Design Practice | Mood Boarding with BADG

Build your design toolkit! Design Practice is a series of free, drop-in workshops for high school students exploring techniques, strategies, and careers in design. No prior experience required—just bring yourself and a creative mindset. Join interior designer Leyden Lewis of BADG (Black Artists and Designers Guild) for a mood boarding workshop. Learn how designers gather inspiration and create a mood board for your dream library! Participants will also be invited to tour BADG’s “Underground Library” featured in Making Home—Smithsonian Design Triennial.

Design Practice is developed for teens only, no adults are permitted.

Leyden Lewis is a founding member of the Black Artists + Designers Guild (BADG). Lewis’s design aesthetic is at once rooted in a rich classical Modernism coupled with ancient traditions and methodologies. He operates from a deep interest in art and the history of design to tell a new and modern stories. His practice engages with the cultures of the past and present, and allows for a fluid integration between art, architecture, and design.  

As a fine artist, Leyden has exhibited at the Studio Museum in Harlem and at NYU’s 80WSE. He has the honor of being a Kips Bay Decorator Show House alumnus.  

Lewis received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Architecture from Parsons School of Design, The New School. He has continued to teach at the Parsons School of Design at The New School, as well as the New York School of Interior Design throughout his career.  

The Black Artists + Designers Guild (BADG) is a community of independent Black makers working in a range of creative industries. The Underground Library is an interactive space. Inspired by the Underground Railroad—the clandestine network established in the early 19th century through which many enslaved African Americans traveled in their search for freedom—the library is a 21st-century sanctuary brimming with books, art, and artifacts relating to Black history and culture.

• Format: This in-person program will be a hands-on drop-in workshop and tour (stay for as little or as much time as you like). No previous design experience is required. All materials are included.

• About the space: This program will take place in Cooper Hewitt’s Lecture Room on the ground floor of the museum. It is fully wheelchair accessible. There will be group seating at tables. There is an accessible restroom on the same floor. Read more about accessibility at Cooper Hewitt.

• Accommodations: If we can provide services to support your participation, email us at [email protected]. Please make your request as far in advance as possible—preferably at least ten days before the program date.

Design learning at Cooper Hewitt is made possible by The Pinkerton Foundation, The Richard and Jean Coyne Family Foundation, The Hirsch Family Foundation, PwC Charitable Foundation, The Milton and Sally Avery Arts Foundation, internal Smithsonian Institution funds from the Youth Access Grants for Youth Innovation in Rural America, and public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

Making Home—Smithsonian Design Triennial is presented in collaboration with Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture. This project received federal support from the Smithsonian American Women’s History Initiative Pool, administered by the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum; the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the National Museum of the American Latino; the Asian Pacific American Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center; and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Generous support is provided by the Henry Luce Foundation and the Terra Foundation for American Art.

Support is also provided by the Lily Auchincloss Foundation; Edward and Helen Hintz; re:arc institute; the Keith Haring Foundation; the Lemberg Foundation; Maharam; and the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts.

Host or Publisher Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum