The Ackermans: A Designing Couple

Evelyn and Jerome Ackerman on opening night of A Marriage of Craft and Design: The Work of Evelyn and Jerome Ackerman, 2011. Image: Noel Bass

There's perhaps no better topic for the day after Valentine's Day than the husband-and-wife design team Jerome and Evelyn Ackerman, who have turned their passion for design into a lifetime creative partnership. The mid-century designers are well-known for their iconic ceramics, tile mosaics, woodcarvings and textiles, many of which are on show at the Craft and Folk Art Museum in an exhibition namedA Marriage of Craft and Design: The Work of Evelyn and Jerome Ackerman, 2011. Frances visits the 91- and 87-year-old designers at their Culver City home to hear about their lives as a designing couple.

Selection of functional ceramic vessels, slip-cast earthenware, Jerome Ackerman, 1953-59. Image: Steve Oliver

Young Warrior, glass-tile mosaic, Evelyn Ackerman, 1955. Image: Steve Oliver