Getting Noticed: Providence Designer Matt Grigsby
Wednesday, June 02, 2010
Beginning in May, Providence designer Matt Grigsby's company, Ecolect, is exhibiting at New York's Cooper-Hewitt Smithsonian Museum, the preeminent museum of design in the country, as part of the National Design Triennial. The exhibit explores the work of designers addressing human and environmental problems across many fields of design practice. Tracey Minkin had a few questions for Grigsby.
How'd the Cooper-Hewitt exhibit inclusion come about?
The Cooper-Hewitt invited us to participate based on our focus towards only environmentally friendly materials. We have a traveling library of materials called the Materials PettingZoo. It's a chance for people to see and understand what type of materials are available when compared to traditional options. For the show, we assembled a collection of 18.
The Cooper-Hewitt was also intrigued by our Material NutritionLabel which is a partnership between theRightEnvironment and Ecolect. The Material NutritionLabel is a way for companies and consumers to understand the environmental impact of the products that they are purchasing. It's also a tool for comparing and choosing the best product from an ecological standpoint.
What does it mean to you to be included?
It's really an honor to be featured in the Cooper-Hewitt Smithsonian Museum. This exhibit is especially important for us as we have been chosen as one of the most cutting-edge solutions to the environmental challenges that face society today. We feel that making better materials available to companies and consumers is a crucial step towards achieving a sustainable future. It's also been great to gain exposure to such a large audience. The show gets around 4,000 unique visitors per week and they have included us in their book of the exhibition. We have also been told that the show will travel to two other museums internationally after January 2011.
What led you to create this business in Providence? In other words, what's special about here?
I studied in Baltimore at MICA, transferred to RISD and also spend a year abroad doing an exchange in Paris at Strate Collège Designers. Finishing my senior year at RISD lead me to come back to Providence with a sense of optimism for the city and I saw the opportunity to launch my company here. Providence has many of the amenities that entrepreneurs can benefit from. The proximity to Boston and New York is helpful and also the connections local companies can have to the universities makes for a good climate for running a company. Programs such as Betaspring are really working to accelerate the number of start-ups.
How would you characterize the design community here?
We have a growing and diverse community of designers here in the state. There are groups such as the IDSA, AIGA, and AIA who are supporting the efforts of the creative community. I think that the Creative Capital campaign has also done a lot to show the community's dedication to making Providence a great place for designers.
The National Design Triennial runs from May 2010-January 2010. www.ecolect.net
