HGTV SALUTES AFRICAN AMERICAN DESIGNERS

I’d like to say a big hello to any readers via HGTV's Design Happens blog. I’m so very honored to be mentioned in its Black History Month feature "Trailblazers, Movers, and Shakers." A big thank you goes out to Anna Millman for writing the article.

I Love My Hair prints - designer Andrea Pippins

After reading the post, I thought back to an interview last year when I was asked the following questions:

As an African-American interior designer, do you feel that African-Americans are under-represented in the design industry? What do you think should be done to encourage more African-Americans to become interior designers?
Yes. I think the disparity comes from youth not having much exposure to the field. Due to tight state budgets, art programs in our school systems have been either drastically cut or eliminated. Once of my favorite vocational education classes was industrial arts. My high school also offered drafting for a short time, but was eliminated before I had a chance to sign up. It may be time for the design community to rally together to volunteer their time and money to offer relevant art programs to our youth.

What advice do you have for other African-American interior designers reading this interview?
My advice would be the same to all artists. Get out there are interact with ALL artists, not just a particular group of people. We are all united by a common thread, our God given artistic talents. EVERYONE has a place in the design community. Success is not reserved for a chosen few. Believe that.
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I HAVE A QUESTION FOR YOU.

As always I appreciate your thoughtful comments and feedback here on BluLabel Bungalow! I would like to know your opinion.

Do you feel that African-Americans are under-represented in the design industry?

I'm not sure if many will comment given the sensitivity on topics of race, but here you have an open forum. All comments will be published.

Comments

16 Comments

16 comments:

Typhanie said...: Hi Erika, great post and congrats on making the list. I do think we are under-represented but to be honest I never thought about it that way. I just figured we are all artist or interior designers trying to make it in our field. But if we dig deeper I guess we are a niche and when it comes to business it's always best represent your niche and bring it to the forefront.; February 14, 2011 at 1:52 PM
Blayne Macauley said...: Congratulations!! So happy for you :) I am not sure I have anything very educated to say about your question. I am just going to say that all the African-American interior designer/bloggers I know in Atlanta are amazing. I am so glad to know them. I think they do a wonderful job representing themselves in the industry through their blogs. I am not sure if this helps at all, but I am proud of you for making the list and wanted to write you a comment.; February 14, 2011 at 2:10 PM
L.Duncan@Home23DuncanBoys said...: Hmmm... I can't speak for design wise, but from what I see from blogging, I feel like we have to work twice as hard to build up our readership. You know, as much as people say all you need to do is work hard and you'll succeed, that phrase is multiplied times 2 or 3 when it comes to African Americans. Also, I think we need to stop basing our success off of what others say or think or do. I think their is lack of support to in the black community. I think a lot of us have the crab in the barrel mentality. Everyone is trying to be "famous" or known at the same time instead of pulling others up after they've made it.

That's the main reason why I started my feature "black friday". Not only do I want highlight African Americans, but its my part to lift us up. Get awareness out that we ARE out there!

Great conversation Erika!; February 14, 2011 at 7:04 PM
Yetunde said...: First of all, Congratulations! That is really wonderful for you!

I am so excited that you have touched on this subject. I am not a trained Interior Designer, but I have a lifelong passion for it, and I practice it in my own way, and blog about it as I can. Up until I actively started looking for Design bloggers of color, I was convinced there were none, because I didn't see them. If it's like this in the blogsophere, I can only imagine what the actual design work field must be like.

I know that the first thing some people will think is that it shouldn't matter the race of the Designer. It's simple. Everyone has an innate need to see themselves represented in a field of their interest.

It seems to me that in communities of color (whether it be African, African-American or others) it seems that (a career in) design or any other kind of arts career is looked down upon, or undervalued. There are no clear-cut career paths to be understood. This scares parents, who want their kids to 'learn something where they can get a job that pays well.' This is why I never studied I.D, which is what I really wanted.

The more we expose our children all the choices they have, the more they will find other viable career paths. For my part, I have been designing programs to teach what I know to the youth. Where I have gone wrong is making it a paid class, which failed miserably because most parents would not (or could not) pay. I will find a way to volunteer the information instead.

Thanks for the opportunity to discuss this issue that has been on my mind a lot lately. I may have to do a blog post given the length of my comment :-); February 14, 2011 at 8:10 PM
Mimi said...: Soooo proud of you!; February 14, 2011 at 8:11 PM
Andria said...: Thanks for asking the question...my comment is that Interior Design, in general, is a very small profession. I was in a yoga class the other day and about jumped up and down when I found a lady whom was a retired ID! It's hard for me as a trained ID to find many at all, much less specific race or color.; February 15, 2011 at 8:42 AM
Jennifer Powell said...: My exposure to interior design as a child consisted of rich housewives with great taste decorating their friends homes in my neighborhood, at least this was my perception. It wasn't until I was older that I realized these women were actually trained professionals and made good money doing it. The perception of interior design from the outside looking in creates a barrier to entry probably for a lot of people, but especially for those who grew up with no exposure to interior design professionals at all, regardless of race. HGTV is doing a lot to bring design to the masses and expose people to different types of creative professions and different types of people in those jobs. So, bravo HGTV for highlighting African American designers, I'd love to see more diversity because it means more creative points of view. We all have something to contribute.; February 15, 2011 at 10:10 AM
Malene Barnett said...: Congrats to you! As a designer not of interiors but of carpets there is a clear imbalance. I know that there are plenty of talented designers in our community but we also have to do our part of spreading the word about our talents.; February 15, 2011 at 12:43 PM
Diasporique said...: YES, chile. YES. It's incredible. But that's our job to "big up" our designers and patronize their businesses. It's no one else's job but our own; and we cannot complain that other people are not representing "us". "They" represent the people who are a reflection of themselves and their culture and it's OUR RESPONSIBILITY to do the same for "us".

I blog about Black designers and if you check my site, you'll notice a plethora of high-quality, uber-talented designers from allover the Black world. I have to seek them out. They are not covered in White media. And to be honest, many of those designers, especially those outside of the US do very little to court Black consumers - which is ironic considering that Black consumers often spend the most, though they make the least (according to a Price-Waterhouse Coopers consumer demograhic report). I have to BEG designers, at times, to photograph their pieces on Black models or feature Blacks in their lookbook photos - so as not to alienate my readers. This is especially the case with Black designers outside of the US.

The bottom line is that Black designers and Black people keep falling into the trap of looking outside of themselves for support and representation; then we cry out when we get the exact same response as usual: indifference.

We should be supporting our own designers and artists, plain and simple; and not expect anyone else to do that for us. Every other group on the face of this planet gets that idea but us.

I would also like to see more designers being forthcoming regarding their Black design peers. Very few will share the names of fellow designers. I've reached out to dozens of designers and only two have ever written to me about peers they thought would be great to feature or contact.; February 15, 2011 at 2:19 PM
Dayka Robinson said...: We're absolutely underrepresented in the field, and I have a few theories as to why! :) I don't think as many of us are exposed to the trade as we grow up, so a lot of people really don't think it's viable. I also don't think there's as much support for African-American designers (in mainstream media) as there should/could be--even some of the more well-known names RARELY make it into our favorite shelter magazines, which I think is really sad.; February 16, 2011 at 9:40 AM
Anonymous said...: As a designer just starting out, I look around myself and don’t see anyone like me. Even at my “advanced” age, it is comforting to see someone who looks like you in your field. So with that said, I can’t say with certainty that we are under-represented, but I can say that I believe that prominent African-American role models are not in abundance.

When I was growing up, a career in the arts was shunned by my elders and my school administrators. To be a successful young Black man, you had to be in business or engineering. I took that to heart and spent 13 years doing something I hated but assumed was “right”. It has only been in the last 2 years that I have deviated from this path and am finding a whole new aspect of who I am but also a new aspect of what of the African American community.

I do agree with your statement that we as a design community need to give back to our schools and neighborhoods. There are opportunities and outreach groups that bring artists into schools for educational programs. We should be part of that mix that brings awareness and understanding to our young people.

On the flip side, we need to embrace our own media outlets as viable channels to promote ourselves, our businesses and share ideas. At the end of the day, good design is good design, regardless of where it is highlighted.

We need…..we should….we must be sure to have our voices heard, our work seen and businesses patronized. And we do all of that by working together.; February 16, 2011 at 12:22 PM
Anonymous said...: Great Job! I want that picture from Andrea Pippens. I'm not a designer so I not sure if I'm an expert when I say this..but I'm not sure if black people are underrepresented in the design world or do we underrepresent ourselves. Do we know how to market ourselves to get ourselves seen...I think they are out there...somewhere but I just don't know if they make themselves seen.

Anyway..Great post..as usual!; February 16, 2011 at 10:05 PM
Angela said...: I think there is underepresentation and and underexposure in our community as well as mainstream media. There are a few magazines geared specifically towards AA's that previously featured interior design segments, but I don't see those articles anymore.

It would be nice to to see featured projects by by more AA designers.; February 17, 2011 at 8:08 AM
Pixie said...: Congratulations! Love your blog,; February 19, 2011 at 8:04 PM
SHERRY HART said...: We all know the famous ones...Darryl Carter and Sheila Bridges are two that come to mind. I would have to say yes and after reading a few comments above I think all of you talented blogger/designers should be famous:) For me when I am looking at a room I love it has "no color" ....so give me more rooms to look at.; February 22, 2011 at 8:32 AM
Unknown said...: Yes... I have been a recent subscriber of Architectural Digest as well as Elle Decor. My enlightenment has been in the discovery that African American tastes and styles are not found in mainstream design magazines.

Rarely, when an African American is showcased in the magazines, the chosen design elements are exactly "what looks like me..."

I would love to have the means to showcase the design talents of all Non-European designers; not to shun any one group, but I think their style and "their expert definition" of design has reign "long enough..."

Nothing of European tradition or ancestry resonates with me - An African American....; May 22, 2011 at 2:04 PM

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