Brenda Galina

When she’s not relaxing in her Charles Gandy-designed contemporary penthouse in Midtown’s Colony Square, Brenda Galina, the executive director for the Museum of Design Atlanta (MODA), is brainstorming ways to bring the boutique design museum one step closer to greatness.

Her biggest coup to date: scoring a high-profile, street-front presence for MODA in Midtown, directly across from the High Museum of Art in the new Perkins + Will building—after spending years under the radar in Peachtree Center’s Marriott Marquis Tower downtown. “The ‘big daddy’ may be across the street, but the Museum of Design has its own little niche…it’s small, it’s elegant and it’s perfect,” Galina says.

Pointing out to the public the merits of good design—whether it’s architecture, interiors, fashion, industrial or product design—comes as second nature to the museum administrator, a native New Yorker who has amassed an enviable art collection from prominent local, regional and international artisans, including Chad Awalt, Ida Kohlmeyer and James Lahey. In fact, it’s her impeccable eye for sculpture, art glass and painting that’s allowed Galina to see product design as not only beautiful but also museum- and discussion-worthy. In fostering that interdisciplinary design dialogue, she’s challenging and engaging the city’s future talent, whether it’s students from Georgia Tech, SCAD and the Portfolio Center or organizations like The Young Architects Forum. The goal is always the same: design appreciation. And Galina sees MODA as “the magnet pulling everyone together.”

What’s most compelling, she says, is producing boutique-style exhibitions that look beyond the installations to create a genuine experience that’s both tactile and thought-provoking. Case in point: the upcoming Passione Italiana: Design of the Italian Motorcycle, an exhibition that will be complemented by Italian fashion (think Versace), cinema and opera. Keeping the conversation fresh will be the new museum’s storefront windows opening up to Peachtree, which will boast constantly changing, staged installations similar to department store displays.

“Part of our mission is to educate the public on design and to make that dialogue available to everyone,” Galina says. When something serendipitous happens, like the museum’s design-is-universal philosophy finally making its debut on the Midtown arts corridor, one can only determine that it happened by design.

My own home reflects a love of…art and design.
My favorite room in my home is…the sitting room near our bedroom.
Every home needs...to have good design, whether it is a well-designed tea kettle, placemats or sheets for the bed.
The best piece of architecture in Atlanta is…any of the Philip Johnson buildings.
When I get an unexpected day to myself, I like to…do nothing.
I get my best inspiration from…other people’s input.
The one thing I can’t live without is…my husband, Morton.
My favorite museum in the world is…the Guggenheim.
My favorite way to entertain at home is…having informal dinners on my terrace.
What I’m most looking forward to about our new location is…attracting the design population.
What surprises most people about MODA is…our ability to attract outstanding exhibitions.
What I love about Midtown is…the arts community.
What I’ll miss about Downtown is…the door people at the Marriott Marquis.
The biggest influence on my work has been…all the young people interested in design.
My favorite place for quiet contemplation is…my home. I have a beautiful terrace garden, which is an extremely peaceful place.
My Sunday routine is…to wake up around 9 a.m., read The New York Times and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, eat a light lunch then catch up on some reading. After organizing my thoughts on the upcoming week, weather permitting, take a walk with my husband. Dinner will be something more complicated, something I would not have time to prepare during the week.
If I could produce a dream exhibition, it would be…one in which I would not have to worry about the budget.
The place I love to travel to most is…Italy. I’m passionate about all things Italian, from food and design to the warm and friendly people. Also California, where I visit my daughter, son-in-law and my six-year-old grandchild.
My favorite purchase from the past year was…a woven tapestry ceremonial coat made out of opulent material. The coat has smiling skull faces whose eyes are made out of agate beads. The main material of the jacket is freshwater pearls and the thread is silk metallic.

Museum of Design Atlanta (MODA)
New Location opens January 18
1315 Peachtree Street; museumofdesign.org