Rapid Growth has devoted a lot of energy, both this week but also over the years, to showcasing the power of design to transform a region.
But this is the first time that West Michigan has banded together to harness our community's design leaders and guest lecturers in such a fashion and the results will be felt almost immediately as Design Week will features 19 different educational workshops, lectures, tours, films and exhibitions throughout Grand Rapids, Holland, and Traverse City.
Highlights of the week will include the guest lectures of professionals like Richard Saul Wurman, inventor of the field of information architecture and founder of the TED conference; Susan Szenasy, editor in chief and publisher of prominent design magazine
Metropolis; and Mei Mah, deputy director of The Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in New York City.
Szenasy has long had her eye on West Michigan and on the occasion of our first Design Week, she will be at the GRAM on Thursday, May 8 to host a reception with a lecture and a book signing of her new book,
Szenasy, Design Advocate.
"People value well-designed things, but if you talk to the general public about design, they probably can't tell you where or how these designs were created," says Sara Klele, AIGA West Michigan Design Week Chair. "We're trying to tell the community, both locally and globally, we're here! The economic and cultural value of design is big, and our hope is that West Michigan Design week helps demonstrate that. And of course, it's also a week for local designers to celebrate and build connections within our own community."
A complete list of
Design Week events can be found here.