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Getty Research Institute and Philadelphia Museum of Art Announce Two-Part Virtual Event

Getty Research Institute and Philadelphia Museum of Art Announce Two-Part Virtual Event Spotlighting the Iconic Arensberg Collection and Legendary Couple Who Created It

LOS ANGELES and PHILADELPHIA— The Getty Research Institute and the Philadelphia Museum of Art are pleased to announce a two-part virtual event exploring the display of one of the most important private collections in the United States of avant-garde and pre-Columbian art.

During the first half of the twentieth century, Louise and Walter Arensberg carved out a unique place in the history of collecting. No one before them had made such audacious connections between modern painting, Renaissance literature, and pre-Columbian sculpture; and few, if any, used collecting more forcefully as a medium for artistic creation and intellectual exploration.

Much has been made of the significance of how the Arensbergs’ collection took shape in their Manhattan apartment following the Armory Show in 1913 and of their influential role as patrons in the New York Dada circle. Until now, less has been understood about how their collection expanded and changed in character after their move to Los Angeles in 1921, particularly after they purchased their Hollywood home and turned it into a house museum and research institute. For the next three decades, prior to the establishment of a public modern art museum in the region, the Arensbergs put the European avant-garde, the English Renaissance, and Mesoamerican civilizations into dialogue in dense and playful displays that shocked and inspired visitors—including some of the period’s leading artists, writers, and curators. In 1950, the couple gifted their collection of avant-garde and Pre-Columbian art to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. When Louise and Walter died in 1953 and 1954, respectively, their rare books, manuscripts and personal papers were gifted to California’s Francis Bacon Library (now housed at the Huntington Library).

In this two-part event, Mark Nelson, William H. Sherman, and Ellen Hoobler, authors of the recently published book Hollywood Arensberg: Avant-Garde Collecting in Midcentury L.A. (Getty Research Institute), discuss and illuminate the Arenbergs’ fascinating collection.

Part I: The Arensbergs’ Hollywood House-Museum: Tuesday, December 15, 2020, 6:00–7:30 p.m. EST. Arcadia Library Lecture.

Matthew Affron, the Philip and Muriel Berman Curator of Modern Art at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, will moderate a lively discussion with the authors as they share how they mined archival materials, including at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, to uncover the unpublished history of the Arensberg collection on the West coast, and ultimately reconstruct how the works of art were displayed in their Hollywood home. Drawing from this new research, the discussion will also examine how this display reflected the collecting tastes and worldview of the Arensbergs.

Please visit Philadelphia Museum of Arts’ site to register in advance for this free online event: https://philamuseum.org/calendar/event/arensbergs-hollywood-house-museum

Part II: The Arensberg’s Collection: Space, Place, Time: Tuesday, March 9, 2021, 3:00–4:30 p.m. PST

In the second of two conversations, Mary Miller, director of the Getty Research Institute, and authors Mark Nelson, William H. Sherman, and Ellen Hoobler will explore how the context of the collection shaped how it was assembled, displayed, and interpreted.

Register in advance for this online event: https://getty.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_gTiIjKdlS2qoVPl6jV6cQQ 

About the Participants

MATTHEW AFFRON is the Muriel and Philip Berman Curator of Modern Art at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

ELLEN HOOBLER is the William B. Ziff, Jr., Associate Curator of Art of the Americas at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore.

MARY MILLER is the director of the Getty Research Institute.

MARK NELSON is an author, design director, and partner at the book design firm McCall Associates in New York.

WILLIAM H. SHERMAN is director of the Warburg Institute in London.

Sponsor

The Arcadia Library Lecture at the Philadelphia Museum of Art is generously supported by the Arcadia Foundation.

About the Louise and Walter Arensberg Collection in Philadelphia

Louise and Walter Arensberg’s extraordinary gift to the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 1950, together with that of A. E. Gallatin, forms the cornerstone of the institution’s modern art collection. Their path to becoming collectors was set in 1913 after a visit to the legendary Armory Show in New York, where they encountered Marcel Duchamp’s Nude Descending a Staircase (No. 2), a painting they would later acquire. In 1915 they eagerly opened their home to Duchamp, inaugurating a forty-year friendship and collaboration between the artist and the collectors.

During their collecting career, the Arensbergs purchased works by Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Salvador Dalí, Marc Chagall, and Vasily Kandinsky, among others, and assembled the largest collection of Constantin Brancusi’s sculpture outside Paris. As their interests extended well beyond Western art, their holdings of pre-Columbian art were displayed alongside contemporary works. The couple amassed the foremost collection of Duchamp’s work in the world, contributing to making the museum in Philadelphia a place of pilgrimage for generations of artists and lovers of the avant-garde.

About the Getty Research Institute

The Getty Research Institute is an operating program of the J. Paul Getty Trust. It serves education in the broadest sense by increasing knowledge and understanding about art and its history through advanced research. The Research Institute provides intellectual leadership through its research, exhibition, and publication programs and provides service to a wide range of scholars worldwide through residencies, fellowships, online resources, and a Research Library. The Research Library—housed in the 201,000-square-foot Research Institute building designed by Richard Meier—is one of the largest art and architecture libraries in the world. The general library collections (secondary sources) include almost 900,000 volumes of books, periodicals, and auction catalogues encompassing the history of Western art and related fields in the humanities. The Research Library’s special collections include rare books, artists’ journals, sketchbooks, architectural drawings and models, photographs, and archival materials.

About the Philadelphia Museum of Art

The Philadelphia Museum of Art is Philadelphia’s art museum. A place that welcomes everyone. A world-renowned collection. A landmark building. We bring the arts to life, inspiring visitors—through scholarly study and creative play—to discover the spirit of imagination that lies in everyone. We connect people with the arts in rich and varied ways, making the experience of the Museum surprising, lively, and always memorable. We are committed to inviting visitors to see the world—and themselves—anew through the beauty and expressive power of the arts.

Social Media

Twitter/Facebook/Instagram/Tumblr/YouTube: @philamuseum

Press Contacts

Getty Research Institute
Amy Hood, Getty Communications
ahood@getty.edu

Philadelphia Museum of Art
Justin Rubich, Media Relations Coordinator
Justin.rubich@philamuseum.orgpressroom@philamuseum.orgNewsroom

Contact

Norman KeyesDirector of CommunicationsNKeyes@philamuseum.org(215) 684-7862/M: 215-460-9568
Joy DeibertSenior Press OfficerJoy.Deibert@philamuseum.org(215) 684-7864/M: 267-667-2622
Justin RubichMedia Relations CoordinatorJustin.rubich@philamuseum.org(215) 684-7363/M: 321-422-9734
Press Roompressroom@philamuseum.org(215) 684-7860

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Getty Research Institute and Philadelphia Museum of Art Announce Two-Part Virtual Event Spotlighting the Iconic Arensberg Collection and Legendary Couple Who Created It

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Dec 08,2020-Museum Publishes Scholarly Volume of American Furniture featuring Masterpieces from the CollectionMain Building

2600 Benjamin Franklin Parkway
Philadelphia, PA 19130
215-763-8100Hours

  • Sunday, 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
  • Monday, Closed
  • Tuesday, Closed
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  • Thursday, 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
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Thank you to the Philadelphia Museum of Art for the content of this post.

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Change


Save the City of Philadelphia Office of Arts, Culture, and the Creative Economy

iradiophilly started this petition to Mayor of Philadelphia Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenny and 2 others

Link to Change.org petition

Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney released a revised budget for fiscal year 2021 in response to the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic on May 1, 2020. Businesses have been closed and workers have been off the job for weeks, reducing the city’s tax revenue significantly. The Office of the Department of Finance projects that without any changes the city would have a $649 million deficit next year. The city cannot legally operate with a deficit. We understand that hard decisions needed to be made and that cut backs and program budget reductions were inevitable. However, to completely eliminate an office that supports a vital industry in the city of Philadelphia, especially one that has been hit very hard during this crisis, is short sighted and should be reversed.

In the new budget, the Office of Arts, Culture, and the Creative Economy was budgeted $0 dollars, down from approximately $4.4 million, effectively closing the office. Most of that budgeted money goes directly to the Philadelphia Cultural Fund, which gives grants to hundreds of non-profits in the city.

The presentation of the budget by the Mayor is only the first step. It still must be approved and voted on by City Council before July 1. 

SEE: Mayor’s Operating Budget – re: page 80
SEE: Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney Delivers New Budget by Video; Jobs/Services Cuts, Tax Hikes

According to the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, the arts and cultural sector generates $4.1 billion in economic impact annually and supports 55,000 jobs. That creates $1.3 billion in household income and $224.3 million in state and local taxes.* The creative economy includes but is not limited to artists, musicians, painters, sculptors, dancers, actors, filmmakers, graphic designers, venues, theaters, museums, galleries, bartenders, waiters, chefs, box office workers, bouncers, sound engineers, tech crews, art/dance/recording studios, and all employed by those entities, as well as support industries such as accountants, lawyers, hotels, ride shares, parking, public relations, marketing, and media. On the other side there are the fans, patrons, concert goers, theater attendees, and more who support the arts and make the purchases.

Most of this industry has been shut down during this crisis and needs support now more than ever to rebound during the economic recovery.

The Office of Arts, Culture, and the Creative Economy’s mission is to close the gap in access to quality cultural experiences and creative expression through the support and promotion of arts, culture and the creative industries; connecting Philadelphians to enriching, arts-infused experiences; linking local artists and cultural organizations to resources and opportunities; and preserving the City’s public art assets. http://creativephl.org

The OACCE is also responsible for the Music Industry Task Force, the Mayor’s Cultural Advisory Council, Art in City Hall, all of Philadelphia’s public art, and funding the Philadelphia Cultural Fund which gives grants to numerous Philadelphia arts and culture non-profits.

Philadelphia is a vibrant city teeming with culture that has been driving our identity for hundreds of years. The art created in Philadelphia reaches well beyond its borders and has touched the world and helps drive our other industries through attention and attraction to our area. As we look to rebound and recover from this crisis, there are certainly sectors that are essential to our health and safety and must be prioritized. However, unless we take care to ensure our cultural health is also revived, we risk losing our spirit.

Philadelphia’s creative economy deserves proper representation in City Hall. Understandably, it is likely not possible for the OACCE to be budgeted at the same level as the original budget, however, the industry’s economic impact alone justifies that the office’s budget be more than zero. We are simply asking that the City of Philadelphia Office of Arts, Culture, and the Creative Economy not be eliminated.

*https://www.philaculture.org/why-arts-culture/prosperityStart a petition of your ownThis petition starter stood up and took action. Will you do the same?Start a petition

Updates

Over 6,200 Support the Creative Economy in Philadelphia!Thank you for all your support! Let’s keep the momentum going. Artists, musicians, actors, dancers, writers, back stage, front of house, all venue/gallery workers, recording studios, producers, photographers, video…iradiophilly5 days agoMore updates

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Literary

Delaware Art Museum

Delaware Art Museum Offers Expanded Literary Programming

The Delaware Art Museum is quickly becoming the literary heart of Wilmington, Delaware, expanding on the success of its wildly popular Wilmington Writers Conference to create a wealth of free literary programming for Delaware’s growing community of writers and readers.

Those Delawareans still mourning the closing of Wilmington’s Ninth Street Book Shop, rejoice! The Delaware Art Museum Store is now an official independent bookstore, offering a variety of books in addition to its usual assortment of gifts and souvenirs. As members of the American Booksellers Association, the Store recently celebrated its first Indie Bookstore Day. The Store also commemorated Banned Books Week by offering a variety of banned books chosen by members of the Museum Associate team as well as the Museum’s Librarian and Archivist, Rachael DiEleuterio. In addition, DiEleuterio and the Store team collaborated to offer custom journals and ephemera modeled after books in the Museum’s astounding collection of more than 3,000 rare, decoratively bound books.

The Store is also thrilled to host a chapter of the Well-Read Black Girl Book Club in partnership with the American Booksellers Association and One Village Alliance. Chandra Pitts of One Village Alliance hosts monthly gatherings discussing Young Adult books chosen by the Well-Read Black Girl team. The club is also a part of One Village Alliance’s “Girls Can Do Anything!” initiative.

“It’s been such a privilege for One Village Alliance to partner with the Delaware Art Museum Store to bring a national reading initiative to Wilmington,” says Pitts. “Well-Read Black Girl is directly in line with ‘Girls Can Do Anything!’ in that it not only celebrates, supports, and inspires Black girls, but it includes all genders, ages, and ethnic/racial backgrounds. It creates such a fun space to get to know a diverse group of people in a comfortable environment that fosters a lifelong love for literature.”

The Well-Read Black Girl Book Club meets once a month in the Store and is suitable to anyone age 13 or older. The inaugural meeting featured a read-aloud and lively discussion led by Pitts. The Store’s Instagram page, @delartstore, posts check-ins and periodic updates on the club, and the Store offers the titles for this book club at a 20 percent discount.

The Well-Read Black Girl Book Club is just one of the book clubs flourishing at the Museum. The DelArt Readers is a monthly book club that discusses literature connected to art, often drawing on the Museum’s collections and special exhibitions for inspiration. One 2020 title is Circe by Madeline Miller, which provided inspiration for artist Angela Fraleigh’s latest work, Sound the Deep Waters, currently on view at the Museum through April 2020. Another pick, In Sunlight or In Shadow: Stories Inspired by the Paintings of Edward Hopper, edited by Lawrence Block, features short stories by such literary heavyweights as Megan Abbott, Joyce Carol Oates, and Stephen King. A selection of DelArt Readers books will be available for purchase in the Museum Store.

The Museum is wrapping up its literary programming for 2019 with the End of Year Writers Gathering and Open Mic on Thursday, December 12. Guests will meet fellow writers, learn more information about literary events, and hear a variety of poetry and prose at the Open Mic. The last event featured slam poetry, a reading from former Delaware Poet Laureate JoAnn Balingit, and even juggling! Participants are encouraged to register in advance and arrive on time to snag a reading slot.

“It’s really unique to see a community bookstore within a museum,” says Jessa Mendez, the Lead Museum Associate who works on literary programming alongside Store Supervisor, Jeanie Robino. “Jeanie and I are so excited to be a part of this literary evolution through our work in the Museum Store. I began my relationship with the Museum through literary programming, so it’s amazing to see how much the writing community has grown in this time. We’re creating an inclusive space and encouraging conversations around literature and art, and I’m so grateful to be a part of this vision.”

Plans are already underway for the fourth annual Wilmington Writers Conference, which includes a full day of breakout sessions, a panel discussion, and a keynote on a summer Saturday. More details will be announced in spring 2020. 

About the Delaware Art Museum

For over 100 years, the Museum has served as a primary arts and cultural institution in Delaware. It is alive with experiences, discoveries, and activities to connect people with art and with each other. Originally created in 1912 to honor the renowned illustrator and Wilmington-native, Howard Pyle, the Museum’s collection has grown to over 12,000 works of art in our building and sculpture garden. Also recognized for British Pre-Raphaelite art, the Museum is home to the largest and most important Pre-Raphaelite collection outside of the United Kingdom and a growing collection of significant contemporary art.

Under the leadership of our Board of Trustees, the Delaware Art Museum is implementing a comprehensive approach to community and civic engagement. This exciting new strategic direction requires that we increase our value and relevance to all audiences. Visit delart.org to for the latest exhibitions, programs, and performances or connect with us via social media.

Thank you to Cynthia Smith, Marketing Manager, The Delaware Art Museum, for the content of this post.

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Trips

North Broad Street bisects North Philadelphia, passing by the Divine Lorraine (left) on its way to Philadelphia City Hall (center), which marks the end of North Broad Street and the beginning of South Broad Street.

Philadelphia Makes National Geographic’s Best Trips List for 2020

PHILADELPHIA, NOVEMBER 19, 2019 – With the publication of its annual Best Trips list, National Geographic announces the 25 must-see destinations and travel experiences for 2020. Within the list, 17 of the 25 destinations were nominated, researched, reported, and written in collaboration with National Geographic Traveler magazine’s 17 international editorial teams. Philadelphia was selected in the City category.

With a goal to bring readers a global itinerary of destinations to discover and transformative experiences to seek in the new year, the list champions National Geographic’s sustainable tourism goals, which include supporting cultural engagement, community benefit, geographic and thematic diversity, affordability and value. The list is organized into four general categories: Culture, City, Nature, and Adventure.

“Best Trips is our annual list of where to go, what to know and how to see the world in the year ahead,” says George Stone, Executive Editor, Travel. “The list features 25 timely and global destinations and experiences that make for a year of transformative travels. To build the list we worked with National Geographic editors around the world as well as photographers, writers, explorers and, of course, passionate travelers to report on the essential sites to see and places to be in 2020.”

“We’re thrilled that Philadelphia is featured so prominently and beautifully in this influential publication that we know drives travel decisions,” said Jeff Guaracino, VISIT PHILADELPHIA® president and CEO. “In 2005, National Geographic Traveler called Philadelphia the ‘Next Great City’. It’s awesome to see that more than a decade later, they’re still enamored of and advocates for our historic, modern and always-evolving town.”

National Geographic’s Best Trips 2020 destinations:

CULTURE 

  1. Asturias, Spain
  2. Guizhou Province, China (Nominated by National Geographic Traveler China edition
  3. Gobekli Tepe, Turkey (Nominated by National Geographic Traveler Turkey edition
  4. Maya, Guatemala (Nominated by National Geographic Traveler Latin American edition
  5. Mendoza Province, Argentina  
  6. Abu Simbel, Egypt (Nominated by National Geographic Traveler Israel edition

CITY

  1. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – “What to know: There’s a lot of glimmer in Philadelphia: vibrant murals and glinting metalworks, multihued mosaics and kaleidoscopic light installations, art collectives in garages, and a traditionally Italian neighborhood famous for cheesesteaks now sprouting vegan-punk-metal coffeehouses. Think of Detroit, Cleveland, and Cincinnati: resurgent, postindustrial American cities that are channeling creative forces to reinvent themselves for a new generation. Philly is like this but better. It’s a scrappy underdog with a heart of gold and—who can resist the Rocky reference?—the eye of the tiger. Slowly but steadily Philly has changed from a city of industrial might in the first half of the past century to a city of ingenious makers. The evidence is everywhere, from buzzing BOK—a South Philly collective of small businesses and art spaces—to Bela Shehu’s chic and cutting-edge fashion line NinoBrand, in Rittenhouse Square.” – National Geographic
  2. Telc, Czechia (Nominated by National Geographic Traveler Czechia edition
  3. Fort Kochi, Kerala, India (Nominated by National Geographic Traveler India edition
  4. Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina (Nominated by National Geographic Traveler Netherlands edition
  5. Parma, Italy 
  6. Puebla, Mexico 

NATURE 

  1. Magdalen Islands, Quebec, Canada   
  2. Kalahari Desert, Botswana (Nominated by National Geographic Traveler Romania edition)  
  3. Bialowieza Forest, Belarus/Poland (Nominated by National Geographic Traveler Poland edition
  4. National Blue Trail, Hungary (Nominated by National Geographic Traveler Hungary edition
  5. Canary Islands, Spain (Nominated by National Geographic Traveler Spain edition
  6. Maldives (Nominated by National Geographic Traveler France edition)
  7. Grand Canyon, Arizona

ADVENTURE 

  1. Tasmania, Australia (Nominated by National Geographic Traveler Korea edition)  
  2. Grossglockner High Alpine Road, Austria (Nominated by National Geographic Traveler Germany edition)  
  3. Wales Way, United Kingdom (Nominated by National Geographic Traveler U.K. edition)
  4. Tohoku, Japan
  5. Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia (Nominated by National Geographic Traveler Russia edition
  6. Zakouma National Park, Chad (Nominated by National Geographic Traveler Italy edition

The Best Trips 2020 list is available online now at NatGeo.com/BestTrips, where readers will be transported to each place through iconic photography and vivid narratives. Readers will be able to dive deeper into four of the Best Trips destinations — Asturias, Philadelphia, Iles de la Madeleine and Tasmania — with full-length articles that explore the culture, history, food and terrain of each place.

To learn more about each destination, visit NatGeo.com/BestTrips.

National Geographic Partners LLC

National Geographic Partners LLC (NGP), a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company and the National Geographic Society, is committed to bringing the world premium science, adventure and exploration content across an unrivaled portfolio of media assets. NGP combines the global National Geographic television channels (National Geographic Channel, Nat Geo WILD, Nat Geo MUNDO, Nat Geo PEOPLE) with National Geographic’s media and consumer-oriented assets, including National Geographic magazines; National Geographic studios; related digital and social media platforms; books; maps; children’s media; and ancillary activities that include travel, global experiences and events, archival sales, licensing and e-commerce businesses. Furthering knowledge and understanding of our world has been the core purpose of National Geographic for 131 years, and now we are committed to going deeper, pushing boundaries, going further for our consumers … and reaching millions of people around the world in 172 countries and 43 languages every month as we do it. NGP returns 27 percent of our proceeds to the nonprofit National Geographic Society to fund work in the areas of science, exploration, conservation and education. For more information visit natgeotv.com or nationalgeographic.com, or find us on FacebookTwitterInstagramYouTubeLinkedIn and Pinterest.

VISIT PHILADELPHIA

VISIT PHILADELPHIA is our name and our mission. As the region’s official tourism marketing agency, we build Greater Philadelphia’s image, drive visitation and boost the economy.

On Greater Philadelphia’s official visitor website and blog, visitphilly.com and uwishunu.com, visitors can explore things to do, upcoming events, themed itineraries and hotel packages. Compelling photography and videos, interactive maps and detailed visitor information make the sites effective trip-planning tools. Along with Visit Philly social media channels, the online platforms communicate directly with consumers. Travelers can also call and stop into the Independence Visitor Center for additional information and tickets.

Thank you to Cara Schneider,VISIT PHILADELPHIA, for the content of this post.

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Wall

Nicki Hitz Edson, Medusa Mask, 1975. Crocheted wool. Promised gift of The Julie Schafler Dale Collection.

Off the Wall: American Art to Wear

November 10, 2019 – May 17, 2020

This fall, the Philadelphia Museum of Art presents Off the Wall: American Art to Wear, a major exhibition that highlights a distinctive American art movement that emerged in the late 1960s and flourished during the following decades. It examines a generation of pioneering artists who used body-related forms to express a personal vision and frames their work in relation to the cultural, historical and social concerns of their time. Focusing on iconic works made during the three decades between 1967 and 1997, the exhibition features 115 works by 62 artists. Comprised primarily of selections from a promised gift of Julie Schafler Dale, it also includes works from the museum’s collection and loans from private collections. Off the Wall: American Art to Wear is accompanied by a new publication of the same title, co-published by the Philadelphia Museum of Art and Yale University Press.

Timothy Rub, the George D. Widener Director and CEO, said: “This exhibition introduces to our visitors an exceptionally creative and adventurous aspect of American art which took the body as a vehicle for its expression. We are not only deeply grateful to Julie Schafler Dale for her extraordinary gifts and support of the museum but also see this as an opportunity to acknowledge the dynamic role she played in nurturing the growth and development of this movement.” 

Sharron Hedges, Midnight Sky (Julie’s Coat), 1977. Wool, crocheted. Promised gift of The Julie Schafler Dale Collection. Photography by Otto Stupakoff ©Julie Schafler Dale.

The champions of Art to Wear during the early years were a few forward-thinking museums, among them New York’s Museum of Contemporary Crafts (Museum of Art and Design), collectors, and galleries such as Sandra Sakata’s Obiko, founded in 1972 in San Francisco, and Julie Schafler Dale’s Julie: Artisans Gallery, which opened the following year on Madison Avenue in New York. For over 40 years, Dale’s gallery was a premier destination for presenting one-of-a-kind wearable works by American artists. Through her gallery installations and rotating window displays, she gave visibility to the Art to Wear movement. In 1986, she brought further recognition to the art form by publishing the seminal book Art to Wear—from which the title of this exhibition is taken—which provided in-depth profiles of artists alongside photographs by Brazilian fashion photographer Otta Stupakoff. Dale’s gallery closed in 2013. 

Off the Wall is arranged in nine sections; the titles of some are derived from popular music of the ‘60s and ‘70s to suggest the wide-ranging concerns of the artists. The introductory section, The Times They Are A Changin’ (Bob Dylan, 1964), contains works by Lenore Tawney, Dorian Zachai, Claire Zeisler, Ed Rossbach, and Debra Rapoport to illustrate how textile artists in the late ‘50s and ‘60s liberated tapestry weaving from the wall, adapting it to three-dimensional sculptural forms inspired by pre-Columbian weaving. In 1969, a group of five students at Pratt Institute studying painting, sculpture, industrial design, multimedia, and graphic design taught each other how to crochet, leading to remarkable outcomes. Janet Lipkin, Jean Cacicedo, Marika Contompasis, Sharron Hedges, and Dina Knapp all created clothing-related forms that they would describe as wearable sculpture, thus establishing a cornerstone of the Art to Wear movement. Included in this section is a wool crochet and knit Samurai Top, 1972, by Sharron Hedges, modeled by the young Julie Dale for the book Creative Crochet, authored by two of the artist’s friends, Nicki Hitz Edson and Arlene Stimmel. 

Janet Lipkin, African Mask, 1970. Wool, leather, wood. Lent by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Muriel Kallis Newman, 2003. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Photography by Otto Stupakoff ©Julie Schafler Dale.

The next section, Good Vibrations (Beach Boys, 1966), traces the migration of many of these young artists from the East Coast to the West Coast where they joined California’s vibrant artistic community and connected with Sandra Sakata’s Obiko. A pair of colorful denim hand-embroidered mini shorts by Anna VA Polesny embroidered while traveling conveys this new youthful spirit. Pacific Rim influences are evident in the Japanese kimono form as a blank canvas offering infinite possibilities for pattern and design.  Marika Contompasis’s machine-knitted kimono made of rectangular sections, Trout-Magnolia Kimono, 1977, and Janet Lipkin’s Mexico at Midday, a coat made in 1988 are exceptional examples. The section also looks at the art of performance, reflected in Ben Compton and Marian Clayden’s Nocturnal Moth, 1974,inspired by Federico Fellini’s film La Dolce Vita (1960). A range of counter-culture influences, evoking ceremony and spirituality, pervade this section. 

Oh, Mother Earth (Neil Young, 1990) is a nod to the publications The Whole Earth Catalog (1968) and Mother Earth News (1970) and looks to nature and environmental concerns while another section, This Land is Your Land (Woodie Guthrie, 1944) explores iconic American imagery from the Brooklyn Bridge to the American West. Examples in those two sections include Joan Ann Jablow’s Big Bird cape, 1977, made entirely of recycled bird feathers, and Joan Steiner’s Manhattan Collar, 1979, which reimagines New York’s skyline in miniature. 

Joan Steiner, Manhattan Collar, 1979. Silk, wool, cotton, lace, and buckram
Collection of Joanna S. Rose. Photography by Otto Stupakoff ©Julie Schafler Dale

In A Land Called Fantasy (Earth, Wind & Fire, 1977) explores fantasy and science fiction, two genres that offered young people an escape from the period’s cultural and political upheavals. Noteworthy here are works by Jean Cacicedo and Nina Huryn, both of whom riff on one of the most widely read English language books at the time, J.R.R. Tolkien’s trilogy Lord of the Rings (1965). Cacicedo responded with a portrait of Treebeard, 1973, a Tolkien character, while Huryn created her own fantasy world in Tree Outfit, with itsflowing pants, loose shirt and leather sleeveless jacket containing forest and folklore imagery, a work made especially for Julie: Artisans Gallery in 1976. Other artists turned to dreams, such as Susanna Lewis, who created Moth Cape, 1979, in response to a nightmare that she had of a giant moth enveloping her body.

Come Together (The Beatles, 1969) responds to the popular use of assemblage in art-making, especially the use of nontraditional materials. Red Ray, from the series, Seven Rays, by Kaisik Wong, is included as an example of a work that was commissioned by his close friend Salvador Dalí in 1974 for the grand opening of the Dalí Theatre Museum in Figueres, Spain. Nearby is Mario Rivoli’s Overdone Jacket, 1973, made of found objects such as pins, metal bottle caps, beads, and other items. 

A section called I Am Woman (Helen Reddy, 1971) underscores the ways in which artists invoked feminism directly and indirectly in Art to Wear. Janet Lipkin, for example, invested her works with symbols of freedom while searching for new directions in her life, as seen in Flamingo, 1982, and Transforming Woman, 1992. Other works like Combat Vest, 1985, by Sheila Perez, feature plastic toy soldiers as protective armor for the chest area, while Nicki Hitz Edson’s Medusa Mask, 1975, is a wild expression of fraught emotions surrounding the breakup of her marriage.

Linda J. Mendelson, In Kyo-Kawara, 2015, Wool machine knitted, plastic buttons. Promised gift of The Julie Schaffler Dale Collection.

Colour My World (Chicago, 1970) reflects the buoyant rainbow color spectrum that was ubiquitous during this era. Recently published works on color theory by Johannes Itten and Josef Albers provided a cornerstone of the new art education. For Linda Mendelson, color, typography, and text became inseparable. She adapted Albers’s ideas and linked color progression with lines from a poem titled Coat by William Butler Yeats from which she drew inspiration. Other artists such as Tim Harding created an effect similar to impressionist brush strokes by slashing and fraying dyed fabrics, as seen in his colorful coat Garden: Field of Flowers, 1991. 

The final section Everybody’s Talkin’ (Harry Nilsson, 1968) explores the use of text in Art to Wear. Jo-Ellen Trilling engages in visual word play using common prepositions on a jacket, while Jean Cacicedo channels her grief over her father’s death using words taken from the bible that celebrated his life in My Father’s House, 1994.

Sheila Perez Ghidini, Combat Vest, circa 1985.Molded plastic figures on quilted plain weave supplemental warp and weft patterning. Promised gift of The Julie Schafler Dale Collection.

Dilys E. Blum, The Jack M. and Annette Y. Friedland Senior Curator of Costume and Textiles, who organized the exhibition, said: “We are looking back at this period with a fresh lens through which to consider a uniquely American art form that continues to have a worldwide influence. With roots and connections in fine arts, fiber art, craft, performance and fashion, there are so many important artists to appreciate. For this reason I am delighted by the opportunity to cast a light on such extraordinary talents, including so many adventurous women who deserve much greater recognition.” 

Publication
Off the Wall: American Art to Wear is accompanied by a new publication of the same name co-published by the Philadelphia Museum of Art and Yale University Press, co-authored by exhibition curators Dilys E. Blum, The Jack M. and Annette Y. Friedland Senior Curator of Costume and Textiles at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and independent textile scholar and curator Mary Schoeser, with a contribution written by Julie Schafler Dale. The volume provides the social, political, and artistic context for Art to Wear. ISBN 9780876332917.

Curators

Dilys E. Blum, The Jack M. and Annette Y. Friedland Senior Curator of Costume and Textiles and Mary Schoeser, Independent Textile Historian and Curator

Support

This exhibition has been made possible by Julie Schafler Dale, PNC, The Coby Foundation, the Arlin and Neysa Adams Endowment Fund, Catherine and Laurence Altman, the Center for American Art at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and other generous donors.

Social Media

Twitter/Facebook/Instagram/Tumblr/YouTube: @philamuseum

The Philadelphia Museum of Art is Philadelphia’s art museum. We are a world-renowned collection. A landmark building. A place that welcomes everyone. We bring the arts to life, inspiring visitors—through scholarly study and creative play—to discover the spirit of imagination that lies in everyone. We connect people with the arts in rich and varied ways, making the experience of the Museum surprising, lively, and always memorable. We are committed to inviting visitors to see the world—and themselves—anew through the beauty and expressive power of the arts.

Thank you to the Philadelphia Museum of Art press room for the content of this post.

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