global communities in need.
GlassLab Tuesday, May 6, 2008 The Corning Museum of Glass brings its innovative program, GlassLab, to Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, pairing master glassmakers from The Corning Museum of Glass with some of the most creative minds working in design today. Corning Museum GlassLab invites leading contemporary designers to work in a unique mobile hot glass studio, where they can explore new design concepts and push the boundaries of innovation and creativity.
Cooper-Hewitt Announces 2008 National Design Awards Jury and Programs Wednesday, April 2, 2008 Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum will celebrate outstanding achievement in design with its ninth annual National Design Awards. The Awards recognize excellence across a range of disciplines including architecture, communications, fashion, interior, landscape and product design. The 2008 National Design Award finalists and Award recipients will be announced on May 8, 2008, followed by a panel discussion on May 13, 2008 with members of this year's Awards jury, a diverse group of leading figures in the design field.
Rococo: The Continuing Curve 1730–2008 Friday, February 15, 2008 In March 2008, the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum will present “Rococo: The Continuing Curve, 1730 – 2008,” a groundbreaking exhibition exploring the Rococo style and its continuing revivals up to the present day in multiple fields, including furniture, decorative arts, prints, drawings and textiles. On view in the first- and second-floor galleries from March 7 through July 6, 2008, the exhibition charts the progress of the Rococo style as it radiates from Paris, travels to the French provinces, migrates to other European countries and later crosses the Atlantic to the United States. The exhibition examines the forms of this free-spirited 18th-century style, tracks reappearances in Art Nouveau and continues its exploration through the 20th and 21st centuries.
Cooper-Hewitt Announces New Trustees Friday, December 14, 2007 Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum is pleased to announce the appointment of two new trustees to the board. Smithsonian Institution’s board of regents voted to appoint Miki Naftali and Lisa Roberts to the board of Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum. Cooper-Hewitt's board of trustees, led by Chairman Paul Herzan and President James Rosenthal, is comprised of distinguished civic and business leaders dedicated to the continued growth of the museum.
Campana Brothers Select: Works from the Permanent Collection Thursday, November 1, 2007 In winter 2008, Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum will present the exhibition “Campana Brothers Select: Works from the Permanent Collection.” As guest curators in the “Selects” exhibition series devoted to rotations of works from Cooper-Hewitt’s permanent collection, the Brazilian designers Fernando and Humberto Campana mine the museum’s collection for works that blend unexpected media, layer varied forms and weave intricate patterns and lines. The exploration of interwoven materials and ideas is the binding thread of the Campanas’ work, and the exhibition will include a new piece designed by the brothers specifically for the museum’s permanent collection. “Campana Brothers Select” will be on view from Feb. 15 through Sept. 28, 2008 in the Nancy and Edwin Marks Gallery.
TOMS Shoes Win the 2007 People’s Design Award Friday, October 19, 2007 The Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum presented its second People's Design Award to TOMS Shoes on Thursday, Oct. 18th, at its eighth annual National Design Awards gala in New York. Fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi announced the winning design and presented the award to TOMS founder Blake Mycoskie. National Design Week and the National Design Awards are sponsored by Target.
Piranesi as Designer Monday, September 10, 2007 In fall 2007, the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum will present “Piranesi as Designer,” the first museum exhibition to show Giovanni Battista Piranesi’s full range and influence as a designer of architecture, interiors and furnishings. Through more than 100 etchings, original drawings and decorative arts objects, the exhibition will examine Piranesi’s concept of modern design and demonstrate his ongoing influence on architects and designers today, with featured work by Peter Eisenman, Michael Graves, Daniel Libeskind, Robert A.M. Stern, and Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown. Organized by professor Sarah E. Lawrence, director of Cooper-Hewitt’s Master’s Program in the History of Decorative Arts and Design, and John Wilton-Ely, professor emeritus at the University of Hull in England, the exhibition will be on view in the first-floor galleries of the museum from Sept. 14 through Jan. 20, 2008. “Piranesi as Designer” is mounted in association with the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam and the Teylers Museum, Haarlem, the Netherlands.