BravinLee Programs

BravinLee Programs is a contemporary art gallery located in the West Chelsea neighborhood of New York City and was founded in 1991. It is run by John Post Lee and Karin Bravin. Helping visual artists design hand-knotted, limited edition rugs made in Nepal seemed like a perfect addition to their wide-ranging slate of projects. Joining GoodWeave®, an organization that mirrors their political ideology, followed almost immediately.

BravinLee Programs seeks out artists working in media such as photography, painting and drawing and assists them in the process of making their ideas into a rug. As John explains, “We are interested in the transformative process of helping artists realize their vision from their essential artistic DNA. We want the rugs to be a true reflection of the artist’s aesthetic in a rug form, not merely a facsimile of their paintings or photographs.”

Working with well-known artists such as photographer James Welling and painters James Siena, Jonathan Lasker, Christopher Wool, Thomas Nozkowski and Robert Kushner, BravinLee is working on new projects and will continue to build on their successes. Recently they finished a rug teaming together two poets, the legendary John Ashbery and the also well-known upstart literary figure Kenneth Goldsmith. A rug designed by the world famous Brazilian artist Vik Muniz is in the pipeline…

For BravinLee joining GoodWeave was an imperative. “Being ethical in business and being part of a global community was always important to us,” says John. But until they heard a talk on the issue of child labor, at an event hosted by the U.S. Fund for UNICEF, they were unaware of the extent of the problem. “While there is much work to be done to help make the world more just and more fair, it makes us feel good that commerce can be done in a way that is not hurtful to others.” The company’s affiliation with GoodWeave, they say, makes their customers happy too. Says John Lee, “It is a dream to tell people our rugs have the GoodWeave label.”

To learn more about BravinLee Programs, visit www.bravinlee.com.