The Marvin/Girard Alliance: Connecting by Design

By Shelley Tatum Kieran

“Modern decoration, if it is sincere, doesn’t call for the sweeping away of familiar things or condemn to death everything associated with the past. Instead, it endeavors to reconcile the old with the new.” — Alexander Girard

Earlier this year, our client Marvin came to us with a challenge. After a very successful Modernism Week of events, content and home tours at Axiom Desert House to celebrate the debut of the spectacular set of windows and doors they donated to that groundbreaking project, they wanted to raise the game in 2020 on their presence at this seminal celebration of modern design, reflecting their evolution as a company with over a century of growth that is really prioritizing design thinking at the core of their innovation strategy.

After a visit or two down to the desert to explore possibilities, we put our heads together with our friends at Palm Springs Art Museum about their upcoming Alexander Girard exhibition and voila!, an unprecedented and comprehensive partnership – The Marvin/Girard Alliance – was born!

Alexander Girard: A Designer’s Universe – which opened last weekend at Palm Springs Art Museum (through February 2020) with Marvin as its lead sponsor – is nothing short of spectacular. Magnificently curated, the exhibition presents the colorful world of Girard through more than 700 objects: textiles, drawings, furniture, graphics, film and folk art.

In addition to creating this alliance and the exhibition sponsorship, MOCA+ is producing:

• A full week of conversations in the Museum Lecture Hall with some of the preeminent architects, designers and experts in the Girard circle and beyond – more exciting news to come!

• Guided exhibition tours related to Conversation content

• Sunset Cocktails and an exclusive guided tour of the Frey House with the museum’s leading expert in architecture and design.

And, to come full circle on programming that enriches their connection to the leading conversations at Modernism Week, Marvin is underwriting the Lecture Series at Annenberg Theater for a full week of programming, including the keynote with Daniel Libeskind.

We are especially pleased with this collaboration because it is an opportunity for our client to have total immersion in the central, multi-faceted and fascinating conversations and experiences around this exhibition and Modernism Week. And, through its myriad opportunities to raise the level of design discourse, the Marvin/Girard Alliance beautifully realizes our core mission at MOCA+: Connecting by Design.

Tickets on Sale Soon! Watch this space!