February 1, 2021

Creative Voices: Honoring Black History Month

In honor of Black History Month, the Interior Design team is spotlighting the narratives, works, and craft traditions of Black architects, designers, and creatives. See our full coverage here, including interviews with industry innovators.

Creative Voices With Malene Barnett

Join Cindy Allen in discussion with Malene Barnett, founder of the Black Artists + Designers Guild. Watch now

Amy Sherald To Unveil New Collection of Portraits in First West Coast Solo Show

Amy Sherald, one of America’s most significant modern portraitists, will debut a new collection of paintings in her first solo exhibition on the West Coast, opening March 20 at Hauser & Wirth Los Angeles. Read more

The Elmhurst Art Museum Presents Photography Exhibition on Chicago’s Historic Fight for Fair Housing

Opening on March 4 at the Elmhurst Art Museum in the Chicago suburbs, a new photography exhibition, “In Focus: The Chicago Freedom Movement and the Fight for Fair Housing,” exposes the systemic issues that have historically effected housing opportunities in the city. Read more

Artist Rashid Johnson’s Largest Work to Date Is Installed Inside Brookfield Place

Brookfield Properties recently tapped Brooklyn-based multidisciplinary artist Rashid Johnson for a mural at the 200 Liberty Street atrium inside their multipurpose complex, Brookfield Place, on Wall Street. Read more

BA+DG and S. Harris Unveil Textile Collaboration Spotlighting Indigenous Cultures from Zanzibar to Bhutan

The Orejen collection by the Black Artists + Designers Guild for textile manufacturer S. Harris is exactly as its name (phonetically) suggests—a deep dive into the landscapes, heritage, and craft traditions of the cultures referenced by each fabric, wallcovering, and trimming. Read more

NOMA Announces Second Cohort of Student Fellows

The National Organization of Minority Architects announced a new class of 10 architecture students from historically Black colleges and universities, forming the 2021 winter cohort of the NOMA Foundation Fellowship. Read more

Buro Happold Hosts “Racial Equity Takeover” Discussion with Industry Thought Leaders

Buro Happold, a global consulting and engineering services firm, hosted its 14th Collective Impact event, “Racial Equity Takeover,” February 17, bringing together an esteemed virtual panel of designers, social entrepreneurs, and government agency leaders to shed light on the topic. Read more

10 Questions With…Curtis and Jonathan Moody

Moody Nolan has much to celebrate. Black History Month is one. Receiving the 2021 AIA Architecture Firm Award is another. Still another is its diversity. Read more

Bradley L. Bowers in Conversation With Cindy Allen for DesignBiz

Bowers (@bradleylbowers) checked into Tuesday night’s episode of DesignBiz, hosted by Editor in Chief Cindy Allen (@thecindygram), from New Orleans. Read more

First Look at Ini Archibong’s Pavilion of the African Diaspora for London Design Biennale

Los Angeles-based designer Ini Archibong has revealed his design for the Pavilion of the African Diaspora, a space where past, present, and future will come together at the London Design Biennale under the festival’s 2021 theme of “Resonance.” Read more

Black Makers Reflect on the Cultural Roots of Their Crafts

Interior Design spoke with six Black creatives about how their work reflects their personal experiences, cultural narratives, and hopes for the future of design. Read more

 

10 Questions With… Kamille Glenn

2020 was an incredibly challenging year for the design community—particularly the Black design community, which Kamille Glenn wanted to amplify through The Designer’s Workshop collective she founded in June. Read more

Society’s Cage by SmithGroup Wins the  2020 Best of Year Award for Design Unity

In the wake of the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, SmithGroup principal Dayton Schroeter and associate Julian Arrington wanted to help Americans understand that the killings weren’t isolated events, but part of a 400-year history of systemic racism. The designers conceived of a public installation called Society’s Cage, temporarily erected on the National Mall last summer. Read more

10 Questions With…Leyden Lewis

Architect, designer, fine artist, educator, art consultant, advocate for diversity and inclusion—Leyden Lewis is all that. Read more

Moynihan Train Hall in New York Symbolizes Upward Momentum for 2021

The monumental civic project has been decades in the making; it was 1998 when Skidmore, Owings & Merrill began on it with a goal to evoke the Beaux-Arts majesty of the original Pennsylvania Station across the street. Perhaps equal in breathtaking qualities is the art program: three permanent site-specific installations. Read more 

Moody Nolan Receives the 2021 AIA Architecture Firm Award

Moody Nolan—the nation’s largest African-American owned and operated design firm, with more than 230 staff members in 11 offices across the U.S.—has received the 2021 AIA Architecture Firm Award, the highest honor the organization bestows. Read more 

Adjaye Associates Designs the Manhattan Headquarters of the Largest Healthcare-Workers Union in the U.S.

The 400,000 members of 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, the country’s largest healthcare-workers union, founded in 1932, have not had an easy year. But the completion of the public spaces in its new Manhattan headquarters was a high point. Read more

Gio Swaby’s “Love Letters” Exhibition to Open at Claire Oliver Gallery in New York

Gio Swaby, a Bahamian multimedia textile artist, is kicking off 2021 with “Love Letters,” her exhibition of over a dozen new works at Claire Oliver Gallery in New York. Read more

Barbara Earl Thomas Exhibition Opens at Seattle Art Museum

The Seattle Art Museum is giving its first solo exhibition of hometown artist Barbara Earl Thomas, who is also a former director of the city’s Northwest African American Museum. Read more 

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