Harry Bertoia

In addition to designing furniture, Italian-born Harry Bertoia (1915 -1978) was an artist and sound art sculptor. At age 15, he moved to Detroit from Italy after intending only to visit, and began studying art and design. In 1938 he attended the Art School of the Detroit Society of Arts and Crafts, now known as the College for Creative Studies. The following year in 1939 he received a scholarship to study at the Cranbrook Academy of Art. In 1939, he opened his own metal workshop and taught jewelry design and metal work, focusing mostly on the jewelry as the war made metal an expensive commodity.