A WRIGHT TURN

RUSSEL WRIGHT

Who: An industrial designer of furniture, accessories, dishes, glassware, table linens and art pottery, among other items.

Born: 1904 in Lebanon, Ohio; died 1976.

Design "firsts": Aluminum serving accessories, blond furniture, stainless steel flatware, aluminum blinds, plastic dinnerware for the home.

Influenced by: Traditional Asian and Japanese design.

Home and studio: Manitoga ("Place of the Great Spirit") in Garrison, N.Y. His 80-acre woodland garden that began as an abandoned quarry and logging site surrounds the studio.

IF YOU GO

Where: "Russel Wright: Living With Good Design," at U of M Goldstein Museum of Design, 364 McNeal Hall, 1985 Buford Av., St. Paul.

Runs: Feb. 9 through April 20.

Opening party: 7 to 9 p.m. Feb. 8, with 8 p.m. remarks by curator Robert Stearns.

Lecture: 5:45 p.m. Feb. 11 by landscape architect/Manitoga expert Carol Franklin, 100 Rapson Hall, 89 Church St., Minneapolis.

Admission: Free (donations accepted).

More information: http://goldstein. design.umn.edu.

LEARN MORE

• "Russel Wright: Creating American Lifestyle" by Donald Albrecht, Robert Schonfeld and Lindsay Stamm Shapiro, Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum.

• "Guide to Easier Living" by Russel and Mary Wright, Gibbs Smith, reissue of 1950 Simon & Schuster publication.

• "Collector's Encyclopedia of Russel Wright" by Ann Kerr, Collector Books.

• "Russel Wright Identification and Price Guide" by Joe Keller and David Ross, Schiffer Books.

• www.russelwrightcenter.org, site dedicated to the Russel Wright Design Center and Manitoga, a National Historic Landmark.