ARAB FASHION AND IDENTITY The Contemporary Muslim Fashions exhibition showcases the diversity of Arab and Muslim fashion styles and highlights Arab participation in the global and regional fashion industry. Join Cooper Hewitt for an engaging discussion about fashion and identity in the Arab world and diaspora, moderated by consulting exhibition curator Reina Lewis. Panelists include...
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum launched the National High School Design Competition in 2016. Every year, students around the country are challenged to design a solution to a unique scenario, inspired by Cooper Hewitt’s rich collection and stimulating exhibitions. 2021 CHALLENGE Cooper Hewitt is delighted to announce the 2021 National High School Design Competition: What...
In the latest installment in the Behind the Design program series. Curator Andrea Lipps, conservator Jessica Walthew, and Stamen Design’s founder and creative director Eric Rodenbeck discuss Watercolor Maptiles—a web-based, open-source mapping tool that displays OpenStreetMap’s data with the hand-hewn textures of watercolor paint. Launched by Stamen Design in 2012, Watercolor Maptiles is part of...
This video is the story of Key West Hand Print Fabrics, with Suzie Zuzek and Lilly Pulitzer. A version of this video with audio descriptions is available here. Read more about the exhibition, Suzie Zuzek for Lilly Pulitzer: The Prints that Made the Fashion Brand
Pioneering transmedia designer April Greiman has pushed graphic design into new dimensions, from the built environment to augmented reality (AR). Greiman’s designs are among the first digital graphics ever made, and her innovative use of advanced digital technology has made her a leader in the design world. In this talk, Greiman speaks about her career...
A CHANGE IS GONNA COME: BLACK SPECULATIVE FUTURES FOR THE COOPER HEWITT, SMITHSONIAN DESIGN MUSEUM COLLECTION Dr. Dori Tunstall’s lecture examines the Black presence in the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum collection, from 19th-century Congolese status cloths to Art Sim’s Spike Lee film posters. Considering the history and methods of 19th-century collecting practices, Tunstall addresses...
In the video, two of Suzie dePoo Zuzek’s daughters reflect on her art, passion, and legacy. This video was produced with a grant from the Smithsonian American Women’s History Initiative.
In this video, get inspired by the colorful, nature-inspired textile designs of textile designer Suzie Zuzek, then learn how to make your own repeating pattern. To learn more about Cooper Hewitt’s collection and lessons you can learn from it, head over to https://learninglab.si.edu/org/cooperhewitt
How did road trips and X-rays lead to acquiring an exceptional eighteenth-century armchair originally made in Mexico? Journey with us to discover the design history of this fascinating object that responds to Englishman Thomas Chippendale’s influential pattern book Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker’s Director, published in 1750. While artisans from across the Atlantic adapted Chippendale’s patterns to...