DETROIT – Ruth Adler Schnee, a Metro Detroit mid-century textile designer, passed away at the age of 99.
The Kresge Foundation announced her passing, stating that the Metro Detroit designer and 2015 Kresge Eminent Artist died on Jan. 5.
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According to the foundation, Schnee was a powerhouse, and her designs were incomparable. The Metro Detroit artist was known as a pioneer in mid-century modern design.
The foundation mentions in a statement that Schnee and her late husband, Edward Schnee, opened a modern design store during the late 1940s, bringing modernism to Metro Detroit. The store was located in the city’s north end and eventually moved downtown to 240 East Grand River Avenue, according to the Cranbrook Art Museum. The art museum stated that originally the couple opened a fabric design and silk screening business on 12th Street. Click here to learn more about the couple’s business operation.
The Cranbrook Art Museum recently held a gallery of Schnee’s work as the designer was still active within her art in her early 90s. To view a virtual tour of the 2019-2020 gallery, click here.
The 99-year-old studied fashion design at Cass Technical High School and interior architecture at the Rhode Island School of Design. The designer earned an MFA in design from Cranbrook Academy of Art in 1946 and made history by being one of the first women at the school to receive this type of degree.
Schnee and her family escaped Nazi Germany before coming to America in 1938. Her textiles can be found at The Henry Ford, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Cranbrook Art Museum.
Watch the Kresge Foundation’s video of Ruth Adler Schnee below: