Library Company of Philadelphia
Hey diddle diddle, the cat and the fiddle, there’s still time to register for our upcoming seminar, Victorian Sweets: Exoticism & Agrarianism in Local Confectionery!
Using 19th-century advertisements, photos, packaging, and broadsides from the Library Company of Philadelphia’s rich collections, experts from The Franklin Fountain & Shane Confectionery will explore the written & visual culture of the 19th-century confectionery trades.
And yes, there will be dessert.
At the time of its publication, McKenney and Hall’s History of the Indian Tribes of North America (1836-1844) was the most elaborately illustrated book ever printed in the United States. Originating as a portrait collection of Native leaders assembled by the U. S. War Department in the midst of efforts toward indigenous removal, History signaled an emerging relationship between the state-sanctioned and commercial production of images in the antebellum United States.
On Thursday, October 3, 2018-2019 Visual Culture Fellow Julia Grummit will discuss the social, political and material histories of the book, focusing on its production from treaty signings that took place in Anishinaabe and Dakota lands in the 1820s, its printing at Philadelphia lithography studios, and its distribution into the hands of subscribers. Grummitt will draw attention to connections between an expanding republic of print production and circulation and the expansion of the United States’ continental empire.
There’s still time to register for our upcoming seminar, Mirror of a City: Images of Philadelphia, 1780-1950, taking place September 26, October 10, and October 24.
Join Library Company curators Sarah Weatherwax and Erika Piola for this three-part seminar, in which attendees will examine the pivotal role of Philadelphia in creating the visual culture of the nation as a center for printmaking, photography, and collecting. Sessions will explore the social, cultural, and technological influences affecting Philadelphia image making; the known, hidden, and forgotten image makers; and the changing aesthetics of the physical city, as well as tastes of those who notably collected all manner of Philadelphia imagery. Seminar attendees will also gain knowledge about the evolution of the Library’s graphic collections, as well as have hands-on experiences with specimens of early photography, including daguerreotypes and stereographs.
The Library Company is pleased to announce that we have some scholarship funds available to help defray costs of students, teachers, artists, and employees at peer institutions. Check out the event site for more information.
This week we commemorate the 50th anniversary of the lunar landing. The moon, a beautiful, desolate, and mysterious sphere that pushes and pulls at our tides has been a subject of fantasy and science alike, as well as an inspiration for exploration.
TONIGHT Rebecca Kamen will talk about her recent art and video project in collaboration with artist Tim Chrepta. PLOT celebrates lunar exploration and the Parkes Observatory radio telescope to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission.
There is still time to register: https://librarycompany.org/…/plot-in-celebration-of-the-50…/
There’s still time to register for PLOT: a talk in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission!
Join us next Tuesday, July 16, to hear artist Rebecca Kamen talk about her recent art and video project in collaboration with artist Tim Chrepta. PLOT celebrates lunar exploration and the Parkes Observatory radio telescope to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission. She will discuss the research and development of PLOT and the significance of art as a vehicle for observing and capturing the moon prior to the advent of the camera.
Kamen’s new interpretive artworks that transform historic lunar research into sculptural form will be discussed as well as exhibited. The PLOT project video created for an Australian Apollo 11 anniversary exhibition will also be shown.
Learn more and register here.
We’re sharing a bonus #PeakofOurCollections adjacent image to promote an upcoming event at the Library Company:
PLOT: IN CELEBRATION OF THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE APOLLO 11 MISSION
Join us on July 16 to hear artist Rebecca Kamen talk about her recent art and video project in collaboration with artist Tim Chrepta. PLOT celebrates lunar exploration and the Parkes Observatory radio telescope to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission. She will discuss the research and development of PLOT and the significance of art as a vehicle for observing and capturing the moon prior to the advent of the camera. Kamen’s new interpretive artworks that transform historic lunar research into sculptural form will be discussed as well as exhibited. The PLOT project video created for an Australian Apollo 11 anniversary exhibition will also be shown.
Learn more and register here.
The featured image is from James Nasmyth’s The Moon: Considered as a Planet, a World, and a Satellite (London, 1874), and shows the “Back of a hand & shrivelled apple to illustrate the origin of certain mountain ranges by shrinkage of the globe.”
Opening today!
From Negro Pasts to Afro-Futures: Black Creative Re-Imaginings
Stop by today, or join us tonight for the opening reception 530pm-7pm. Visit the following link for more info: https://librarycompany.org/portfolio-item/from-negro-pasts-to-afro-futures/
Last week, we shared an image from our Amy Matilda Cassey album. This week, you can see it in person as part of our upcoming exhibition, From Negro Pasts to Afro-Futures: Black Creative Re-Imaginings.
Join us this Friday, May 24, 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM EDT, for the opening of this exhibition, which will include a performance by Mezzo-Soprano, Marquita Raley-Cooper. She will perform songs from the Library Company collections.
You can learn more and register for the opening here.
The emergence of Afro-futurism as a relatively new construct in Africana Studies and Black History allows the Library Company of Philadelphia to pay homage to a black past and show how black historical artists envisioned a glorious black future. By displaying fragments of early Black Americans’ past from their drawings, love letters, poems, songs, speeches, and protests, this exhibition will help visitors grapple with the place of black creative genius in the quest for a people’s liberation.
Curated by: Jermaine Dennis, Kimani Magloire, Tamara Potts-Covan, Julian González, and Carolina Acosta
Dr. Deirdre Cooper Owens, Director of the Program in African American History.
Jasmine Smith, African Americana Specialist and Reference Librarian
Register today for our upcoming symposium, Stylish Books: Designing Philadelphia Furniture.
This symposium is related to our current exhibition, Stylish Books: Designing Philadelphia Furniture, which examines the Library Company’s collection related to furniture making in Philadelphia, illustrating the influence of books and showing style changes over time.
The symposium will further explore and expand on how printed books impacted and inspired furniture design and style. Participants will enjoy talks from expert scholars and have an opportunity to view the exhibition. We hope to encourage and stimulate thought and conversation on this topic.
The symposium will take place at the Library Company or Philadelphia on April 3, 2019, 8:15am-12:45pm. Join us for an exciting day of research and discovery!