Finding Joel Robinson: An Incomplete Biography of the First Black Designer in MoMA’s Good Design Program

With Andrew Gardner, curatorial assistant, Department of Architecture and Design, Museum of Modern Art, New York

Please join us for a lecture by Andrew Gardner featuring American designer Joel Robinson (c.1923–?). Robinson remains an enigmatic figure despite the inclusion of his textiles in the collections of major institutions across the United States, including the Museum of Modern Art and the Saint Louis Art Museum. This talk will situate the artist-designer’s career in the larger context of MoMA’s early 1950s Good Design initiatives, just before the outset of the civil rights era, and look at how African American media outlets such as Ebony magazine created a venue for the celebration and expression of Black excellence.

Registration is required. RSVP to receive the online link before May 3 to 314.655.5390 or collectors.circle@slam.org.

Collectors Circle programs at the Saint Louis Art Museum are presented by the Betsy and Thomas Patterson Foundation.