Theaster Gates and Prada Group announced the inaugural cohort of the Dorchester Industries Experimental Design Lab, the three-year program curated to support and amplify the work of designers of color working across the creative industries. A jury composed by nominated luminaries including Miuccia Prada, writer and director Ava DuVernay and the late designer Virgil Abloh selected the fourteen awardees. The inaugural cohort was presented during a public conversation at the presence Pamela Culpepper – elected to the Prada S.p.A. Board of Directors – between Theaster Gates, writer and activist Kimberly Drew, Professor Sarah Lewis and Dr. Louise Bernard at the Rebuild Foundation’s Stony Island Arts Bank on Chicago’s South Side.
The winners:
Tolu Coker, Fashion Design (London, UK)
Germane Barnes, Architecture (Miami, FL)
Norman Teague, Product Design (Chicago, IL)
Kyle Abraham, Dance (New York, NY)
Mariam Issoufou Kamara, Architecture (Niamey, Niger)
Kendall Reynolds, Footwear (Chicago, IL)
Yemi Amu, Agriculture (New York, NY)
Kenturah Davis, Visual Art (Los Angeles, CA)
Salome Asega, Art, Technology & Design (New York, NY)
Damarr Brown, Culinary Arts (Chicago, IL)
Maya Bird-Murphy, Architecture (Chicago, IL)
Brandon Breaux, Fine Art & Design (Chicago, IL)
Summer Coleman, Graphic Design (Chicago, IL)
Catherine Sarr, Fine Jewelry Design (Chicago, IL)