Cooper Hewitt

Join Cooper Hewitt for a talk with Design Visionary Award winner Robert Earl Paige—the first program in a new series spotlighting the 2026 National Design Award winners in conversation with Director Maria Nicanor.

Paige is an artist, designer, and educator whose work disregards boundaries between fine art, craft, and design. A participant in the Black Arts Movement, Paige champions community engagement in art and culture, and his practice reflects a love of color, a commitment to design principles, and a belief in making art accessible for everyday people. Repurposing is central to his work, transforming found fibers, cardboard, and paper into new creations that invite others to embrace curiosity and making.

In this monthly series, Maria Nicanor, Director of Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, sits down with the 2026 National Design Award winners for one‑on‑one conversations at the museum. Spanning design disciplines and the ten award categories, each talk offers an inside look at the innovation, practice, and vision behind the work of this year’s winners.

The National Design Awards is a Cooper Hewitt initiative launched in 2000 as an official project of the White House Millennium Council. The awards and its associated public programs seek to increase national awareness of the impact of design in our everyday life.

To learn more about the 2026 National Design Award Winners: https://www.cooperhewitt.org/national-design-awards/2026-national-design-award-winners/

To learn more about the National Design Awards: https://www.cooperhewitt.org/national-design-awards/