Family Program | Design Your Dream Library

Drop-in at the museum on the second Saturday of each month for hands-on family activities! Do you have a young artist, bookworm, or budding designer at home? In February, join Black Artists + Designers Guild to design your own dream library, in conjunction with their installation “The Underground Library” in Making Home—Smithsonian Design Triennial. We will use images and textures to create a space that holds books and special artifacts and welcomes friends and family to relax and be creative.

Black Artists + Designers Guild designer Nina Cooke John will introduce the activity at 11:00 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. in “The Underground Library” featured on the first floor in Making Home—Smithsonian Design Triennial. Then we will create models of our dream home libraries in the Lecture Room on the ground floor.

Family drop-in activities are designed for youth ages 5–12 and their adult guardian/caregivers. Family programs are included in the price of museum admission, and youth 18 and under are always free.

Explore the exhibition Making Home—Smithsonian Design Triennial with our Kids Gallery Guide available on site.

ABOUT THE UNDERGROUND LIBRARY: AN ARCHIVE OF OUR TRUTH

The Black Artists + Designers Guild (BADG) is a community of independent Black makers working in a range of creative industries. The Underground Library is an interactive space. Inspired by the Underground Railroad—the clandestine network established in the early 19th century through which many enslaved African Americans traveled in their search for freedom—the library is a 21st-century sanctuary brimming with books, art, and artifacts relating to Black history and culture.

ABOUT THE GUEST DESIGNER

Nina Cooke John is a member of the Black Artists + Designers Guild (BADG) and the founding principal of Studio Cooke John Architecture and Design, a multidisciplinary design studio that values placemaking as a way to transform relationships between people and the built environment.

Studio Cooke John’s “Shadow of A Face,” the new Harriet Tubman Monument in Newark, NJ was unveiled in March 2023. Cooke John was named the AIANY New Perspectives honoree in 2024 and was a 2022 United States Artists Fellow. Her work has also been featured in Architectural Record, The New York Times, NBC’s Open House, and PBS NewsHour Weekend among other publications and news outlets.

Cooke John earned her Bachelor of Architecture degree from Cornell University and a master’s in architecture from Columbia University. She now teaches at Columbia University.

ACCESSIBILITY & WHAT TO EXPECT

• Format: This is a drop-in style workshop for youth ages 5-12 and their adult guardian/family. You will be guided by a guest designer and a museum educator who will help you to make a design.
  Session 1 will start at 11:00 a.m. with an introduction in “The Underground Library” gallery space and continue until 12:30 p.m. in the Lecture Room. Please note there will be a break from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.
  Session 2 will start at 1:30 p.m. with an introduction in “The Underground Library” gallery space and continue until 3:00 p.m. in the Lecture Room.
  You can drop in at any time and stay as long as you like. All materials will be provided. Adults must stay with their youth during the activity and are encouraged to participate. Registration is not required, but first come, first seated.

• About the space: This program will take place in Cooper Hewitt’s Lecture Room on the ground floor of the museum and in the Lecture Room on the ground floor of the museum. It is fully wheelchair accessible. There will be group seating at tables. There is an accessible restroom on the ground floor. Read more about accessibility at Cooper Hewitt.

• Accommodations: If we can provide services to support your participation, email us at CHEducation@si.edu. Please make your request as far in advance as possible—preferably at least ten days before the program date.

Special Thanks

Design learning at Cooper Hewitt is made possible by Adobe and by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. Generous support is also provided by the Hirsch Family Foundation, the Milton and Sally Avery Arts Foundation, The Pinkerton Foundation, PwC Charitable Foundation, the Richard and Jean Coyne Family Foundation, Siegel Family Endowment, and the Smithsonian Institution’s Together We Thrive initiatives. 

Making Home—Smithsonian Design Triennial is presented in collaboration with Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture. This project received federal support from the Smithsonian American Women’s History Initiative Pool, administered by the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum; the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the National Museum of the American Latino; the Asian Pacific American Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center; and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Generous support is provided by the Henry Luce Foundation and the Terra Foundation for American Art.

Support is also provided by the Lily Auchincloss Foundation; Edward and Helen Hintz; re:arc institute; the Keith Haring Foundation; the Lemberg Foundation; Maharam; and the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts.