Philanthropy by Design: Jamie Drake and The Alpha Workshops
Philanthropy by Design is an ongoing series that recognizes designers and the causes they support.
- Jamie Drake. Courtesy Michael McGraw (The McGraw Agency). Photograph by Brittany Ambridge.
In the late 1990s, Jamie Drake was invited to a cultivation event for The Alpha Workshops, a decorative-arts atelier and state-certified vocational school that provides specialized training and employment to HIV-positive individuals.
“I was just entranced by what I saw,” says Drake, principal of the AD100 design firm Drake/Anderson and now the chair of The Alpha Workshops’ Board of Directors. “The studio offered an array of wall coverings and weavings, including a hand-blocked wallpaper that was almost like a sophisticated potato print. I was touched by the mission deeply and immediately became a customer. My life has been personally touched by the loss to AIDS of people that I loved and knew in the 70s and early 80s.”
Since its founding, The Alpha Workshops has thrived as a studio of handmade wallpaper, lighting, tables, verre églomisé (reverse-painted glass), custom artwork and other offerings. The structure of the organization is modeled in part on early-twentieth-century workshops such as the Bauhaus or Wiener Werkstätte, but unlike these fabled institutions, The Alpha Workshops combines creative verve with a philanthropic mission, offering HIV-positive individuals the opportunity to learn a new trade and produce decorative arts in a compassionate workplace.
“One of the founding principles is that this needs to be a supportive environment,” says Drake. “Our hope is that it is therapeutic for our students and artisans to belong to a community where everyone faces similar challenges. And, if you have health issues that interfere with everyday work, you’re not going to lose your job.”
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In recent years, the organization has won a number of accolades in recognition of its hand-painted wallpapers. In 1998, POLLACK debuted a line of fabrics based on Alpha Workshops designs, which generated more than $100,000 in royalties over the next decade. Since then, The Alpha Workshops has struck deals with a number of interior-product manufacturers, licensing its designs to Koroseal (vinyl), Thibaut (printed wallcoverings), Artaissance/Larson-Juhl (print-on-demand artwork), and Edward Fields (rugs). In 2001, it unveiled Painted Papers, a line of hand-painted wallpapers, and the following year, the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum acquired two designs from the series, “Infinity” and “Sunflower,” for its permanent collection.
- Cylindrical Paragon lamp in custom incised silver leaf, commissioned from The Alpha Workshops by Jamie Drake. Courtesy The Alpha Workshops. Photograph by Emma Hollister-Colby.
In 2002, The Alpha Workshops embarked on a major expansion of its product lines, introducing its first hand-cast lamp, the Eden Roc Lamp, designed by Obediah Fisher, which has since become a signature piece. Another creation, the Paragon lamp, at right, is an elegant composition with delicate incisions on a shimmering cylindrical base. That same year, The Alpha Workshops took part in the restoration of Gracie Mansion, the official residence of the mayor of New York City, recreating a historically accurate faux marble floor in the grand entryway. Alpha has also collaborated on residential projects with some of the most respected designers in the field, including Celerie Kemble, Thom Filicia, Kelly Wearstler, Steven Gambrel, Albert Hadley, and Matthew Patrick Smyth.
Yet, despite its success as a purveyor of custom decorative arts, The Alpha Workshops has never strayed from its fundamental mission to offer “useful work and creative self-expression” to HIV-positive individuals. Since the time of the organization’s founding, advancements in the treatment of HIV/AIDS have dramatically improved the outlook for those affected by the disease, leading The Alpha Workshops to consider broadening its mandate to assist other vulnerable communities.
“AIDS is not necessarily a fatal disease,” says Drake. “For many people, it is manageable with the right treatment and support. AIDS has changed, and that is one of the reasons that this organization is also changing.”
To learn more about The Alpha Workshops and its mission, please click here.
Jamie Drake is the third philanthropist to be featured in this series, after Ellie Cullman and Bunny Williams.
