Last month Art Center’s Williamson Gallery grew to resemble a young girl’s dreamscape, as a set of hearts in the bold fanciful hues of love itself burst to life on its walls. In fact, we challenge anyone to not emerge full of child-like wonderment (and more than a little Eames chair-envy) after an amble through “Ray Eames: In the Spotlight,” a comprehensive tribute to the female half of the legendary Eames Office. The show, curated by the Eames’ granddaughter, Carla Hartman, explores Ray’s unique creative gifts and specific contributions to the vast body of iconic design work she created in conjunction with her husband and chief collaborator, Charles.
We were so moved by what we learned of Ray’s spirited, intuitive and deeply empathic approach to design and collaboration, we were inspired to produce the above video about the ways in which the Eames Office in general (and Ray specifically) inspired members of the Art Center community to push boundaries and imbue work and life with a sense of play.