Press Room

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum has acquired a major collection of work by the designer Tobias Wong (1974–2010). Often referred to as the “enfant terrible” of the design world, Wong’s influential body of work merged conceptual art, performance and product design. Through a gift of more than 50 objects from Wong’s family, friends and collaborators—including products, prototypes, digital designs and ephemera—the collection provides a new perspective on a critical voice in late 20th- and early 21st-century design. Cooper Hewitt is planning a monographic exhibition dedicated to Wong for late 2027, organized by Alexandra Cunningham Cameron, curator of contemporary design.

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum today announced it will celebrate 25 years of the prestigious National Design Awards program and named the 2025 Award winners. Launched in 2000 as an official project of the White House Millennium Council, the National Design Awards and its associated public programs seek to increase national awareness of the impact of design in everyday life. 

“Making Home—Smithsonian Design Triennial,” opening Nov. 2 at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, features 25 debut commissions that illustrate the ways design is embedded in contemporary life. Ranging from domestic objects to built environments to social systems, the exhibition considers home as an expansive framework with varying cultural and environmental contexts, and “making home” as a universal design practice. Organized in collaboration with Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, the seventh iteration of Cooper Hewitt’s Triennial series will be on view through Aug. 10, 2025.

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum today announced the appointment of Elissa Black as deputy director, effective Sept. 9. Deeply experienced in both the non-profit and for-profit sectors, Black brings more than 20 years of executive leadership to the role. She has worked nationally and internationally on strategy, vision and short- and long-term planning for museums and cultural organizations, overseeing the development and implementation of dynamic cultural programming, as well as managing complex financial and administrative functions.

This fall, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum will present “Making Home—Smithsonian Design Triennial.” Featuring 25 site-specific, newly commissioned installations, the exhibition explores design’s role in shaping the physical and emotional realities of home across the U.S., U.S. territories and tribal nations. On view Nov. 2 through summer 2025, “Making Home” is the seventh offering in the museum’s Design Triennial series, which was established in 2000 to address the most urgent topics of the time through the lens of design.

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum today announced the appointment of Chris Fralic to its board of trustees.