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Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum
 
 
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The Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, a subsidiary of the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution

The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its Financial endowment, contributions, and profits from its shops and its magazine....
, is the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
' national museum
National museum

A national museum is a museum maintained by a nation....
 of design history and contemporary design and the only museum in the U.S. whose collection is solely focused on design. The museum is located in the former Andrew Carnegie Mansion
Andrew Carnegie Mansion

The Andrew Carnegie Mansion is located at 2 East 91st Street at Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, New York City, New York. Andrew Carnegie built his mansion in 1903 and lived there until his death in 1919....
 at Fifth Avenue
Fifth Avenue (Manhattan)

Fifth Avenue is a major thoroughfare in the center of the borough of Manhattan in New York City, USA. Between 34th Street and 59th Street , it is also one of the premier shopping streets in the world, often compared to Oxford Street in London,...
 and East 91st Street, part of Manhattan
Manhattan

Manhattan is one of the five borough of New York City, located primarily on Manhattan Island at the mouth of the Hudson River.With a United States Census of 1,620,867 living in a land area of 22.96 square miles , Manhattan, coextensive with New York County, is the most population density county in the United States, w...
's famed Museum Mile. In addition to its permanent collection and regular exhibits, the museum presents the annual National Design Awards
National Design Awards

The National Design Awards, founded in 2000, is funded and awarded by Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum. There are seven official design categories, and three additional awards....
 in more than ten categories, "celebrating the best in American design." The Museum also offers a Master of Arts program in the History of Decorative Arts and Design in cooperation with Parsons School of Design.






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The Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, a subsidiary of the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution

The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its Financial endowment, contributions, and profits from its shops and its magazine....
, is the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
' national museum
National museum

A national museum is a museum maintained by a nation....
 of design history and contemporary design and the only museum in the U.S. whose collection is solely focused on design. The museum is located in the former Andrew Carnegie Mansion
Andrew Carnegie Mansion

The Andrew Carnegie Mansion is located at 2 East 91st Street at Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, New York City, New York. Andrew Carnegie built his mansion in 1903 and lived there until his death in 1919....
 at Fifth Avenue
Fifth Avenue (Manhattan)

Fifth Avenue is a major thoroughfare in the center of the borough of Manhattan in New York City, USA. Between 34th Street and 59th Street , it is also one of the premier shopping streets in the world, often compared to Oxford Street in London,...
 and East 91st Street, part of Manhattan
Manhattan

Manhattan is one of the five borough of New York City, located primarily on Manhattan Island at the mouth of the Hudson River.With a United States Census of 1,620,867 living in a land area of 22.96 square miles , Manhattan, coextensive with New York County, is the most population density county in the United States, w...
's famed Museum Mile. In addition to its permanent collection and regular exhibits, the museum presents the annual National Design Awards
National Design Awards

The National Design Awards, founded in 2000, is funded and awarded by Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum. There are seven official design categories, and three additional awards....
 in more than ten categories, "celebrating the best in American design." The Museum also offers a Master of Arts program in the History of Decorative Arts and Design in cooperation with Parsons School of Design.

History

The collection of decorative arts and drawings founded in 1897 by Amy, Eleanor, and Sarah Hewitt, the granddaughters of industrialist Peter Cooper
Peter Cooper

Peter Cooper was an United States industrialist, inventor, philanthropist, and candidate for President of the United States....
, and daughters of Abram S. Hewitt, Mayor of New York in 1887–88, the Museum was initially part of The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art
Cooper Union

The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art is a privately-funded college in Downtown Manhattan, New York City. Cooper Union, founded in 1859, established a radical new model of American higher education....
.

Building

The main museum building is the Andrew Carnegie Mansion
Andrew Carnegie Mansion

The Andrew Carnegie Mansion is located at 2 East 91st Street at Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, New York City, New York. Andrew Carnegie built his mansion in 1903 and lived there until his death in 1919....
, completed in 1903, a National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark

A National Historic Landmark is a building, :wiktionary:site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States for its historical significance....
. Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie

Andrew Carnegie was a Scotland-born United States industrialist, List of business people, and a major philanthropist. He was an immigrant as a child with his parents....
, the American steel magnate and philanthropist, lived there until his death in 1919, and the neighborhood in which the museum is located became known as Carnegie Hill
Carnegie Hill, Manhattan

Carnegie Hill is a neighborhood within the Upper East Side, in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. Its boundaries, which form an irregularly shaped rectangle, are presently 86th Street on the south, Third Avenue on the east, 96th Street on the north, and Fifth Avenue on the west....
. The Carnegie Corporation gave the house and property to the Smithsonian in 1972, and the modern incarnation of the Museum opened there as a Smithsonian Institution in 1976.

In 1995, the building was renovated to improve the study center and handicapped access following a re-branding and re-naming the previous year.The interior was redesigned by the architectural firm, Polshek and Partners, headed by James Polshek
James Polshek

James Stewart Polshek is an American architect based in New York City. He is founder and senior design counsel of Polshek Partnership architects....
 in 2001.

Collection

The Museum contains more than 250,000 objects ranging from Shang Dynasty
Shang Dynasty

The Shang Dynasty or Yin Dynasty was according to traditional sources the first Dynasties in Chinese history. They ruled in the northeastern region of the area known as "China proper", in the Yellow River valley....
 bronzes to the present; it is organized into four curatorial departments: Applied Arts and Industrial Design
Industrial design

Industrial design is an applied art whereby the aesthetics and usability of mass-produced Product may be improved for marketability and Manufacturing....
, Drawing
Drawing

Drawing is a visual art that makes use of any number of drawing instruments to mark a two-dimensional medium. Common instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, inked brushes, wax color pencils, crayons, charcoals, chalk, pastels, marker pens, stylus, or various metals like silverpoint....
s and Prints
Printmaking

Printmaking is the process of making artworks by printing, normally on paper. Except in the case of monotyping, the process is capable of producing multiples of the same piece, which is called a 'print....
, Textiles, and Wallcovering
Wallpaper

Wallpaper is a kind of material used to cover and decorate the interior walls of homes, offices, and other buildings; it is one aspect of interior decoration....
s. The museum also contains a research library containing 60,000 volumes. Among its holdings the Cooper Hewitt possesses a Michelangelo
Michelangelo

Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni , commonly known as Michelangelo, was an Italian Renaissance Painting, sculptor, architect, poet, and engineer....
 drawing for a seven-branched candelabrum. It was identified in the Museum's drawings collection by Sir Timothy Clifford, director of the National Galleries of Scotland
National Galleries of Scotland

The National Galleries of Scotland are the five national gallery of Scotland and two partner galleries....
, while on a sabbatical at the museum in April 2002.

The collection also includes a library
Library

A library is a collection of information, sources, resources, books, and services, and the structure in which it is housed: it is organized for use and maintained by a public body, an institution, or a private individual....
, archive
Archive

An archive refers to a collection of historical records, and also refers to the location in which these records are kept.'Archives' are made up of records which have been accumulated over the course of an individual or organization's lifetime....
s, product design
Product design

Product design can be defined as the idea generation, concept development, Test method and manufacturing or implementation of a physical object or service....
 and decorative arts, drawing
Drawing

Drawing is a visual art that makes use of any number of drawing instruments to mark a two-dimensional medium. Common instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, inked brushes, wax color pencils, crayons, charcoals, chalk, pastels, marker pens, stylus, or various metals like silverpoint....
s, prints
Printmaking

Printmaking is the process of making artworks by printing, normally on paper. Except in the case of monotyping, the process is capable of producing multiples of the same piece, which is called a 'print....
, graphic design
Graphic design

The term graphic design can refer to a number of artistic and professional disciplines which focus on visual communication and presentation. Various methods are used to create and combine symbols, images and/or words to create a visual representation of ideas and messages....
, and textile
Textile

A textile is a flexible material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibres often referred to as thread or yarn. Yarn is produced by Spinning raw wool fibres, linen, cotton, or other material on a spinning wheel to produce long strands known as yarn....
s and wall coverings.

National Design Week

National Design Week, founded in 2006 "in recognition of design's continuing resonance in our daily lives." The program's goal is to draw attention to the ways that design enriches everyday life, through outreach to school teachers and their students, and partnerships with design organizations across the country. Museum admission is free during the week to increase visitation and understanding of design.National Design Week and the National Design Education Center is supported by Target. The winners of New York City
New York City

The City of New York is the List of United States cities by population in the United States, while the New York metropolitan area ranks among the List of urban areas by population....
's bike rack competition are scheduled to be announced at the third annual National Design Week in October 2008 in addition to the balance of the National Design Awards
National Design Awards

The National Design Awards, founded in 2000, is funded and awarded by Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum. There are seven official design categories, and three additional awards....
.

See also

  • List of museums and cultural institutions in New York City
    List of museums and cultural institutions in New York City

    New York City is home to hundreds of cultural institutions and historic sites, many of which are internationally known. This List of New York City lists contains the most famous or well-regarded organizations, based on their mission....


External links

  • Edward F. Caldwell & Co.
    Edward F. Caldwell & Co.

    Edward F. Caldwell & Co., of New York City, was one of the premier designers and manufacturers of electric light fixtures and decorative metalwork from the late 19th to the mid-20th centuries....