Architecture & design / Visual art
Ruth Adler Schnee
1923–2023 · textile and interior designer
German-born textile designer who fled the Nazis as a girl, studied at Cass Tech and Cranbrook, and brought post-war modernism to Detroit homes and offices.
- Born
Frankfurt am Main, Germany- Died
Colorado
aged 99- Birth name
- Ruth Adler
- Detroit years
- 1939–2010s
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Ruth Adler's family fled Nazi Germany in 1938 and settled in Detroit, where she graduated from Cass Technical High School in 1942. She went on to the Rhode Island School of Design and then to the Cranbrook Academy of Art, earning her MFA in 1946 under Eliel Saarinen. In 1948 she married Edward Schnee, and together they ran a Detroit design studio and later the store Adler-Schnee Associates, which introduced many Detroiters to modern furniture, fabrics and home goods. Her screen-printed textiles, with lively abstract and architectural patterns, were used in major commissions, including Eero Saarinen's General Motors Technical Center, and are now held by museums. In 2015 the Kresge Foundation named her its Kresge Eminent Artist for bringing post-war modernism to the Detroit area. She died in 2023, aged 99.
Highlights
- Graduated from Cass Technical High School in 1942
- MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art, 1946
- Co-ran Adler-Schnee Associates, a modern design store in the Detroit area
- Textiles used at the GM Technical Center
- Kresge Eminent Artist, 2015
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 3
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Studied here · 1939–1942
Cass Technical High School
Where she finished high school in 1942; the historic building she attended was demolished in 2011 and replaced by a new school.
Studied here · 1945–1946
Cranbrook Academy of Art
Where she earned her MFA under Eliel Saarinen.
Related place · 1950s
General Motors Technical Center
Her textiles were used in Saarinen's GM campus.