Design Practice | Needle Felting

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. This month, join us for a workshop with designer Liam Lee, whose work is featured in our current exhibition Making Home. Get inspired by Lee’s needle felting skills and learn how to create your very own needle-felted patch to add to a beanie. All materials are included!

Program Length: 2 hours. Please join us any time between 4:30-5:15 so you have enough time to enjoy the event!
Interactivity Level: High. Participants will design their own bioplastic object guided by a guest designer.
Intended Audience: High school students ages 13-18.

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

Born and raised in New York City, Liam Lee (b. 1993) is an American designer whose work is concerned with the dissolution of the boundary between interior and exterior space, between man-made object and the natural environment.
Since beginning his practice in 2020, Lee has exhibited work both in the United States and internationally. Named a finalist for the 2023 Loewe Craft Prize, Lee was included in Wallpaper* Magazine’s USA 300 list in 2023, and USA 400 list in 2024. In 2021, Lee was named one of Dwell’s 24 emerging designers, and Architectural Digest’s ‘Ones to Watch.’
Recent shows include “Making Home—Smithsonian Design Triennial” at Cooper Hewitt, R&Company’s Objects:USA Triennial, and the Homo Faber Biennale in Venice. His work is in the permanent collections of SFMoMA and the Denver Art Museum, and at the Noguchi Museum shop in Long Island City. Liam received his BA in English Literature from the University of Chicago in 2015.

Location: This program will take place in person in the Lecture Room at Cooper Hewitt (2 East 91st Street, New York, NY). The Lecture Room is on the ground floor of the museum and fully wheelchair accessible. Read more about accessibility at Cooper Hewitt.

What to Expect: This in-person program will be a hands-on design drop-in workshop (stay for as little or as much time as you like). No previous design experience is required.

Accommodations: For general questions, or if we can provide additional accessibility services or accommodations to support your participation in this program, please email us at [email protected] or let us know when registering. Please make your accommodation request as far in advance as possible—preferably at least one week before the program date when possible.

Host or Publisher Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum