New Exhibition Shines Light On Innovative Chicago-Area Design Studio

WDCB’s Gary Zidek talks to the curators of the Block Museum of Art’s new exhibit UP IS DOWN: MID-CENTURY EXPERIMENTS IN ADVERTISING AND FILM AT THE GOLDSHOLL STUDIO.

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WDCB's Gary Zidek takes a closer look at new Block Museum of Art exhibit, UP IS DOWN: MID-CENTURY EXPERIMENTS IN ADVERTISING AND FILM AT THE GOLDSHOLL STUDIO

“We’ve combed through some of the literature and read articles from the time, you see people picking up on the Goldsholl look. And it was really, very innovative, creative, it looks so different from some of the commercials that proceeded it.” - Corinne Granof, Curator of Academic Programs at the Block Museum of Art and co-curator of UP IS DOWN.

Co-curators: Amy Beste, Director of Public Programs in the Department of Film, Video, New Media & Animation at the School of the Art Institute and Corinne Granof, Curator of Academic Programs at the Block Museum of Art.

Founded in 1954, Goldscholl Design Associates was a trailblazer in its approach design, advertising and film. The new exhibit, UP IS DOWN: MID CENTURY EXPERIMENTS IN ADVERTISING AND FILM AT THE GOLDSHOLL STUDIO, shines a light on the remarkable work created by Millie and Morton Goldsholl.

Logos created by Goldsholl Design Associates. Photo credit Kristin Samuelson

The studio created ads, films, trademarks, corporate identities, and print advertisements for clients like Kimberly-Clark, the National Football League, Revlon, Motorola, and 7-Up.

In addition to creating innovative work, the Goldsholl Design Firm was also a pioneer in the way that it operated, choosing to hire a diverse group of employees.

The Goldsholl Design Associates team.

UP IS DOWN was made possible through the Terra Foundation’s yearlong initiative ART DESIGN CHICAGO. The exhibit’s aim to shed some light on the Goldsholl story fits right in with Art Design Chicago’s mission to create awareness and provide context to forgotten pieces of Chicago art and design history.

UP IS DOWN: MID-CENTURY EXPERIMENTS IN ADVERTISING AND FILM AT THE GOLDSHOLL STUDIO is on display at Northwestern University’s Block Museum of Art through December 9.  The museum will be host a special opening day on Saturday October 6, you can find more information at blockmuseum.northwestern.edu