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Greetings,
The fall promises to be a busy
season for us, with the beginning of our First Saturday programs which will open
the Athenaeum from 10am to 2pm on October 4th, November 1st, and
December 6th. In addition
to opening the lending collection and research section, the Athenaeum will also
host book workshops each Saturday and will offer tours to the public.
(See the workshop schedule and information below.)
Our lecture series will launch on Wednesday, September 17th,
with Cordelia Biddle’s latest mystery, and then we will open our new gallery
exhibition Design Projects on Friday, September 19th.
Over the past several months
the Athenaeum Board, staff, and focus committees have worked on our Strategic
Plan. We will publish the document
on our website at the end of October, and you will also see it here in the
e-newsletter. You were generous with
your responses, and we are accommodating many of your ideas this fall with the
Saturday openings and a fresh approach to the receptions following lectures.
In fact, we are entering an experimental period where we try out your
ideas; however, we don’t want this strategic effort to end with the published
document. Please remember that your
Executive Director is always open to new ideas and to your feedback regarding
programs, membership, development. I
want to hear from you.
Many of you have responded to
our call for volunteers for the First Saturday openings and for the Philadelphia
Architects and Buildings Project.
You will each be receiving an e-mail within the coming days as we work
toward our first Saturday opening on October 4th.
Banner Image: Aerial View of The Athenaeum, c.
1940.
Design Projects: Examples of Student
Architectural Work
 Although
we often emphasize the documentation of the built environment in our research
collections, we also have a large collection of unbuilt designs produced by
student architects and interior designers. With
an opening reception held on September 19th
from 6 to 8pm, we launch an exhibition which focuses on these student
projects. Supplemented by loans from
current and recently retired architects and one undergraduate, this exhibition
will feature the work of John Jones, Beryl Price, Rosemond Curson, Helena
Lukens, John F. Harbeson, Charles and Berneice Talley, and Carl Faltermayer,
among others from our research collections. From the contemporary world we show
the work of Robert Breading, Hyman Myers, Joanne Pizzo, Ed Bronstein, and Rose
Plummer. Ms. Plummer, currently a
Moore College of Art student, uses Google SketchUp and Photoshop to produce her
drawings. With her work as the
terminal point, we travel from watercolor to the computer as a means of learning
to be an architect or interior designer. Gallery
talks will be held on October 1st and October 29th at 5:30 pm.
Please reserve your place at the gallery talks by contacting Susan Gallo
at 215-925-2688 or by e-mail at sgallo@philaathenaeum.org
Above: A Monument to
Commerce. Student drawing by Helena Augusta Lukens, c. 1908. Collection
of the Athenaeum of Philadelphia
Athenaeum Acquires Set of Rare Robert
Mills Drawings
 Through
the support of the Architectural Advisory Committee the Athenaeum has
acquired a set of 15 architectural drawings of the Burlington County
Prison at Mount Holly, NJ. The
drawings were prepared in 1808 by Robert Mills (1781-1855), a student of
Benjamin Henry Latrobe, and one of the first professional architects born in the
United States. This bound set of rendered elevations, plans and sections include
two separate designs for the prison, as well as a lengthy manuscript treatise on
Mills’ philosophy of prison design. These
items may be viewed online at Philadelphia
Architects & Buildings.
Above:
Front Elevation by Robert Mills
Right:
Section from North to South by Robert Mills
Collection
of the Athenaeum of Philadelphia
First Saturday Workshops
 Maria
Pisano returns to us this fall with another series of her popular book workshops.
This time she will lead workshops for adults on the tunnel book and on
the accordion book in October and November respectively.
In December she will combine adults with children (ages 10 and up) for a
pop-up book extravaganza. Again,
space is limited, so sign up soon at this link: Book
Workshop Registration
Above: Carousel
book made by Denise Fox at one of the summer book workshops. Photo by Jim Carroll.
Art Bound Online
 So
many of you asked for a handlist for our Art Bound show, that we decided
that it merited an online exhibition format, and here it is:
Art
Bound: Book Design Past and Present
Reminders and Upcoming Events
Socrates Cafe:
The first Socrates Cafe will take place at 11AM on Tuesday, September 16. Please RSVP to Gil Feinberg at
gsfesq@verizon.net if you plan to attend. Full details about the Socrates Cafe were reported in the
July Newsletter.
Save
The Date:
September
17, 5:30PM: Cordelia Biddle lecture and book signing.
September
19, 6-8PM: Design Projects opening reception.
October
1, 5:30PM: Design Projects gallery talk.
October
4, 10:00AM-2:00PM: First Saturday opening and Tunnel Book Workshop with Maria
Pisano.
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