The Art of Interior Design

Event Details

Join the Phillips in a conversation with designers, paint experts, and the curator of Bonnard to Vuillard: The Intimate Poetry of Everyday Life—The Nabi Collection of Vicki and Roger Sant on the relationship between decorative arts and the work of the Nabis.

Elsa Smithgall is senior curator at The Phillips Collection. In the past decade, Smithgall has contributed to numerous publications and curated over ten critically-acclaimed special exhibitions. Among them are Bonnard to Vuillard: The Intimate Poetry of Everyday Life—The Nabi Collection of Vicki and Roger Sant, Ten Americans: After Paul Klee, People on the Move: Beauty and Struggle in Jacob Lawrence’s Migration Series, Whitfield Lovell: The Kin Series and Related Works, William Merritt Chase: A Modern Master, and Kandinsky and Harmony of Silence: Painting with White Border.

Nicole Crowder is the independent furniture designer and upholsterer behind Nicole Crowder Upholstery based in Washington, DC. She has been upholstering furniture for clients since 2013. Her list of clients include residential, commercial and hospitality, as well as small design collections.

Mark Riddle is a Design Associate/Brand Liaison with Room & Board DC. He has been with the company since 2011 and has been professionally involved with home furnishings retail since 1994. Originally an elementary music teacher, Mark’s interest in antiques and historic properties led him to pursue a second undergraduate degree, this time a BFA in Interior Design from James Madison University. Mark approaches every client interaction as an educator; working with the client to understand their needs, what would work best for them, and how best to take them on the journey. 

Sarah Marriage is a maker of fine furniture and other wooden objects. Sarah studied architecture at Princeton University and fine woodworking at The College of the Redwoods. She is the 2015 recipient of the John D. Mineck Furniture Fellowship, through The Society of Arts and Crafts and the Mineck Foundation in Boston, and is using her Mineck funding to support the creation of “A Workshop of Our Own,” a space where women furniture makers can come together in a supportive environment. She is a co-founder and co-editor of Works & Days Quarterly, an online quarterly of arts, letters, and no small amount of craft.

Eve Fay is Colour Consultant and Manager of the retail operations in Washington. Eve brings a wealth of knowledge on the use and selection of colour for the home. Eve’s projects are collaborative efforts that balance the client’s needs and taste with her expertise in colour, architecture, design.  The result is a truly unique and inspired space.

Presented by Room and Board and