Sold-Out New York Colloquium a Big Success

The Decorative Arts Trust is passionate about highlighting the work of emerging scholars in the field. One of our most enjoyable ways to do this is to gather recent research grant, interns, and scholarship recipients for a chance to share their research with Trust members during New York’s Americana Week. 

The 2020 Emerging Scholars Colloquium in New York City was a fabulous event for members and speakers alike, who joined a sold-out crowd for this fourth installation of the program. Co-hosted with the Classical American Homes Preservation Trust and sponsored in part by the Wunsch Americana Foundation and Mr. and Mrs. Donald B. Ayres, III, the Colloquium featured five scholars showcasing their discoveries in the field of material culture. 

Classical American Homes Preservation Trust Co-President Margize Howell welcomed the group to the George F. Baker Carriage House. Especially notable on the exterior of the Baker complex of houses is the Ionic colonnade on the east façade of 69 East 93rd Street. The colonnade, consisting of four matched pairs of fluted Ionic columns two stories high, frames a second floor loggia. These tall columns provide an elegant backdrop to what was once the Bakers’ “French Courtyard.” 

The Decorative Arts Trust’s Director of Educational Programs Kristina Gray and board member Ralph Harvard introduced the presenters:

• Edgefield Stoneware in The Met’s American Wing
  Katherine C. Hughes, Peggy N. Gerry Research Scholar, The American Wing, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

• Textiles and Design Exchanges between India and the United States in the Mid-Twentieth Century
  Vishal Khandelwal, Department of the History of Art, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

• The Eameses and The Case Study House Program: Introducing Scandinavian Design to Mid-Century America
  Rachel Pool Fillhouer, History of Design and Curatorial Studies, Parsons School of Design and Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

• A Tale of Two Families: An Engraved Tea Service in Antebellum Augusta, Georgia
  Kayli Rideout, American Studies, Boston University

• Transpacific Scopic Frames: the Folded Spaces of Two 18th-Century Pueblan Cabinets
  Celia Rodríguez Tejuca, Art History, Johns Hopkins University

Peter M. Kenny, Classical American Homes Preservation Trust’s other Co-President, concluded the program by thanking the group and ushering them next door to the George F. Baker House for a Bloody Mary Brunch Benefit to support the Decorative Arts Trust’s Emerging Scholars Program. Formerly the private residence of the late Richard H. Jenrette, the beautifully decorated house boasts high ceilings, tall French windows, Classical marble mantels, arched doorways, and an elegant spiral staircase that brings in light from a domed skylight above. 

We plan to post recordings of the lectures on the Trust’s YouTube channel within the next few months. 

Look for information about the January 2021 Emerging Scholars Colloquium in New York in late fall 2020. The Trust also is partnering with the Preservation Society of Newport County, Rhode Island for an Emerging Scholars Colloquium in Newport on Saturday, February 8. The Trust has many other special programs and events scheduled as well. For updates, sign up for our e-newsletter or follow us on Facebook or Instagram. Members at the Ambassador level and above receive early pre-registration for events.