NEW YORK.- The Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum has recently completed the first year of implementation of a long-range strategic plan embracing every area of museum operations, including the collection, exhibitions, educational programming, research and scholarship, publications, facilities and the website. As the nation’s only museum dedicated exclusively to historic and contemporary design, Cooper-Hewitt is continuing to realize its strategic goals under the leadership of director Paul Warwick Thompson.

In 2004-2005, the museum celebrated the first full season of dynamic programs initiated under Thompson’s tenure, commencing with the “Shock of the Old: Christopher Dresser” exhibition, which was greeted with critical acclaim in New York and in London during its installation at the Victoria & Albert Museum. Since Thompson’s arrival in 2001, Cooper-Hewitt has embarked on a reinvigorated program to explore the impact of design across the 24 centuries represented in the museum’s far-reaching collection.

“Design occupies a unique position in today’s world, embracing aesthetics, commerce and technology. Cooper-Hewitt is committed to exploring this interplay and advancing public awareness of design, celebrating contemporary practice while incorporating a historical perspective,” said Thompson. “The museum’s role is to present design as an historic continuum and enrich our understanding of the present through the lens of the past.”