Book Launch: Making Home: Belonging, Memory, and Utopia in the 21st Century

Join us for the book launch of Making Home: Belonging, Memory, and Utopia in the 21st Century. Published to accompany the exhibition Making Home—Smithsonian Design Triennial, the book is a powerful collection of perspectives on the contemporary and evolving meanings of home, and how they capture both the shared and conflicting narratives that impact our country today.

Featuring a mix of readings and conversation, the program will explore possibilities of how to navigate and reflect on the book’s dynamic collection of essays, interviews, and photos.

The participants include three contributors to the book, Jarrett Earnest, Curry J. Hackett, Catherine E. McKinley; the editors and exhibition co-curators, Alexandra Cunningham Cameron, Christina De Leon, and Michelle Joan Wilkinson; as well as curatorial assistant Julie Pastor and Director of Cross-Platform Content Pamela Horn.

Making Home: Belonging, Memory, and Utopia in the 21st Century  is a co-publication with The MIT Press.

SPEAKERS 

A person with a long beard faces forward. They are wearing a blue, green, and purple striped collared shirt.Jarrett Earnest is the author of What it Means to Write About Art: Interviews with Art Critics (2018) and Valid Until Sunset (2023). His writing on art has been published in exhibition catalogs and publications for art institutions internationally and appears regularly in the New York Review of Books. Earnest edited the collections Hot, Cold, Heavy, Light: 100 Art Writings 1988-2018  by Peter Schjeldahl (2019), Painting Is a Supreme Fiction: Writings by Jesse Murry, 1980-1993  (2021), and Feint of Heart: Art Writings, 1982-2002 by Dave Hickey (2024). At David Zwirner, New York, he curated the exhibitions The Young and Evil  (2019) and Ray Johnson: What a Dump (2021) and, with Lisa Yuskavage, co-curated the traveling exhibition Jesse Murry: Rising (2021-23). Portrait photo credit: Jonathan Grassi.

A person with locked hair faces forward. They are wearing a light brown button up collared shirt and sky blue sweater.Curry J. Hackett is a disciplinary designer, artist, and award-winning educator. His practice, Wayside, explores relationships between culture and land to inform meaningful art and critical research.
 

 

A person with voluminous, curly hair faces forward. They are wearing hoop earrings and a floral top.Catherine E. McKinley, winner of numerous distinctions for her writing and curatorial work, is the author of several critically acclaimed books, most recently The African Lookbook: A Visual History of 100 Years of African Women.

 

A person with shoulder length blonde hair faces left. They are wearing a white button up shirt and a dark jacket.Alexandra Cunningham Cameron is the curator of contemporary design and Hintz Secretarial Scholar at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. She has served as the editor in chief of independent arts journal The Miami Rail, the creative director of the Design Miami fairs, and an independent curator, writer, and advisor whose work has spanned public art, collections, educational programs, and exhibitions engaging an expansive roster of international artists, designers, and architects. Focusing on multidisciplinary practices, Cameron has organized major projects with Yona Friedman, Dozie Kanu, Philippe Malouin, Duro Olowu, and the late fashion designer Willi Smith. She has contributed to publications such as the Financial Times, PIN-UP, Cultured, and Topical Cream in addition to numerous journals, books, and monographs. Cameron’s work has been acknowledged with awards from the Association of Art Museum Curators, the Smithsonian, Wallpaper, and Designboom. Portrait photo credit: Jeremy Liebman.

A person with voluminous and curly hair faces forward. They wear a black top. The image is in black and white.Christina L. De León is Associate Curator of Latino Design and Acting Deputy Director of Curatorial at Cooper Hewitt. Her research focuses on the design and decorative arts of the Americas. De León has held previous positions at the Americas Society and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

 

A person with short dark hair smiles. They are wearing dark rimmed glasses and a blue shirt.Michelle Joan Wilkinson is a curator at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, where she is expanding the museum’s collections in architecture and design. She co-curated two inaugural NMAAHC exhibitions: A Century in the Making: Building the National Museum of African American History and Culture and A Changing America: 1968 and Beyond. In 2018, she served as lead organizer for the museum’s three day symposium, “Shifting the Landscape: Black Architects and Planners, 1968 to Now.”

A person with dark, curly hair smiles. They are wearing silver jewelry and a black shirt.Pamela Horn is the Director of Cross-Platform Content at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. She leads publishing in print and digitally across books, exhibitions, digital interactives, and the website. She oversees museum interpretation with a cross-departmental team creating cohesive, accessible, engaging audience experiences. Horn manages the Cross-Platform Content, Digital and Emerging Media, Audio/Visual, and Customer Relationship Management departments. Prior to joining Cooper Hewitt in 2012, she worked for twenty years in trade book publishing, focusing predominately on illustrated non-fiction, with experience in developing and designing book-plus product and custom publishing programs.

A person with short, blonde hair faces forward. They are wearing a black turtleneck shirt.Julie Pastor is a curatorial assistant at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, where she develops and produces major exhibitions and publications on modern and contemporary design. A part of the curatorial team behind Making Home—Smithsonian Design Triennial, her other recent projects include An Atlas of Es Devlin (2023), Design and Healing: Creative Responses to Epidemics (2021), and Willi Smith: Street Couture (2020).

Accessibility & What to Expect:  

  • Format: The program will begin with a brief welcome, then the speakers will engage in a moderated conversation. It will end with an optional Q&A with the audience. 
  • About the space: This program will take place in Cooper Hewitt’s programming space on the third floor of the museum. It is fully wheelchair accessible. There is an accessible restroom on the Ground floor. Read more about  accessibility at Cooper Hewitt.
  • Accommodations: The program will have live CART captioning. If we can provide additional services to support your participation, email us at CHEducation@si.edu or let us know when you register. Please make your request as far in advance as possible—preferably at least ten days before the program date.
  • Recording: The program will be recorded and posted on Cooper Hewitt’s YouTube channel within two weeks. 

Support 

Making Home—Smithsonian Design Triennial is presented in collaboration with Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture. This project received federal support from the Smithsonian American Women’s History Initiative Pool, administered by the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum; the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the National Museum of the American Latino; the Asian Pacific American Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center; and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Generous support is provided by the Henry Luce Foundation and the Terra Foundation for American Art.

Support is also provided by the Lily Auchincloss Foundation; Edward and Helen Hintz; re:arc institute; the Keith Haring Foundation; the Lemberg Foundation; Maharam; and the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts.