Mildred "Mickey" Friedman (née Shenberg; July 25, 1929September 3, 2014) was an American architecture and design curator and editor of the journal
Design Quarterly
'.

Biography

Friedman, née Shenberg, was born in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

to Nathaniel and Hortense Schenberg. After majoring in design at

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

, she taught design at

Los Angeles City College Los Angeles City College (LACC) is a public community college in East Hollywood, California. A part of the Los Angeles Community College District, it is located on Vermont Avenue south of Santa Monica Boulevard on the former campus of the U ...

before moving with her husband to

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

in 1958. She was hired by the

Walker Art Center The Walker Art Center is a multidisciplinary contemporary art center in the Lowry Hill, Minneapolis, Lowry Hill neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The Walker is one of the most-visited modern and contemporary art museums in ...

as a design consultant in 1969. Friedman was promoted to Curator of Design in 1979, after having conceived and organized several seminal exhibitions, such as the 1975 exhibition, ''Nelson/Eames/Girard/Propst: The Design Process at Herman Miller'' (''Design Quarterly 98/99''), bringing about further scrutiny and critical accolades for design as an art. She continued to work at Walker Art Center in many capacities up until her retirement in 1990. In addition to curating exhibits on architecture and design, including the Walker's noted 1986 exhibition ''

Frank Gehry Frank Owen Gehry ( ; ; born February 28, 1929) is a Canadian-American architect and designer. A number of his buildings, including his private residence in Santa Monica, California, have become attractions. Gehry rose to prominence in th ...

,'' ''architect'', Friedman was also instrumental in shaping the remodeling and interiors of the Walker. Friedman was also interested in making architecture and design more accessible. "What interests me about movements in architecture and design is when something really has an impact on the way people live and the way they think." In addition to her role as Curator of Design, Friedman also wrote extensively and served as an editor for several exhibition publications. Her first job at the

in 1969 was as the editor of ''Design Quarterly'', a publication started by the Walker (1954–1996; previous title: ''Everyday Art Quarterly'', 1946–1953). The last issue she edited was no. 152 (1991). In 2013, the Walker Art Center named their design fellowship th
Mildred S. Friedman Design Fellowship
a program started under Friedman's leadership in the 1980, in Friedman's honor.

Major exhibitions

Friedman curated or co-curated many large shows, from the 1970s up until the mid-2000s. In addition to ''

, architect'', other notable shows include ''De Stijl, 1917–1931: Visions of Utopia'' and ''Tokyo: Form and Spirit''. The last show she curated, ''Architecture Tomorrow'', was a three-year long series that ran from 1988 to 1991, ending after she retired.

Selected publications

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Friedman, Mildred 1929 births 2014 deaths American curators American women curators 21st-century American women