How has architecture, jewelry, sculpture, or furniture been influenced by the “art” of drawing? What details inspire these disciplines? Are nature and culture significant when it comes to moving the arts forward? When computers now generate our visual reality, can we still connect to the skills we once possessed?
Panelists:
Michele Oka Doner, artist
Peter Miller, Founding Partner, Architect, Palette Architecture
Fitgi Saint-Louis, artist
Moderated by:
Savona Bailey-McClain, Executive Director and Chief Curator, West Harlem Art Fund
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Michele Oka Doner is an internationally renowned artist and author whose work spans five decades. Her artwork is fueled by a lifelong study and appreciation of the natural world, from which she derives her formal vocabulary. Her artistic production encompasses sculpture, public art, prints, drawings, functional objects, artist books, costume and set design, video and other media. She is well known for creating over 40 public and private permanent art installations, including “A Walk On The Beach,” the mile and a quarter long bronze and terrazzo concourse at Miami International Airport, seen by 40,000,000 travelers a year. She has authored or been the subject of eight books. Oka Doner has received grants from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the New York State Council of the Arts, the Samuel H. Kress Foundation and others; and many awards, including those given by the United Nations Society of Writers and Artists, Pratt Institute “Legends” and an Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Michigan (see picture, right), where she received her undergraduate and MFA degrees.
Peter Miller is a Principal of Palette Architecture, which he co-founded with John Sunwoo and Jeff Wandersman in 2010. Palette focuses on creating built environments that enhance the experiences of people, with designs that distill the elements that bring us together. Miller has taught undergraduate design studio at Washington University in St. Louis. He is currently the Co-Chair of the AIANY Cultural Facilities Committee and a member of the Design for Freedom Working Group, which aims to eliminate modern slavery in the building materials supply chain.
Miller is a registered architect with 18 years of experience in designing and implementing innovative building systems and components. His notable projects include Grace Farms in New Canaan, the National WWII Museum in New Orleans, The Paper Factory Hotel in Long Island City, and the revitalization of Forest Park in St. Louis. Miller’s work has won many design awards, including several AIA National Honor Awards and the Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize. His work has also been featured in many publications including Architectural Record, Elle Decor, Fast Company, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times.
Miller is originally from a family of craftsmen, engineers, entrepreneurs, and tinkerers from rural Indiana. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Architecture from Washington University in St. Louis and a Master’s degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation.
Fitgi Saint-Louis is a multidisciplinary artist based in Harlem, NY. Her work considers the intertwined nature of identity, remembrance and community within African, American and Caribbean cultures. Appearing in paint, textiles and sculpture, her abstracted figures honor the multifaceted ancestry of the African diaspora. With a background in design, Saint-Louis utilizes form and color to present Black figures in vibrant and contemplative imagery.
Saint-Louis was awarded the Rising Star Award by Interior Design Magazine, is an adjunct professor (SVA), an organizer in Design as Protest, a member of Urban Design Forum, National Organization of Minority Architects and Society of Experiential Graphic Designers. She was recently selected by NYC Department of Transportation to create a community commission this year in Harlem.
Savona Bailey-McClain is a Harlem based curator and arts administrator. She is the Executive Director/Chief Curator of the West Harlem Art Fund, which has organized high-profile public arts exhibits throughout New York City for the past 20 years, including Times Square, DUMBO, Soho, Governors Island and Harlem. Her public art installations encompass sculpture, drawings, performance, sound, and mixed media, and have been covered extensively by the New York Times, Art Daily, Artnet, Los Angeles Times and Huffington Post, among many others. She is the host/ producer of “State of the Arts NYC,” a video podcast program on several platforms. She is a member of ArtTable, Advisory Board member of NYC’s Dance in Sacred Places, Governors Island Advisory Council and new Board member of NY Artists Equity Association.
This event is organized by The Drawing Foundation in partnership with the West Harlem Art Fund, and in association with Master Drawings New York 2025.
Image: Michele Oka Doner, Human Nature, Installation
Event registration begins on Thursday, January 9 at 1pm.
Early Access Registration for members of The Drawing Foundation begins on Thursday, January 9 at 10am
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