Designer People: Painting the town with Mitchell Wolfson Jr.
Mitchell Wolfson Jr. | Designer People
Painting the town with Mitchell Wolfson Jr.
Written by Amy Devers
Mitchell “Micky” Wolfson Jr. Founder, Wolfsonian Museum
Hosting Designer People is definitely a pinch-me-I’m-dreaming type of job. I never know exactly what to expect or how I will be changed by the experience. Inspiration is a frequent and most-welcome side-effect. I got a triple dose when I met Mitchell aka “Micky” Wolfson Jr. The collector and museum founder responsible for an archive of over 125,000 objects from the period between 1885 and 1945 is a force of nature. Hanging out with him is sort of like being swept up in a most enjoyable tidal wave.
I was about to write that I “caught up” with Micky in Las Vegas to interview him, but then I realized that’s entirely inaccurate. I never “caught up” with him at all. I spent the whole day trying to keep up with him! The man is Tireless with a capital T! Propelled by an insatiable curiosity, he just can’t be stopped. He never gets tired or bored because everything is interesting to him. Everything. He’s able to recognize the value and cultural information in every object, every action, and every person.
“I read objects the way other people would read words.”
His passion is something that I can definitely relate to, so I happily let myself get swept up in Hurricane Micky and trailed him all over Vegas while he pursued his curiosities. My job became less about interviewing him and more about trying to slow him down long enough for camera/audio to keep him in frame as he was describing in articulate detail just what it was that was exhilarating him.
“Objects don’t lie.”
From lunch at the Wynn with the Las Vegas art elite, to the Gambler’s Bookstore, The Liberace Museum, the Blue Angel Motel, the El Cortez Cabanas, and Fremont Street – it was a whirlwind adventure and celebration of all that is man-made.
What you won’t see in the episode is that Micky also took me for an afternoon cocktail at the Atomic Liquor Store, one of the oldest bars in Las Vegas, in a neighborhood so sketchy you have to press a button to get buzzed in. Micky was an instant hit with the locals, and I became very aware that Micky is in love with man-made objects because he is in love with humanity. And it was apparent everywhere we went in Vegas, but never more so than at the Atomic, that humanity loves him back. — AD
Blue Angel Motel, Las Vegas
Atomic Liquor, Las Vegas
Micky and I enjoyed a drink with a friendly local at Atomic Liquor
[Mitchell Wolfson Jr. is the founder of the Wolfsonian Museum in Miami, Fl. For more information please click here.]
Designer People airs on Ovation in the U.S. and on 19 different networks internationally.
Designer and host Amy Devers explores the work and life of Micky Wolfson Jr., who started as a design collector and became a philanthropist. Frequent international travel allowed Princeton graduate Wolfson to start acquiring designs from the UK, Japan, The Netherlands, Italy, and Germany. With a grand collection amassed, Wolfson founded the Wolfsonian Foundation in Miami and dedicated the space to the preservation and research of his findings. The space has since become an internationally respected museum and research center for design.
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