What’s in your collection? Cooper Hewitt’s permanent collection is central to all activities at the museum, with its vast array of objects prompting untold and diverse stories. Learn how to curate your own exhibition from items you have at home with museum educator Kim Robledo-Diga and Senior Curator of Contemporary Design Ellen Lupton. As many...
Cooper Hewitt is dedicated to making our collection available to everyone interested in the power of design. In 2016, over 200,000 objects were digitized for the public to explore and even download from anywhere in the world. We invite you to browse the collection using various features of the Cooper Hewitt Collection homepage to find...
Written by Kimberly Randall, Collections Manager of the Textile Department at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. In 2019, Cooper Hewitt received a generous gift from the estate of American Arts and Crafts dealer and collector Don Magner (American, 1932–2016). Cooper Hewitt learned about Magner from his close friend, Andrew Van Styn, after he attended a...
Yao-Fen You is Senior Curator at Cooper Hewitt and head of Product Design and Decorative Arts. She is also Acting Deputy Director of Curatorial. As a curator, Yao-Fen is a champion of the collection and works hard researching, writing, and presenting our permanent collection, while also finding new design treasures for acquisition. We at Cooper...
Written by Margery Masinter, Trustee, Cooper Hewitt, Design Museum and Design and Decorative Arts Historian In 1895, sisters Sarah and Eleanor Hewitt realized a childhood dream and opened the Cooper Union Museum for the Arts of Decoration with the objective of educating and inspiring American artists and designers. Sarah (1859–1930) and Eleanor (1864–1924) planned for...