Maira Kalman: My Favorite Things 
Selections from the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

This short film follows one of our great visual storytellers, Maira Kalman, as she curates her exhibition “Selects.” The reopening of the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum features this collection – an exploration of life, love, joy and loss. With humor, insight and honesty she has chosen objects that chronicle memories, dreams and reflections.

The film traces the story behind one of the exhibition’s highlights: Abraham Lincoln’s pocket watch, restored to tick again for the first time in 150 years. It’s an extraordinary opportunity, Maira observes, to “connect us to history, dreaming and the future.”

Alabama Chanin

Season 1
8:27

Using local cotton, local talent and local traditions, Natalie Chanin has brought Alabama to Haute Couture. Natalie’s story and her artistry is bound up in the landscape and the legends of the region along the Tennessee River.

Sheila Berger

Season 1
7:57

New York-based painter and sculptor Sheila Berger follows an odyssey that begins with a bird's nest found at her childhood home in St. Louis. Using encaustic, plaster and steel examines nurturing and explores the fragility of nature.

About Gael Towey & Co.

Gael Towey’s great love is storytelling. “Portraits in Creativity,” a series of short-form documentary videos directed and produced by Towey, seeks to capture the bravery of artists and artisans, and delights in the visual seduction of the creative process. 

The subjects of these films are experienced artists who follow their instincts. Using their knowledge of craft and materials, they investigate, explore and find inspiration. They are comfortable saying, “I don’t know where this will take me.” These videos are not meant to be comprehensive; they tell the story of one moment in these artists’ careers.

In 1990, as Creative Director, Towey helped launch Martha Stewart Living magazine. She designed the inaugural issue, initiating the magazine’s distinct and iconic visual style that would give life to the joy of creativity. She helped spearhead the launch of five additional magazine titles and several product businesses that reflected the changing lifestyles of modern American women. Towey was the visual editor who ensured that consumers, viewers, users and readers had the best possible experiences with digital magazines, apps, and videos. 

Under Towey’s creative direction, Martha Stewart Living won numerous awards in many categories, notably among them, the prestigious American Society of Magazine Editors 

awards for Design, Photography and General Excellence, the AIGA Corporate Leadership Award, and the Chrysler Design Award  in 1999. Her work was in the Cooper Hewitt National Design Triennial Exhibition for product and packaging design in 2000. Martha Stewart Living: Boundless Beauty stop action cover was named one of the top ten magazine covers of 2010 by Time Magazine. Towey and her teams of designers have also won numerous SPD and Art Directors Club awards. Most recently, Towey was awarded the AIGA medal in 2014.

After 22 years at the creative helm of the company, Towey stepped away in order to pursue her long-standing interest in narrative, creating her new company, Gael Towey & Co. to translate her experience as a creative director and editor into moving video profiles, which capture an artist’s voice as they tell their story.

Towey works with small teams to produce and direct these short-form documentary videos. Her goal is to find clients who would like to work with her to create videos that explore these themes. She explains, “Portraits in Creativity serves as a snapshot of my interests and the direction I would like to take in my work. I hope to find collaborators who want to grow the creative engagement of their brands and platforms with videos like those in this series.”