Vignelli Center Lecture: Marissa Brown

Lecture title: When I Could No Longer Touch My Work

About Marissa Brown

Though Brown has recently been celebrated by magazines such as Luxe Interior and Design and House Beautiful as a designer to watch, her career speaks to a long-standing dialogue. It is a dialogue between design and craft that she knows has been essential in determining the success of a piece. The voice Brown brings is fueled by a deep understanding and respect of furniture history and construction. But the action she takes is contemporary. 

After receiving a degree from Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) in Industrial Design, Brown began her career with Dakota Jackson as creative director of his luxury custom furniture studio. She would go on to start her own business, Brown Graves, and teach at RISD and Parsons. Eventually, Brown became VP design director for Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, where she designed and managed furniture across a variety of home and living spaces. Brown managed teams of designers to answer to large-scale production while navigating licensed partnerships for Macy's, The Home Depot, Bernhardt, Staples, Home Decorators Collection and others. 

In 2018, Brown became the first female director of design in the 120-year history of Stickley, a historic hardwood-furniture company outside Syracuse, N.Y. There, Brown has worked closely with hardwood specialists and craftspeople on the factory floor to realize hundreds of pieces she personally designed. Her collections, “Park Slope” and “Walnut Grove," continue to win industry accolades, such as House Beautiful listing her as a 2020 Visionarie.