The Eames Design Legacy
A Three Part Design Lecture Series
Hosted by Eames expert Steve Cabella
Opens Wednesday, February 27, 2002, 7 p.m.

Key innovators in modern 20th century design, Charles and Ray Eames worked in a broad spectrum of design media - architecture, furniture design, film, photography, graphic design, toys, and public exhibition. Taking the Eames classic 1961 Mathematica: A World of Numbers…and Beyond exhibit currently on display at the Exploratorium as a point of departure, Bay Area collector, curator, and design historian Steve Cabella, will discuss the impact of the Eames work on contemporary design today. Cabella’s lecture is the first in a series that begins on Wednesday evening, February 27, 2002 at 7pm—and continues one evening a month in March and April. Cabella’s discussion of the Eames work will blend his extensive knowledge of the Eames with personal stories about the Eames design process by people who worked with them. He will also discuss how their work reflected and changed the broader cultural landscape. The three part series on the Eames design legacy is free with admission to the Exploratorium. Upcoming dates and guest speakers to be announced.

One representative moment in collected stories about the Eames design, as gathered by Steve Cabella:

At the Long Beach Museum, a 1951 show entitled "Design for Living" was installed just as the museum was in the process of changing directors. One of the featured pieces was a chrome-and-plastic chair created by designer Charles Eames and decorated by Saul Steinberg with a cartoon-like drawing of a female nude. The incoming director found the piece "vulgar" and instructed her staff to turn the chair toward a wall so that Steinberg's sketch would be hidden from museum visitors' view. Staff loyal to the former director, who defended Eames' work, returned the chair to its original position. The two sides continued to scuffle over what the press dubbed "the nude chair," and took turns repositioning it throughout the show's run.
The Eames’ Mathematica: The World of Numbers…and Beyond at the Exploratorium provides a rare opportunity to walk through an exhibition designed by world renown Charles and Ray Eames – their only one still extant.

Bay Area collector, curator, and design historian Steve Cabella, maintains the Web site www.eamescollector.com, among many other Eames related pursuits.