Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum Announces Upcoming Exhibitions

The Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum has announced its upcoming exhibitions. They include National Design Triennial: Why Design Now?, Ted Muehling Selects: Lobmeyr Glass from the Permanent Collection, and Quicktake: Tata Nano.

 

National Design Triennial: Why Design Now?
May 14 through Jan. 9, 2011

Inaugurated in 2000, the National Design Triennial program presents the most innovative designs at the center of contemporary culture. Why Design Now?, the fourth exhibition in the series, provides a sample of contemporary innovation, looking at what progressive designers, engineers, entrepreneurs, and citizens are doing in diverse fields and at different scales around the world. Included are practical solutions already in use as well as experimental ideas designed to inspire further research. Each one-from a soil-powered table lamp to a postpetroleum urban utopia-celebrates the transformative power of design.

"National Design Triennial: Why Design Now?" is sponsored by GE. Generous support is provided by Agnes Bourne, the Norwegian Consulate General in New York, the Esme Usdan Exhibition Endowment Fund, the Ministry of Culture Denmark, and public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a State agency. Additional funding is provided by Dr. Leonard Polonsky and Dr. Georgette Bennett, The Consulate General of Switzerland in New York, and the Office of Cultural Affairs, Consulate General of Israel in New York.

Ted Muehling Selects: Lobmeyr Glass from the Permanent Collection
April 23 through Jan. 2, 2011

"Ted Muehling Selects" celebrates the museum's recent acquisition of an extraordinary collection of 162 rare glass works from J. & L. Lobmeyr of Vienna, Austria, which dates from 1835 to 2008 and spans nearly the entire history of the firm. The exhibition will feature more than 100 Lobmeyr pieces selected by designer Ted Muehling, original drawings lent by Lobmeyr, and other related works from the museum's collection. This is the 10th installment in an exhibition series devoted to showing rotations of Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum's Permanent Collection.

"Ted Muehling Selects: Lobmeyr Glass from the Permanent Collection" is made possible in part by support from Arthur Liu, the Austrian Cultural Forum NYC, Dale and Doug Anderson, Prairie Pictures Inc, and anonymous donors.

Quicktake: Tata Nano
On view through April 25, 2010

Unveiled last year in India by Tata Motors, India's largest automobile manufacturer, the Tata Nano is targeted to families who had not previously been able to afford a car. Billed as "the people's car," the base model starts at $2,500 in India and can accommodate up to five adults. A bright, sunshine yellow Nano is on display in Cooper-Hewitt's Great Hall, along with diagrams and photos describing its concept, development and production.

Founded in 1897, Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum is the only museum in the nation devoted exclusively to historic and contemporary design. The museum has been part of the Smithsonian since 1967. Cooper-Hewitt presents compelling perspectives on the impact of design on daily life through active educational programs, exhibitions and publications.

The museum is located at 2 East 91st Street at Fifth Avenue in New York City. Hours are Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. The museum is closed on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and New Year's Day. Public transit routes include the Lexington Avenue 4, 5 and 6 subways (86th or 96th Street stations) and the Fifth and Madison Avenue buses. General admission, $15; senior citizens and students ages 12 and older, $10. Cooper-Hewitt and Smithsonian members and children younger than age 12 are admitted free. For further information, please call (212) 849-8400 or visit http://www.cooperhewitt.org. The museum is fully accessible.