A conversation with musician and four-time Grammy Award–winner Esperanza Spalding, and Caitlin Condell, Associate Curator and Head of Drawings, Prints & Graphic Design at Cooper Hewitt. Spalding is guest curator of the exhibition Esperanza Spalding Selects, which features nearly 50 objects from the museum’s permanent collection, including drawings, prints, textiles, jewelry and product design grouped around themes related to evolution and transformation. For her installation, Spalding collaborated with other creators to make a site-specific installation using deconstructed pianos and as music to respond and elaborate on the theme of transformation. The discussion focuses on the role of improvisation in design, music, and culture, and in Spalding’s own work.

The exhibition is on view until January 7, 2018.