Nigerian British designer Duro Olowu will guest curate the 20th installment in Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum’s “Selects” exhibition series, which invites designers, writers and cultural figures to explore and interpret objects in the museum’s permanent collection. On view March 18 to Aug. 28, Olowu’s exhibition highlights the theme of pattern and repetition throughout the collection, demonstrating how designers, artists and makers have relied on pattern to express ideas, preserve heritage, capture attention and construct objects and environments.

Maria Nicanor, executive director of the Rice Design Alliance (RDA) at Rice University’s School of Architecture in Houston, has been named the director of Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, effective March 21. An architecture and design curator and historian, Nicanor has an established career in museum and curatorial work and brings a rich background in architecture and design to the role.

This December, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum will present “Design and Healing: Creative Responses to Epidemics,” an exhibition examining design’s role in times of crisis. Organized during the unfolding COVID-19 pandemic, the exhibition will feature the work of communities and individuals who came together to aid each other, push for change and create new spaces, objects and services. Architectural case studies and historical narratives will appear alongside creative responses to current pandemics.

This fall, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum will present Mud Frontier: Architecture at the Borderlands, a feature-length documentary about Studio Rael San Fratello’s work to connect contemporary technology with the legacy of pottery making and adobe architecture in the Southwest United States. The 60-minute film will be made available to the public to watch free of charge during its premiere Nov. 17 at the virtual Architecture and Design Film Festival (ADFF). A virtual panel discussion and Q&A session with the filmmakers and studio founders will be held immediately following the premiere, co-hosted by Cooper Hewitt, ADFF and Smithsonian Affiliations.

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum today announced the winners of the 2021 National Design Awards. The 22nd class of winners were honored for design innovation and impact in nine categories. In October, National Design Month programming will highlight the work of the winners and celebrate the power of design in the everyday world.

This September, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum will present the largest-ever exhibition of works by E. McKnight Kauffer (American, 1890–1954), a pioneer of commercial art—the profession known today as graphic design. On view Sept. 10 through April 10, 2022, “Underground Modernist: E. McKnight Kauffer” will feature some 200 objects to examine the designer’s impact and legacy across media.

The Interaction Lab at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum has announced the launch of seven prototypes commissioned under the Activating Smithsonian Open Access program. The selected teams each received $10,000 to create new digital interactions and innovative tools that enable play and discovery with 2D and 3D digitized assets from the Smithsonian’s Open Access collections. The teams retain ownership of the intellectual property developed from the program.

Jon Gray will guest curate the next exhibition in Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum’s acclaimed “Selects” series. As cofounder of the creative collective and cooking advocacy group Ghetto Gastro, Gray works at the intersection of food, culture and the Bronx experience. Celebrated for his collaborative spirit, Gray extends his creative vision to projects ranging from...

“Fashion, Culture, Futures: African American Ingenuity, Activism, and Storytelling” is a two-part symposium co-organized by Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture. Presented virtually Thursday, June 17, and Thursday, Oct. 21, both programs will bring together academics, designers, critics, models, artists, activists and others to share new perspectives on the relationship between fashion and the African American experience.

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum will reopen its doors to the public Thursday, June 10, with member preview days Sunday, June 6, and Monday, June 7. All visitors will enjoy free admission, made possible by support from the museum’s board of trustees, through Oct. 31. The museum will reopen with timed-entry ticketing and new health-and-safety procedures...

Watercolor Maptiles—a web-based, open-source mapping tool designed by Stamen Design that displays OpenStreetMap’s data with the hand-hewn textures of watercolor paint—has been acquired by Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum for its digital design collection. It is the Smithsonian’s first acquisition of a live website into its collections, consisting of over 56 million map tiles (separate png...

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum today announces four new appointments to its board of trustees: Irene Au, Victor Calise, Kimberly Schuessler and Keith Yamashita. “It’s my great pleasure to welcome Irene, Victor, Kim and Keith to Cooper Hewitt’s board of trustees,” said John Davis, interim director of Cooper Hewitt. “As leaders in their respective fields...

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum announced the winners of the 2020 National Design Awards at a virtual gala tonight. The 21st class of National Design Award winners were honored for design innovation and impact in nine categories.

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum will host a virtual National Design Awards gala Thursday, Oct. 1, at 7:30 p.m. ET featuring an announcement of the 2020 award winners. The gala will kick-off National Design Month in October, which will highlight the work of the award winners through free educational programming for design enthusiasts of all...

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum has announced that a special exhibition, “Partnering with Nature,” will be on view at the World Economic Forum’s 50th Annual Meeting, Jan. 21 through Jan. 24 in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland. Drawing from the “Nature—Cooper Hewitt Design Triennial” exhibition originally organized by Cooper Hewitt and Cube design museum, this adaptation is a collaboration...