How I obtained right here: Jiminie Ha
The newly appointed director of graphic design at the Guggenheim Museum, Jiminie Ha, reflects on the joys of a career mixing art and design
Designer Jiminie Ha lived on the line between art and design for years, ran a small hole in the wall gallery in Manhattan's Lower East Side for several years, and founded the New York-based agency With Projects and published art and the food magazine White Zinfandel – copies of it are in the permanent collections of various universities and museums in the United States.
Over the course of her career, she has covered an impressive spectrum, working with artists and cultural institutions such as Art Basel and the Miami Design District, as well as major brands such as Johnson & Johnson and Maison Martin Margiela. In September 2020 she handed over the reins of With Projects and took on a role as director of graphic design at New York's Guggenheim Museum – something she describes as the union of two disciplines that she loves.
Here she talks to CR about her somewhat awkward path into the design world, why art has always been an important part of her practice, and why she believes the creative industry needs to be approached with a healthy amount of rigor and self-discipline.
Grew up in art I actually grew up in Europe – my family moved to France when I was 12 and I attended British school in Paris before they enrolled me in an all-French high school. I grew up constantly with art around me. My mother studied fashion and design while we were living in France. That's why we always consumed art and went to museums. My mother was always studying and drawing, and I was surrounded by fashion and art publications around the house. It's no surprise I ended up in this area, but [my parents] did everything in their power to steer me away from the arts – though that's all we did, road trips to Monet's house or Van Gogh's Studio on the weekends.
Net Art Anthology with Rhizomes for New Museum