Bring your party hats and come up the hill to join us in celebrating Wharton Esherick’s 138th birthday on Saturday, July 19, 2025. We’re extending the party this year! Tickets are available for a daytime celebration from 12:00-3:00 PM and an evening gathering from 4:00-6:00 PM. Looking to join us for both? Combination tickets are available at a discounted price!
Daytime festivities include artist textile and printmaking demonstrations by our artist-in-residence Kelly Cobb and our recent re-strike collaborator Katie Garth, as well as a pop-up birthday-themed exhibition in the 1956 Workshop, timed walk-throughs and live music from the Llama Dalis in the 1926 Studio, and lawn games outside. Guests will be able to enjoy special access to the 1956 Workshop along with light refreshments, cupcakes, and other celebratory fare!
This year the festivities continue into the evening with an intimate wine and hors d’oeuvres gathering on the back patio of the 1956 Workshop. Join us to raise a glass in celebration of Esherick’s creativity and artistic legacy. Experience the Workshop and a wonderful view of the Studio as they change in the early evening light. In addition, the open house continues into the evening with timed walkthroughs of the 1926 Studio.
Artist Bios:
Kelly Cobb is a Philadelphia-based textile designer and researcher and the 2025 WEM Artist-in-Residence (AIR). She is an Associate Professor of Fashion and Apparel Studies at The University of Delaware and the Director of the Textile RAD Lab. Her research examines the complexities inherent in apparel and textile supply chains through creative project-based work that reintegrates the wearer of clothes to local trades and economies, restoring integrity and kinship to the origins of materials and to the environmental resources and human labor involved in textile and apparel production.
For her residency with WEM, Kelly is focused on the textiles and garments made by Letty Esherick. Through archival study, material experimentation, and public engagement, this project will highlight Letty’s creative life through her contributions as a weaver, garment maker, educator, and community builder.
Katie Garth is a print-based artist in Philadelphia. Her interdisciplinary work explores tedium as a coping mechanism for uncertainty, and often reflects her interests in language and independent publication. She is Visiting Assistant Professor in Printmaking at Sarah Lawrence College and teaches at several Philadelphia-area universities. Recently, we engaged Katie to produce a selection of prints struck from Esherick’s original woodblocks that are now available in the WEM store. The paper quality, size, and printing technique used to make these prints were chosen from close examination of Esherick’s originals and skillfully printed by Katie.
Daytime Event Ticket Details:
12:00-3:00PM
$50 per person
$40 for Members – Join or renew today to purchase your ticket at this special price!
Evening Event Ticket Details:
4:00-6:00PM
$75 per person
$60 for Members – Join or renew today to purchase your ticket at this special price!
Join us all day for a discounted combination price of:
$100 per person
$75 for Members – Join or renew today to purchase your ticket at this special price!
To purchase combination tickets simply click either link above, and select the “Combination Ticket Add-on” when prompted during the checkout process.
Tickets are non-refundable. The event will be held rain or shine.
Can’t make the party? Consider a gift of support to celebrate Esherick’s birthday!
WEM represents Esherick’s artistic home, a home to his truest expression of self and his boundless creativity. Your support ensures the preservation and celebration of this special place for generations to come! Thank you!