Bernard seated in a gallery celebrating the Arts and Crafts Movement. From craftinamerica.org

A lot of influences come together to make us who we are and who we become. From our early upbringing throughout our education to what we read, what we watch, what we listen to, and who we interact with all influence our direction taken in finding our way in the world. I would like to pay homage to a very important mentor in my design career—one whose enormous influence I now gratefully acknowledge. Bernard Kester was a longtime fixture at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) where I worked from 1982 to 1993. He was the museum’s primary exhibition designer for much longer than I ever realized. I don’t think any of us designers there at the time realized what a titan he was in the world of craft and design. Bernard was instrumental in elevating the national studio craft movement from the 1950s into the 1970s. He was an accomplished weaver and ceramist whose ties to UCLA ran deep—he earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees there before becoming professor. He taught from 1956 to 1993 at UCLA and initiated the fiber art program there. Bernard’s ties to LACMA continued for more than 40 years where he designed more than 100 special exhibitions and reconfigured many of its permanent collection galleries.

Bernard Kester epitomized elegance—from his appearance (with a perpetual bow tie) to his expertise in masterfully orchestrating huge exhibitions. Elegance manifested itself in his color schemes, lighting, and architectural arrangement of objects. Working with Bernard, one could not help but be awed and compelled to make our contributions aspire to elegance. Bernard’s humbleness belied all that he had accomplished. There was a great mutual respect among all of us who worked so closely together to mount these exhibitions—and also humor! I will never forget one of Bernard’s mantras which I frequently repeat, “All shall be revealed!”

Image source: craftinamerica.org