Newsday (Suffolk Edition) from Melville, New York • 147

--( 'vVvVjV YvVt'j -vt Mumming Umrgertlhimm-Mfe museum By Doris Henlg "This building is so she said "that it really forces the museum staff to be more Another reason she gave for the success of the exhibitions is that the former residence is an effective background for displaying domestic items "Furniture and decorative objects are shown here in a human scale rather than in a vast exhibition Textiles architecture gilt and silver objects embroidered samplers and American patent models are among the subject of current and scheduled exhibitions "We have an extraordinary she said "It has been described by a number of scholars as one of the most distinguished in the whole Her job and her family keep her so busy she said that Bhe no longer paints and recently she gave up her studio because "I really cannot lock myself up and work in a studio for weeks at a time This is not a 9-to-5 job There is a lot of socializing involved in running a She finds time to dance however and is a member of a dub called The Waltzers "When I passed the age of 40 1 decided never to dance with a man I hold on she observed As editor of museum publications she often reads galleys until 1 AM in her apartment two blocks away She and her husband Bertrand Taylor III an investor were both previously married Their two children and his three by a former marriage range in age from 10 to 35 "We have two grandchildren who are older than our she said part of your modern family for How the family has changed is one of the subjects dealt with in a forthcoming publication on She is currently sorting photographs arrayed on a U-shaped arrangement of metal folding tables that takes up two-thirds of her office The publication she said will have articles by science writer Isaac Asimov psychologist Joyce Brothers and environmentalist Barry Commoner among others Obviously she feels that the scope of a design museum goes far beyond objects no matter how fine Educational programs for children and adults are another aspect of the expanded activities Before she came to the Cooper-Hewitt Mrs Taylor was program director of the Smithsonian in Washington She set up the public education program there Last year the Cooper-Hewitt in association with the Parsons School of Design established a degree 6-program in European decorative arts "Running a she said "you can change lives by opening their eyes to things theyVe never seen before This is the only museum in America devoted solely to historical and contemporary design We try to show the process of design as well as products and we try to give them contemporary The just-completed summer home on Vineyard a Japanese-style house where they sleep on floor mats is an example of how one artistic thing leads to another "It started with an interest in how Orientals use the she explained an interest that led her to the study of the Chinese language as well as Japanese brushwork and eventually to commission the house by Japanese architect Teruo Hara? As far as the museum is concerned what is her main problem? The answer was not unexpected: "Money my only problem because I think it would solve everything "We have five manuscripts which are written and waiting tcTbe printed and we have the money "Our graduate program is such a success I'd like to take it to the PhD And she added "What I would also like to do which we have not been able to afford is to do more video-pro (framing sush as video cassettes of lectures for colleges and libraries But one measure of the success of the museum since she took over is that "people now come to me occasionally and offer me HE IS SMALL and dainty with a china-doll face a soft voice and a gentle almost shy manner "Porcelain and is how she has been described The porcelain is apparent The steel is not though it is undoubtedly a basic requirement for the director of the Cooper-Hewitt Mu-' seum Iju Taylor has held the post since 1969 assuming it shortly after after the museum originally a part of Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art became the Smithsonian National Museum of Design "Design is one of those larger-than-life Mrs Taylor said the other day 1 think everything made by God and man but we stick to made by the human species" The daughter and granddaughter of architects an artist by training and a collector herself (of small objects to go with her small size) she presided over the move in 1976 to the neo-Georgian granite and brick mansion built at the turn of the century by industrialist Andrew Carnegie at 91st Street and Fifth Avenue In her large bright office a one-time bedroom Mrs Taylor spoke about the expansion of the scope under the auspices and her direction "It was formerly used almost exclusively by scholars and she said "Now -we have about 300000 visitors a Many of them she is convinced come to see the mansion once the home of the richest man in the world as well as the exhibitions Visitors enter an arthed vestibule leading to a great hall paneled in Scottish oak with an ornately carved wood ceiling and grand staircase Among Mrs favorite areas are the plant-filled conservatory and the white-tiled sub-basement (not open to the public) "which looks like the bowels of an old at home11 The exterior of the Cooper-Hewitt Museum left formerly the Carnegie mansion and director lisa Taylor in the vestibule of the main entrance.