Education at Cooper-Hewitt

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Design Directions is a series of free design-education programs for New York City high-school students, developed to introduce them to collegiate and career opportunities in design. Programs include design studios with professional designers, college visits, studio visits, and portfolio workshops.

The Lehman Scholars Program

Cooper-Hewitt’s Lehman Scholars program for select high school students in the 11th and 12th grades, introduces young minds to the fundamentals of design thinking through first-hand workshops and internships with design professionals. Find out more

YOUTH PROGRAMS SPRING 2008

Thursday, February 7

School Visit: Fashion Institute of Technology

4:00–6:00 p.m. Free with advanced registration

Join us for a special visit to Fashion Institute of Technology. Speak directly to admission counselors about FIT's rich academic offerings and financial aid availability. Learn from students what the FIT experience is truly like and what kinds of professional opportunities are available.

Click here to download Registration form
Registration Limit: 20

Wednesday, February 13

Conversation/Exhibition Tour: Campana Brothers

4:00–6:00 p.m. Free with advance registration

Engage in an intimate conversation with internationally acclaimed South American designers Fernando and Humberto Campana. They will discuss their career paths, explain their design style, and offer an exclusive, private viewing of their upcoming exhibition at Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum.

Click here to download Registration form
Registration Limit: 25

Tuesday, February 26

Studio Visit: MSLK Design

4:30–6:00 p.m. Free with advance registration

Visit MSLK Design to learn about the inner workings of a graphic design firm. Sheri Koetting and Marc Levitt, founders of MSLK Design, will take you on an exclusive, behind-the-scenes tour of their studio. They will divulge their career paths, their creative process, and share what they think it takes to be a graphic designer today.

Click here to download Registration form
Registration Limit: 15

Tuesday and Wednesday, March 18–19

Design Studio: Portfolio Workshop

4:30–6:30 p.m. Free with advanced registration

Stressed about getting your portfolio ready for college? Design school graduates will share their work and help you build your own portfolio in this two-day workshop. Preference will be given to high school juniors and seniors.

Click here to download Registration form
Registration Limit: 20

Six Thursdays, March 13–April 17

Design Studio: Design Your 'Hood

4:30–6:30 p.m. Free with advanced registration

In this six-part series, you will work with architects, urban designers, community leaders, and historians to investigate Brooklyn's Fulton Street Mall. Teams of students and designers will create and propose solutions to revitalize this thriving, culturally diverse community.

Click here to download Registration form
Registration Limit: 20

TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY, April 1–2

Design Studio: Design by Necessity

4:30–6:30 p.m. Free with advanced registration

Work with a team of designers from the Pratt Design Incubator for Sustainable Innovation to learn how design can address pressing global issues such as the changing environment, water, nutrition, and shelter. You will design solutions to address real world problems in this two-day workshop.

Click here to download Registration form
Registration Limit: 20

Design Directions is made possible through the generous support of the Altman Foundation, The Lehman Brothers Foundation, Deutsche Bank, The Edith and Frances Mulhall Achilles Memorial Fund, the Jean and Louis Dreyfus Fund, the Richard & Jean Coyne Family Foundation, and the Milton & Sally Avery Arts Foundation.

The Lehman Scholars Program is made possible by the Lehman Brothers Foundation.