Dialogues on Design, a series design-centric conversations, returns for a virtual season!
Join us on Facebook Live for a conversation with former member of the Committee for the Preservation of the White House, Michael S. Smith.
Dialogues on Design, a series of moderated conversations with prominent interior designers where each discusses their approach to their own work — their inspiration and influences, their response to trends, and the evolution of the field — returns for a fully virtual season. We are happy to announce that this year these conversations with leaders in the design world will again be moderated by Dennis Scully from Business of Home.
For more information, contact Samantha Fingleton via email at sfingleton@nysid.edu.
About Michael Smith
Michael S. Smith is considered one of the most original and respected talents in the design industry today. With an international profile of residential, hospitality and commercial clients, Smith’s style is a seamless blend of European classicism and American modernism—always fresh, always evolving, always underscored by the belief that everyone should live with things they love.
He possesses a curator’s knowledge of and appreciation for the past, nurtured by studies at the Victoria and Albert Museum and extensive work in the antiques business. Whether in designing his own collection or in the interiors he creates for his clients, a deep respect for tradition—viewed through a modern eye—is ever-present.
A native of California, Michael studied interior design at Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles. In 1984, he continued his studies at The Victoria and Albert Museum in London, then returned to the U.S. to work under the tutelage of legendary antiques dealer Gep Durenberger. Next, he moved to New York in an association with noted designer John Saladino. After three years, he was back in California to open a home furnishings store. His design firm, Michael S Smith Inc, was launched in 1990, expanding from projects solely for private clients to his Jasper line of fine furniture and fabrics sold exclusively in multi-line showrooms around the world.
Through the years, Michael has received many prestigious awards. He has been named seven times to Architectural Digest’s “The AD 100” and is the recipient of the Pacific Design Center's West Week “Stars of Design.” He has been named Designer of the Year by Elle Décor as well as being named repeatedly to that publication’s A-List. Michael serves on the Board of Trustees of Otis College of Art and Design and has co-chaired the American Friends of the Olympia International Fine Art and Antique Fair. He is a member of ASID, the American Society of Interior Designers. In 2010, Michael was appointed by President Obama to the Committee for the Preservation of the White House.
Michael’s designs continue to be featured in major publications including Architectural Digest, Elle Décor, House Beautiful, Town and Country, Galerie, Domino, Metropolitan Home, Interior Design, Tatler, W, and the Wall St. Journal. His work has been celebrated in four beautiful volumes from Rizzoli Publishing: Elements of Style (2007), Houses (2008) and Kitchens and Baths (2011), Building Beauty (2013), and his fifth book, The Curated House: Creating Style, Beauty, and Balance was released in Fall of 2015.
About Dennis Scully
Dennis Scully is the host of the weekly BOH podcast, where he explores the changes and challenges facing the interior design community through interviews with industry thought leaders, entrepreneurs and creatives. He is also the vice president of sales and marketing at luxury textiles company Castel. Scully was previously a business development consultant for major trade brands, and has held sales and marketing roles at Domino, Waterworks and Twill Textiles. In his Market Watch columns, Scully calls upon his background as an analyst and longtime securities trader as he explores the ins and outs of the home industry’s publicly traded businesses.