Exhibitions

By the People: Designing a Better America

September 30, 2016 – February 26, 2017

Rebel Nell Jewelry, Detroit, Michigan. Photo: Sebastian Sullen

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
2 East 91st Street
New York, NY

3rd Floor

See on Map

The third exhibition of Cooper Hewitt’s humanitarian design series will examine how design is challenging social and economic inequality across America. Curator of Socially Responsible Design Cynthia E. Smith conducted over two years of field research—traveling to shrinking post-industrial cities, sprawling metro regions, struggling rural towns, along our border, areas impacted by natural and man-made disaster, and places of persistent poverty—in search of collaborative designs for more equitable, inclusive, and sustainable communities. Sixty design projects from every region across the U.S. will be organized into the themes of Act, Save, Share, Live, Learn, and Make to showcase the innovative and impactful actions generated through design.