Current Exhibitions

DECONSTRUCTING POWER: W. E. B. DU BOIS AT THE 1900 WORLD’S FAIR
On view through May 29, 2023

Deconstructing Power: W. E. B. Du Bois at the 1900 World’s Fair places decorative arts from Cooper Hewitt’s permanent collection in dialogue with 20 innovative data visualizations that W. E. B. Du Bois (1868–1963) created for the 1900 Paris World’s Fair to explore how design can both reveal and mask dynamics of power and equity.

Learn more about Deconstructing Power →

Immersion Room
ongoing

Cooper Hewitt’s extraordinary collection of wallcoverings is featured in the Immersion Room. Visitors are invited to select digital images of wallpapers or sketch their own design and then project them onto the walls at full scale to see their impact.

Learn more about the Immersion Room →

Give Me a Sign: The Language of Symbols
ON VIEW THROUGH SEPTEMBER 2, 2024

Give Me a Sign: The Language of Symbols demonstrates how symbol design is a dynamic and collaborative effort through which individuals and communities have created, adopted, and redesigned symbols over time. Visitors are invited to discover the history behind many symbols and participate in creative activities in-gallery and online to co-create a Symbol Sourcebook of 2024.

Learn more about Give Me a Sign →

DESIGNING PEACE
ON VIEW THROUGH august 6, 2023

Designing Peace explores the unique role design can play in pursuing peace. The exhibition features design projects from around the world that look at ways to create and sustain more durable peaceful interactions—from creative confrontations that challenge existing structures to designs that demand embracing justice and truth in a search for reconciliation.

Learn more about Designing Peace →

BOTANICAL LESSONS
on view through may 29, 2023

Botanical Lessons explores nature in the Smithsonian collections through thirteen botanical models on loan from the National Museum of American History, and a selection of illustrated books and periodicals from Smithsonian Libraries, all of which served as teaching aids in a nineteenth-century period marked by a growing interest in science and education.

Learn more about Nature by Design: Botanical Lessons →

Exhibition supporters

Designing Peace is made possible with lead support from

Major support is provided by Lisa Roberts and David Seltzer. Generous support is also provided by the Lily Auchincloss Foundation, Helen and Edward Hintz, and the Barbara and Morton Mandel Design Gallery Endowment Fund. Additional support is provided by Agnes Gund, the Consulate General of the Netherlands in New York as part of the Dutch Culture USA program, the Cooper Hewitt Master’s Program Fund, the Netherland-America Foundation, the Norwegian Consulate General, and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

In-kind support is provided by Tretford Americas and Consolidated Flooring.

Give Me a Sign: The Language of Symbols is made possible with generous support from the Marks Family Foundation Endowment Fund.

Deconstructing Power: W.E.B. Du Bois at the 1900 World’s Fair is made possible with major support from The Hearthland Foundation and Denise Littlefield Sobel. Additional support is provided by the Ehrenkranz Fund and The Felicia Fund.

The Nature by Design series is made possible by major support from Amita and Purnendu Chatterjee. Additional support is provided by the Cooper Hewitt Master’s Program Fund.

The Immersion Room is made possible by major support from Amita and Purnendu Chatterjee.

Digital Experience supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies.