The Gilson Collection: Midcentury Industrial Design

Dec 6, 2014 to Feb 19, 2015

Location: Don B. Huntley University Art Gallery

About the Exhibition Program Schedule The Designer/Collector Installation Views

The Gilson Collection Midcentury Industrial Design at Cal Poly Pomona

Interest in mid-20th century product design has increased dramatically since 1987 when Channing Wallace Gilson began donating his design collection to California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.
The entire collection provides a unique window into the industrial design process in the mid-20th century. It presents a sample of midcentury U.S. design, which was shaped by new technologies, new manufacturing processes and refinements, a new aesthetic, new merchandising techniques, and the rising middle-class demand for mass-produced consumer goods. Cal Poly Pomona’s Industrial Design Collection is a valuable resource that helps document the historical record and preserve America’s design heritage.

Saturday, December 6, 2014 - 4:00pm to 7:00pm

Opening Reception: The Gilson Collection: Midcentury Design at Cal Poly Pomona

As a professional industrial designer, Channing Gilson recognized the significance of the historical design record.

Channing Wallace Gilson, c. 1960s, donor of the Gilson Midcentury Industrial Design Collection. Source: Partner’s Page.

Channing Gilson

As a professional industrial designer, Channing Gilson recognized the significance of the historical design record. At a young age, he resolved to start collecting obsolete mass-‐produced everyday items. For the next 40 years, he sought out well-‐designed objects, especially those with radically new styling made possible by the application of emerging technologies and materials to consumer products in the post-‐World War II era. Thanks to his foresight, many significant midcentury design objects have been preserved in this collection. Representative pieces by well-‐known industrial designers such as Henry Dreyfuss and Raymond Loewy, as well as those by lesser-‐known individuals who made important contributions to the field, are all part of the general collection. The entire collection provides a unique window into the industrial design process in the mid-‐20th century. It presents a sample of midcentury U.S. design, which was shaped by new technologies, new manufacturing processes and refinements, a new aesthetic, new merchandising techniques, and the rising middle-‐class demand for mass-‐produced consumer goods. In addition, the archives of two notable local American industrial designers Jean Otis Reinecke, and Channing Gilson himself, are included.

Photo Caption: Channing Wallace Gilson, c. 1960s, donor of the Gilson Midcentury Industrial Design Collection. Source: Partner’s Page.

Gallery Views

Installation View, Front of Gallery, The Gilson Collection: Midcentury Design at Cal Poly Pomona Exhibition, 2014.

Installation View, Back of Gallery, The Gilson Collection: Midcentury Design at Cal Poly Pomona Exhibition, 2014.

The Gilson Collection: Midcentury Industrial Design