Enter: Greenwich House Pottery, where Barnett was accepted as a resident artist. Finley’s educational and professional background, combined with her extensive world travels, helps Joy Street Design create original and distinctive interior spaces in a precise and professional manner. It has been one of the most challenging experiences to navigate as a professional.”. Johanna Howard Home and Accessories is a line of sustainable luxury alpaca home decor products featuring the finest wool fiber. And the list goes on. Founder and creative director of Leyden Lewis Design Studio, Leyden Lewis has a background that encompasses the culturally rich Caribbean heritage of Trinidad and Tobago, urban sophistication, and classical European Modernism. Finley studied interior design and interior architecture at the University of California, Berkeley. After graduation, she went on to work for a textile manufacturer, designing for mass retails stores and working in marketing as well as design – and learning the ins and out of the industry along the way. “I’m looking to create my own language within patterns. Founder Malene Barnett highlights Black talent you can support now. Barnett now includes fine art, as well as commercial design, in the repertoire of Malene B. She does not believe that luxury goods have to be produced in a way that is exploitative of the environment or the people who create them, or that consumers have to sacrifice quality for sustainability. “It allowed me to paint, use color and texture, and create a product that people could use.”. As she looks toward the future, Barnett aims to focus on those who will follow her in the industry. “I didn’t know anything about it,” Barnett says. After 20 years, Malene Barnett is finally having her moment. Move Architecture and Design Innovation Forward [Editor's Letter]. “Challenges of black artists in this industry are not new,” she says. Thanks to the persistent work of advocates like Malene, mainstream design and art culture is becoming … Blending the memories of his formative years in Ethiopia with travel through the rest of the continent, Tariku's design offers a new line of inquiry and experience of modernity while venerating the rich historical palette of Africa. A few years ago, Malene Barnett, who had found success with her textile and rug collections, began feeling creatively tapped out. Now, she’s been featured in a number of interior design magazines, designed rugs and carpets for major hotels, and has also produced collections for home fashion brand Kravet. “Some may think I’m still so young, but legacy is about starting young. Malene Barnett is a certified MWBE studio and is based in Brooklyn, New York and is available for collaborations, public speaking, and business leadership projects. We tested our new stair treads – with a piano. Beth Diana Smith is the owner and principal designer of Beth Diana Smith Interior Design, a New Jersey–based interior design company. “What’s key is we always have to have that creative outlet” as well as the technical side, she says. Composed of graphic shapes, symbols, and reimagined typographic elements, they are expressed with a minimalist approach. She holds a law degree from Stanford Law School and a business degree from Emory University. Barnett, who started the guild in 2018 and runs her own studio Malene B, considers herself an artist and creator above all else. Combining clay and carpet is something Barnett is thinking about next, from treating wall surfaces with clay to create texture, to incorporating carpets on the wall. Harper's BAZAAR participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites. But my mother always told me you work with what you have, so I did. Philly Protests After Cops Kill Walter Wallace Jr. Coco Mitchell Has Been Modeling for Four Decades, Mike Karlson Lundgren (MKL) Vate Powell (VP). Malene has 5 jobs listed on their profile. I bought a house in Brooklyn at the same time. “We are constantly overlooked,” she says. These were the words spoken to Malene Barnett by a brand consultant, in the midst of a transition period. That’s the experience of a creative, she says, having the desire to experience different mediums. But in addition to her work as … Malene Barnett, a practicing artist, designer, and founder of the Black Artists + Designers Guild (BADG), is all too familiar with this situation. To spur change, you, dear reader, can donate to the Black Artists + Designers Guild and help its initiative to showcase Black-owned studios in the interior design industry—many of whom Barnett highlights ahead. Kiyonda Powell Design Studio, LLC is a boutique interior design firm based in Washington, D.C., that transforms residential and commercial spaces through thoughtful and innovative concepts. Designers weren’t having work. Oct 31, 2012 - This Pin was discovered by Lilach Sakzer. Over time, Barnett found herself feeling, well, bored. But along the way, she experienced what she describes as a “cultural awakening.” That’s when Barnett took the leap to launch her own company, Malene B, which focused on designing bespoke, high-end carpets for interior designers – always inspired by her world travels and her African and Caribbean heritages. How many Black designers are recognized on top design lists? Following a wave of protests across the globe this month in support of racial equality and justice, Interior Design spoke with Malene Barnett, founder of the Black Artists and Designers Guild. “Of course it was hard,” Barnett says. As for her, Barnett says her mother told her she was always playing in the mud as a kid. “There’s this fear that [interior designers] can’t go back [to exploring other mediums]. Tariku is defining a new design language for modern African-themed furniture by synthesizing his experience of the continent’s diverse cultures, historical structures, architecture, traditional furniture, colors, artifacts, natural environment, endemic wildlife, indigenous dresses, and hairstyles. The experience helped Barnett realize how much creativity can be lost when working as a commercial designer, thoughts filled with numbers and budgets. What story do you want to tell? Lisa Hunt is a Brooklyn-based artist and designer. “The interior design industry is an industry of and for elitists,” Barnett tells BAZZAR.com. The list can go on. “We need to put this out there to show that there’s no excuses on how we’re not visible or we’re not there,” Barnett explains. Founded by Nina Cooke John, Studio Cooke John is a New York–based design studio with a focus on high-impact, residential architecture, as well as design for international cultural institutions. In the wake of George Floyd’s murder at the hands of Minneapolis police officers, which prompted demonstrations across the nation calling for justice, society as a whole is facing the reality that the system is broken—and that Black people are tired of continuously having to fight for equality.