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Cooper-Hewitt's New Acting Director

A message from Caroline Baumann:

As you may know, Paul Warwick Thompson, the Museum’s director of eight years, has resigned to accept the position of rector of the Royal College of Art in London. Starting July 13th, I will serve as acting director of the museum while a ten-member committee, of which I am a part, searches for a permanent director.

I would like to thank Paul for his dedication to Cooper-Hewitt. It was his vision and leadership that resulted in the current RE:DESIGN project, the most ambitious in the Museum’s history, which will culminate in a dramatic reconfiguration of Cooper-Hewitt and a major increase in its endowment. Phase one of the RE:DESIGN has begun with the renovation of the Miller/Fox townhouses. The Museum and Arthur Ross Terrace and Garden remain open—pardon the trailers—with a great roster of programs and exhibitions, including Cocktails@Cooper-Hewitt, starting July 10th, along with Fashioning Felt and Design for a Living World.

During my tenure at Cooper-Hewitt, I have served as director of development, director of external affairs, and deputy director, and had the good fortune of meeting many of you at various programs throughout the years. I hope to see you at the Museum soon, and look forward to sharing news and updates with you over the summer. In the meantime, feel free to contact me with any comments or suggestions about Cooper-Hewitt.

Caroline Baumann
Acting Director

Cooper-Hewitt Partners with Google on Design Contest for K-12 Students

Cooper-Hewitt is honored to be partnering with Google for the Doodle 4 Google design competition.

K-12 students from across the country are challenged to think like designers, using Google’s iconic logo to convey their hopes and dreams inspired by the theme, “What I wish for the world.” On May 21, the winning student’s design will be the doodle of the day on the Google home page. The top four designs along with the 40 regional winners will be featured in a special exhibition at Cooper-Hewitt from May 21 through July 5. The exhibition will focus on the problem-solving nature of the design process and will include educational programs for teachers and students.

Classroom Resources
More information about Doodle 4 Google

2008 People's Design Award Winner

Congratulations to the Zōn Hearing Aid, this year’s People’s Design Award winner. The Award was given to Stuart Karten of Stuart Karten Design last night at the National Design Awards gala at Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum.

Let us know what you think about this year’s winning design.

Vote for the People's Design Award


Every year, Cooper-Hewitt gives out design awards chosen by a jury of distinguished design gurus—but do you agree with the experts?

Now you can make your design voice heard by voting for the 2008 People’s Design Award. Whether it’s handmade or mass produced, high end or low brow, if it’s an example of good design, we want to know about it! On this site, you can browse and search for designs that have already been submitted, or nominate something new.

Cast your vote for your favorite design before 6:00 p.m. EST on October 21, 2008, and check back on this site on October 23 at 10:00 p.m. EST to see the winner announced live at the National Design Awards gala in New York City.

Click here to comment and vote.

Summer Design Institute in Minneapolis


Cooper-Hewitt’s Summer Design Institute, a week-long series of lectures, workshops, and discussions for K-12 teachers focused on design-based learning, is in Minneapolis this week at the Walker Art Center. Cooper-Hewitt’s exhibition Design for the Other 90% is also on view in the Walker Art Center Sculpture Garden.

Our friends at the Walker will be blogging about Summer Design Institute all week long, check it out.