Sally Walsh

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Sally Walsh (April 1, 1926 – January 12, 1992) was an American interior designer best known for her work in the Houston area in the "contemporary" style of the period.[1] She is credited for "convincing Houston’s corporations and institutions to embrace modernity through the sheer force of her personality and the power of her design".[2] She was inducted into the Interior Design Hall of Fame in 1986.[3] Walsh was Partner in Charge at S. I. Morris Associates from 1971 to 1978.[4][5]

Early life and training[edit]

Walsh was born in Inspiration, Arizona, on April 1, 1926. From ages 6 to 10, she attended schools at the Anaconda Mining Camps where her father worked, and graduated from high school in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

She attended Augustana College, but dropped out because she was bored with the course.[1][3] Moving to Chicago, at the age of 19 landed a job with Hans Knoll, the co-founder of a major design company and furniture manufacturer. She recalled that, during her six years as Knoll's assistant, she "typed, walked the sheep dog, waited on customers in the showroom, watched Hans present one incredible Planning Unit project after another, called on architectural firms in five states, cut thousands of perfect rectangles out of fabrics and pasted them on plans, flew to Manila to find out why Knoll furniture was arriving in Japan with spool legs, designed spaces, found showroom sites in San Francisco, kept a sharp eye out for imaginative furniture/textiles, decorated the Christmas tree with cookies flown in from Germany, and cried when [she] displeased the fifth God—Hans."[2] Her responsibilities gradually grew until she was manager of a department.

Career[edit]

In 1955, she moved to Houston and planned to open a Knoll office there, but Hans Knoll died before these plans took form. After forming her own shop, she was hired by Wilson Stationary & Printing, where she brought in a Knoll dealership. Walsh practiced interior design while at Wilson and introduced modern furniture to Houston. The interior design she completed during this stage of her career included the Schlumberger offices; a 1968 Rodin exhibit for The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; and The University Center Building at the University of Houston.[2] She retained a connection with Knoll, designing the interior of Knoll International's Houston showroom.[6]

In 1971, Walsh joined S. I. Morris Associates as Partner in Charge of Interior Design. Walsh designed the interiors for Houston's first open office building, which was published in the April 1974 issue of Interior Magazine.[7] She also designed the interiors for the Braniff International Airways Headquarters and the Rice Memorial Center at Rice University.[8][9] During this period, she also designed the interior of Houston's Central Public Library, a design lost through a remodelling project in 2008.[10]

From 1980, she worked independently. In 1986, she was inducted in the Interior Design Hall of Fame, the first Houstonian to be admitted.[4] She died from leukaemia on January 12, 1992.[11] Her name is recognized by many because of the lecture series endowed by Raymond Brochstein and named in her honor, as she "brought modern design to Houston and became an inspiration to a whole generation of Houston architects and designers."[12] Her prototype for an executive desk is held by the MFAH.[13]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b McFarland, Gay (1975). "Is Your Life Dull? Is Your Apartment Boring? This is Sally Walsh. She and three other interior designers tell how they solve these sorts of problems". Texas Monthly. Retrieved 18 March 2016.
  2. ^ a b c Kugle, Judy (Fall 2014). "Inside Modern Houston: The Life and Design of Sally Walsh". Cite: The Architecture + Design Review of Houston (95): 30–35. Retrieved 18 March 2016.
  3. ^ a b "Sally Walsh: 1986 Hall of Fame Inductee". Interior Design. Retrieved 18 March 2016.
  4. ^ a b "A Guide to the Sally Walsh Papers in the Archives of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston". Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Retrieved 18 March 2016.
  5. ^ "The Life & Legacy of Sally Walsh". Knoll. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  6. ^ Joanna Banham (1 May 1997). Encyclopedia of Interior Design. Routledge. pp. 687–688. ISBN 978-1-136-78758-4.
  7. ^ "Transco's Untrammeled 200,000 Square Feet". Interiors Magazine: 97. April 1974.
  8. ^ Richard Benjamin Cass (14 December 2015). Braniff Airways: Flying Colors. Arcadia Publishing. p. 90. ISBN 978-1-4671-3440-8.
  9. ^ Stephen Fox (1 February 2001). Rice University: An Architectural Tour. Princeton Architectural Press. pp. 110–5. ISBN 978-1-56898-246-5.
  10. ^ Fox, Stephen (2012). Houston Architectural Guide (Third ed.). Houston AIA.
  11. ^ McKay, Gary (Spring 1992). "Sally Walsh, 1926-1992" (PDF). Cite: The Architecture + Design Review of Houston (28): 9. Retrieved 18 March 2016.
  12. ^ "sally walsh lecture". Rice Design Alliance. Retrieved 18 March 2016.
  13. ^ "Sally Walsh Executive Desk Prototype". Museum of Fine Arts Houston. Retrieved 18 March 2016.
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