MITCHELL WOLFSON, JR.
2007 HONOREE
Designer
Mitchell "Mickey" Wolfson, Jr. received the second Russel Wright Award for Stewardship of Modernism. In terms of sharing the sheer exuberance of modern design, Mickey Wolfson's Wolfsonian Institute at Florida International University and his Wolfsoniana Museum in Genoa, Italy are unparalleled.
Like Russel Wright, whose Manitoga became a quest to help us learn how to live in harmony with nature in an increasingly frenetic world, Mickey Wolfson's collecting became a tool to encourage people to see the world in new ways. The Wolfsonian and Wolfsoniana Museum use objects to illustrate the persuasive power of art and design to explore what it means to be modern, and to tell the story of social, political and technological changes that have transformed our world.
Michele Oka Doner, internationally acclaimed artist and designer, introduced Wolfson. Oka Doner and Wolfson donated an autographed collector's first limited edition of their new book, Miami Beach: Blueprint of an Eden, a deeply personal portrayal of Miami Beach from the 1920s through the 1960s.