NEW YORK, NY.- The Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum announced that its off-site exhibition programming will continue with the “Graphic Design: Now In Production” exhibition at Governors Island in summer 2012. Co-organized by the Walker Art Center and Cooper-Hewitt, the exhibition explores some of most vibrant sectors and genres of graphic design, including posters, books, magazines, identity and branding, information graphics, typography and typefaces, and film and television title graphics.

The exhibition debuts at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis Oct. 22 and runs through Jan. 22, 2012, and will be presented by Cooper-Hewitt at Building 110 on Governors Island from June 2, 2012, through Sept. 30, 2012. Admission to the exhibition at Governors Island will be free.

Cooper-Hewitt’s main facility, housed in the Carnegie Mansion, will undergo renovation, beginning in fall 2011, as part of a $64 million capital campaign that includes enlarged and enhanced facilities for exhibitions, collections display, education programming and the National Design Library, and an increased endowment. On reopening, gallery space will increase by 60 percent. Visitors can continue to enjoy the museum’s Arthur Ross Terrace and Garden and the Shop at Cooper-Hewitt, which will remain open this summer without an admission fee.

The first off-site exhibition will be “Design with the Other 90%: Cities,” the second in a series of themed exhibitions by Cooper-Hewitt that demonstrate how design can address the world’s most critical issues. “Cities” opens Oct. 15 at the United Nations and runs through Jan. 9, 2012. Admission to the exhibition will be free of charge.

“Governors Island is an ideal venue for the ‘Graphic Design’ exhibition, with its diverse array of arts, cultural and recreational opportunities,” said Director Bill Moggridge. “We look forward to sharing this free exhibition with visitors and raising awareness about design’s important role in everyday life.”

“Governors Island has become known as a new place for the arts and culture in New York City and is welcoming hundreds of thousands to experience the arts in a unique setting,” said Lesile Koch, president of The Trust for Governors Island. “We are so pleased that one of the city’s leading cultural institutions—Cooper-Hewitt—will be bringing this fascinating, free exhibition to Island visitors next season.”

“Graphic Design: Now In Production”
Lead curators of “Graphic Design: Now in Production” are Andrew Blauvelt, curator of architecture and design at the Walker Art Center, and Ellen Lupton, curator of contemporary design at Cooper-Hewitt.

Graphic design has broadened its reach dramatically over the past decade, expanding from a specialized profession to a widely deployed tool. Today, graphic design is the largest of the design professions in the U.S., with more than a quarter-million practitioners. The field is shifting and expanding in unexpected ways as social media and other technologies have changed the way people consume information. As design tools have become more widely accessible, designers’ roles have expanded: more designers are becoming producers—authors, publishers, instigators and entrepreneurs.

Renovation of the Carnegie Mansion
Cooper-Hewitt’s redesign focuses on adapting a 20th-century historic house to meet the needs of a 21st-century museum. Through reprogramming portions of the mansion on Fifth Avenue and 91st Street and the adjacent townhouses on 90th Street, the project will increase the museum’s total exhibition space by 60 percent, from approximately 10,000 square feet to approximately 16,000 square feet.

The project’s design architect is Gluckman Mayner Architects. Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners LLP serves as the executive architect. The renovated facility is scheduled to reopen in 2013.