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A new exhibit at the Goldstein Museum of Design

They are often the under-appreciated or overlooked when it comes to the glue that holds a well functioning office together but now, thanks to a new exhibit at the Goldstein Museum of Design, secretaries will get their day in the sun!

The exhibit, How Secretaries Changed the 20th-Century Office: Design, Image, and Culture will run from February 6 through May 23, 2010 with an opening event on Friday, February 5 from 6-8pm.

The Goldstein Museum (364 McNeal Hall, 1985 Buford Avenue, Saint Paul, MN 55108)  is off the beaten path on the Saint Paul campus of  the University of Minnesota.

Some areas the exhibit will explore include:
•  During the 20th century women poured into offices all over the U.S. to work as “typewriter girls,” stenographers, and secretaries. New spaces, furnishings, and clothing emerged to meet their needs, while popular culture glamorized them
•  The exhibition explores transformations in the workplace and women’s lives and features office equipment, furniture, fashions, magazines, and much more
•  Co-curated by Midori Green (Ph.D. candidate, Art History) and Katherine Solomonson (Associate Professor, School of Architecture and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, College of Design) They mined archives from New York to Los Angeles, researched office design, and talked with scores of women who had been secretaries.
•  During the exhibition GMD will collect donations of gently used women’s office wear for Women Achieving New Directions
Related Programs

Along with the exhibit, there will also be a Curator’s Talk and a Coffee Break Series and information on that is below.

CURATOR’S TALK: SHAPING OFFICE CULTURE: SECRETARIES AND DESIGN, FROM “MISS REMINGTON” TO “MAD MEN”
Thursday, February 18, 6 PM, 33 McNeal
With exhibit curators Katherine Solomonson and Midori Green

COFFEE BREAK SERIES: THE OFFICE ON FILM
All films at 6:30 PM, 33 McNeal
April 20 Skyscraper Souls (1932)
April 21 The Best of Everything (1959)
April 22 Nine to Five (1980)

This exhibition and programs are supported in part by Friends of GMD, the College of Design, and the Fashion Group Foundation of Minneapolis/St.Paul, Inc. GMD funding provided in part by a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, through an appropriation by the Minnesota State Legislature, a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and private funders
Gallery Details

The Goldstein Museum Gallery is open Tuesday, Wednesday, & Friday 10am – 4pm, Thursday 10am – 8pm and weekends 1:30 - 4:30pm. The Gallery is closed Mondays and all University holidays. The Gallery is on the second floor 241 McNeal Hall.