Cooper Hewitt says...
Gere Kavanaugh (American, b. 1929) studied fine arts at the Memphis College of Art, and went on to become the third woman to earn a Masters of Fine Arts degree from the Cranbrook Academy of Art. She thrived in Cranbrook’s studio system, living and working with fellow-students like Ray Kaiser (Eames), Florence Schust (Knoll), and Ruth Adler (Schnee). The students were pursuing studio work in painting, architecture, ceramics, industrial design, and graphics, which may have influenced her future as a design polymath, creating everything from exhibitions to retail and restaurant interiors to furniture, textiles, wallcoverings, lighting, tableware, typefaces, and more.
After graduating, Kavanaugh was hired by General Motors, where she worked for four years, primarily designing exhibitions to showcase GM’s cars. In 1960, she accepted a position in the architecture firm of Victor Gruen, designing commercial interiors. That job eventually took her to Los Angeles, where she has remained for over 50 years. There she formed a life-long friendship with Frank Gehry, who encouraged her to go out on her own. She founded Gere Kavanaugh Designs, a multi-disciplinary firm whose client roster includes Pepsi, Hallmark, Neutrogena, Max Factor, Nissan, Citicorp, among many others.
Her work was exhibited in several of the “California Design” exhibitions organized by the Pasadena Art Museum in the 1960s, as well as in more recent shows like “California’s Designing Women 1896 – 1996” at the Autry Museum, and “California Design 1930-1965: Living in a Modern Way” at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Kavanaugh is a 2016 AIGA medalist.
