Wed, Mar 5th, 7:00pm - 9:00pm
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Merging studio practice with retail and hotel, Shannon Maldonado of Philadelphia’s Yowie Hotel reconsiders traditional definitions of designer, shop, and host.
Trained as a fashion designer, Shannon Maldonado shifted her practice to focus on interiors and objects with the opening of the retail store Yowie in 2016. Embracing a minimal and cozy aesthetic, Yowie gathered a cornucopia of objects produced and sourced from around the world. Merging studio practice with retail, Yowie launched Philadelphia’s Yowie Hotel in 2024. A unique space that combines hotel, retail, and studio, the Yowie Hotel continually reconsiders traditional definitions of designer, shop, and host.
About Shannon Maldonado
As a creative director and designer with nearly two decades of experience, Shannon Maldonado creates memorable products, campaigns, and immersive spaces, while elevating the work of emerging artists. Her work spans a number of creative fields, including interior design, brand development, retail curation, and cultural programming, with a focus on building platforms that tell remarkable stories. In 2016 she founded Yowie, a curated design shop in Philadelphia that evolved into a multifaceted brand and cultural hub encompassing a boutique hotel and adjoining café. Through thoughtful creative direction and strategic partnerships with brands such as New Balance, Nordstrom, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Maldonado specializes in shaping authentic narratives and experiences that inspire connection and creativity.
Accessibility
This event will have ASL interpretation. For information about accessibility, or to request additional accommodations for this program, call 612-375-7564, or email [email protected].
Pricing
$24 ticket ($19 AIGA and Walker members; $10 students)
About the Insights Lecture Series
For over three decades, the Walker Art Center and AIGA Minnesota have co-presented the Insights Design Lecture Series embracing the unexpected to present diverse, exploratory, and contemporary lecturers.
Featuring perspectives from around the world, Insights gives voice to adventurous design thinkers and makers. These designers often pose challenges and push the edges of their profession, in turn inspiring us to identify new perspectives in our own work. Redefine your understanding of graphic design, dive into the thinking behind the work, then hang out after the lectures to meet the lecturers, grab a drink, and chat with your fellow design lovers.
This year’s in-person lineup features collaborative Actual Source, Yowie founder Shannon Maldonado; Zeynep Orbay, Amsterdam-based creative director for Wieden+Kennedy; as well as Odd Mart, a local “store of the strange” and epicenter for new approaches to comics and illustration.
Expanded programming includes workshops exploring the possibilities of creating tangible, physical forms using digital learning, breaking past the unadventurous inherent in AI writing, and collaborating with printers to discover new processes. In addition, a guest-edited series on the Walker Reader by Unknown Unknowns explores the perpetually mutating relationship between physical and digital publishing.
Copresented by the Walker Art Center and AIGA Minnesota.