Columbia Design League Presents DesignHER

For the fifth year, CMA affinity group the Columbia Design League presents DesignHER, a Women’s History Month event spotlighting amazing designers in the Midlands community. The panel discussion features a diverse group of accomplished women including Christina Smith-Galloway, gardener and garden designer; Courtney Speight, creative director for corporate communications at BlueCross BlueShield of SC; Danielle Salley, freelance creative director and designer; Sally Peek, founder and handbag designer at Nana by Sally; Jane Hearn, local sign artist for Trader Joe’s; and moderated by Gretchen Lambert, vice president of Studio 2LR, a boutique architecture and interior design firm. Learn about their journeys, impacts, and designs across the Southeast and beyond. Light refreshments included. 

$20 / $10 for CDL members / Free for students with ID.

CDL Member Tickets

Public Tickets

Jane Hearn is a native of Columbia with a degree in theatre from the University of South Carolina. Her artistic interests have varied from the theatre arts to photography to sign making. She has been a sign artist for Trader Joe’s for six years, a position that fell into her lap through chance. You can find her work on Instagram at @traderjanesart.

Gretchen Lambert earned her Bachelor of Architecture from Virginia Tech in 1994. She is a registered architect in South Carolina and Georgia and has earned the WELL AP professional credential. She is an owner of Studio 2LR as well as a developer and landlord. When not running road and trail races, Lambert and her partner, Stan Gardner, are renovating an historic Cottontown church into their home. She has worked on notable projects including various locations for BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina, Richland Library Edgewood Branch, various projects for Lexington Medical Center, Home Team BBQ, and various Starbucks locations in the Southeast.

Danielle Salley is a freelance creative director and designer with a background in branding, advertising, and web development. Located in South Carolina, Salley has nearly 20 years of experience working in the advertising industry. In 2023, she started her own company, Danielle Salley Creative, and co-hosts the podcast Ghost Boss: Stories About the Freelance Afterlife. Her passion for advertising is clearly seen through her dedication to the American Advertising Federation (AAF). Through this organization, she has been awarded National President of the Year (AAF Midlands, 2014), Member of the Year (AAF Midlands, 2016), National Governor of the Year (AAF District 3, 2020), and Legion of Excellence (AAF District 3, 2024) and is a silver medal recipient (AAF Midlands, 2021). She also served on the AAF National Board of Directors from 2019 to 2024.

Sally Peek has loved using her hands to create ever since kindergarten. She started her handbag business in 2007 after a quick sewing class at the Columbia Museum of Art and several months of nonstop experimentation. From the start, she gravitated toward vintage-inspired textiles and trims, and she decided to name the business after her great-grandmother, Nana, who was a beacon of strength in her life. Peek’s bags marry carefully selected fabrics and leathers with clean and modern silhouettes. With most creations, she uses end-bolts of fabrics and reclaimed leathers. The incorporation of these high-quality but otherwise wasted materials allows her to sell products that are well-made yet created sustainably. Peek chooses to purchase materials in small quantities to ensure that each collection remains truly unique. She love her customers, and the ability to connect personally with them is the most gratifying part of her job.

Christina Smith-Galloway is the daughter of land stewards, farmers, and educators from the Lowcountry of South Carolina. After more than 20 years of working in education, she returned to the land in 2018. Since then, she has participated in herbal immersion and seed saving programming, field-based beekeeping training, horticultural work for plant nurseries, and horticultural therapy training and provided screen-printing, natural dye, and garden education and outreach for organizations, schools, and farms. In addition to stewarding her own backyard garden and serving as a newly Braiding Seeds Fellowship recipient, Smith-Galloway stewards land in the Historic Waverly Community of Columbia at the Ernest A. Finney, Jr. Cultural Arts Center, where she hosts community gatherings centered around seed, story, and sustainability.

Courtney Speight is a creative leader with over 20 years of experience in brand strategy, design, and marketing communications. She studied at the University of South Carolina, where she completed her studies in graphic design and minored in advertising. Speight began her career as an art director at The Gillespie Agency, leading creative for major regional and national accounts across print, digital, outdoor, and experiential media. She later joined BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina’s in-house marketing team, where she advanced from art director to creative services manager. In her current role, Speight leads an award-winning, multidisciplinary creative team of designers and videographers, overseeing brand strategy, concept development, campaign execution, and team development, bringing an agency-style approach to a corporate environment. 

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Can we assist you with accommodations for accessibility during your visit? Please let us know at 803-799-2810 or [email protected].