Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

East Jordan (Established circa 1891, East Jordan, Michigan) is a town in northern Michigan with approximately 2,239 residents. Over recent decades, the seasonal agricultural industry and other factors have attracted a small but growing group of Spanish speakers from Latin American countries and the southern US to the area. Angela Barrera, a Spanish teacher at the East Jordan Middle/High School, observed that numerous students were unfamiliar with the Latino community, while many Spanish-speaking parents felt uncomfortable participating in traditional school activities. Students also recognized a lack of meaningful opportunities for engagement. In response, a student-led initiative emerged in 2023, focused on cultivating connections through culinary and linguistic exchanges. With events such as Noche Latina (Latino Night), the students’ work extended beyond the school, attracting participants from the broader region. Experience “Comida, conversación y comunidad (Food, Conversation, and Community)” on the ground floor of our current exhibition “Making Home—Smithsonian Design Triennial.” Watch the full video on our YouTube! ⬇️

High school students, thinking about a career in design and wondering where to start? Join us for the Design Career Fair at Microsoft Garage! This annual event welcomes 9th-12th grade students to speak with National Design Award winners, guest designers, and colleges on the many pathways toward design. Designers from every discipline including fashion, architecture, product design, graphic design, UX, and more will be available to discuss everything from mentorship and college to the future of the field. Creative careers are growing fast to meet the needs of our changing world. See how these jobs fit into different industries and make an impact!

In 1818, Hannah Davis entered the design and craft scene at the age of 34, and became known for creating some of the most finely constructed bandboxes in the business. From hand-selecting trees, to the invention of a special machine to cut her lumber into thin, vertical slices, Davis controlled every aspect of the box construction. Built entirely of wood, each bandbox was lined with newspaper. These boxes were used to store and transport hats and personal items, often on horse-drawn carriages over unpaved surfaces, and Davis’s boxes were built to withstand such journeys. 👒 #SmithsonianWHM #SmithsonianWomensHistory __ Bandbox; Made by Hannah Davis; Block-printed paper, wood support, newspaper lining; USA. This object is part of Cooper Hewitt’s permanent collection and is not currently on view.

Across the performing arts, costume design is integral to the shaping and perception of a character. Costumes can help transport performers and audiences to past times or imaginary worlds, or can ground a theatrical text in the present through contemporary styling. 👗 Women costume designers have made some of the most significant contributions to the craft, producing vast bodies of work and iconic sartorial images that become synonymous with characters, productions, and even entire art forms. Meet nine women costume designers from Cooper Hewitt’s permanent collection: https://s.si.edu/4huGHJV #SmithsonianWHM #SmithsonianWomensHistory

This drawing is by Adelgunde “Gunta” Stölzl, the very significant and prolific German weaver who was instrumental in shifting the focus of the Bauhaus weaving workshops from pictorial works to industrial ready designs. Her textiles are renowned for their color, their abstract and asymmetrical composition, and their incorporation of new materials. Read more about Stölzl's esteemed weaving career: https://s.si.edu/4kK3rsm #SmithsonianWHM #SmithsonianWomensHistory __ Drawing, Design for a Jacquard Woven Textile, 1927; Designed by Adelgunde (Gunta) Stölzl; Germany. This object is part of Cooper Hewitt’s permanent collection and is not currently on view.

Artist Renée Stout discusses the power of personal belongings and how they helped shape her installation, “A Room to Simply, BE,” on view now in “Making Home—Smithsonian Design Triennial.” 🏡 Experience Stout’s work IRL—click here to plan your visit to Cooper Hewitt: https://s.si.edu/3xeOSTM

📆 Join us on March 22 for the "Making Home Saturday Series," a quarterly public program that pairs special guests with participants from "Making Home—Smithsonian Design Triennial." The program’s two-part sessions include conversations on exhibition-related themes, including systems, belonging, memory, care, and building, as well as the contemporary concepts of home related to race, class, migration, climate, and technology. Click the link to learn more about Session 2, featuring multidisciplinary collective CFGNY: https://s.si.edu/3F4xScm

📆 Join us on March 22 for the "Making Home Saturday Series," a quarterly public program that pairs special guests with participants from "Making Home—Smithsonian Design Triennial." The program’s two-part sessions include conversations on exhibition-related themes, including systems, belonging, memory, care, and building, as well as the contemporary concepts of home related to race, class, migration, climate, and technology. Click the link to learn more about Session 1, featuring artists Sofía Gallisá Muriente and Natalia Lassalle-Morillo, and archaeologist Reniel Rodríguez Ramos: https://s.si.edu/3Xo8WD2

Designer and weaver Dorothy Liebes, who introduced handcraft and brilliant color to the modern interior, was among the most influential designers of the 20th century. The “Liebes Look”—which combined vivid color, lush texture, and often a glint of metallic—became inextricably linked with the American modern aesthetic. Liebes’s reach spanned mid-20th-century interiors, fashion, film, and industrial design. Learn more about this influential figure in textile design: https://s.si.edu/3DyXspq 🧶 #SmithsonianWomensHistory #SmithsonianWHM __ 1. Sample Card, ca. 1948; Designed by Dorothy Wright Liebes; wool, viscose rayon, cotton, silk; USA 2. Sample Card, ca. 1942; Designed by Dorothy Wright Liebes; cotton, silk, viscose rayon, wool, wool-viscose rayon blend; USA 3. Sample Card, ca. 1948; Designed by Dorothy Wright Liebes; cotton, viscose rayon, viscose rayon-cellulose triacetate blend, silk-viscose rayon blend, wool, wool- viscose rayon blend, cellophane, cellulose acetate-laminated aluminum yarn, cellulose acetate butyrate-laminated aluminum yarn; USA 4. Sample Card, ca. 1949; Designed by Dorothy Wright Liebes; cotton, viscose rayon, wool, cellulose acetate butyrate-laminated metallic yarn; USA 5. Sample, 1947; Designed by Dorothy Wright Liebes; cotton, mohair, wool, cellulose acetate butyrate-laminated aluminum yarn; USA These objects are part of Cooper Hewitt’s permanent collection and are not currently on view.

Hadiya Williams explains how the history of the Andrew and Louise Carnegie Mansion helped crystallize the idea for “The Offering,” Williams’s installation with Nicole Crowder for “Making Home—Smithsonian Design Triennial.” Experience “The Offering” IRL at Cooper Hewitt through August 10. Plan your visit: https://s.si.edu/3xeOSTM