Dive into past events, artist talks, and other collaborations to stay engaged no matter where you are.

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Spotlight Talk: Unpacking Esherick’s Library

Enjoy a chat in which we take a dive into Esherick’s richly stocked library! Esherick was friends with a number of notable modernist writers such as Theodore Dreiser, Sherwood Anderson, Ford Maddox Ford, and Jean Toomer. Esherick also partook in modernist literary circles through his work with the Centaur Press in Philadelphia and communities like Fairhope, Alabama. Esherick’s book collection reflects his tastes, interests, and the times he lived. What books was Esherick collecting, reading, marking up, and lending out? How did the books Esherick surrounded himself with inform his life and work? In this 20-minute program we crack a few spines to peek into particular books, and take a wider scope to consider the subjects and types of writing represented in the artist’s collection.

Spotlight Talk: Up Close with Esherick’s 1927 Drop Leaf Desk

We took a close look (and we mean a very close look) at Wharton Esherick’s 1927 Drop Leaf Desk. This January, our staff did a practice run of dismantling this iconic piece before sending it out for The Crafted World of Wharton Esherick exhibition at the Brandywine Museum of Art this fall. Taking a piece of furniture apart never fails to breathe new life into it and our understanding of its creation – and its maker. In our talk, we’ll explore our findings from this deep dive as well as the conservation and cleaning needed to prepare the desk to travel. We’re excited about what we learned and what stories this piece had to tell! Esherick’s Drop Leaf Desk is one of the artist’s earliest pieces of large scale furniture, and one of the last that features intricate surface carvings. With this surface carving, the piece exhibits a fascinating link to Esherick’s practice of carving and printing woodblocks, and echoes its intended use by Esherick to store materials such as woodblocks, paper, and prints.

Spotlight Talk: A Story Transformed – Letty Esherick’s Bookplate

Wrap up this year of storytelling at the Wharton Esherick Museum with a Spotlight Talk focused on the history of Letty Esherick’s bookplate. A myriad of stories are embedded in this print and the multiple blocks that were used to create it! The print takes us on a trip from Fairhope, Alabama to the Pennsylvania hillside, with a likely pit stop along the way to a photoengraver’s studio. During this talk we discuss Esherick’s incorporation of a woodblock from his earliest commission and the photomechanical process used to transform the artist’s original wooden blocks into a single, smaller zinc printing plate fit for printing in a book!

Spotlight Talk: Casey Chew and Esherick-Inspired Set Design

Enjoy a conversation with arborist, woodworker, and beloved WEM staff member, Casey Chew! We’ll discuss the many ways Casey drew inspiration from Wharton Esherick’s work for developing wonderful, prismatic stage sets in collaboration with our artist-in-residence, Martha McDonald. We talk with Casey about the process for creating a set piece inspired by Wharton Esherick’s Corner Desk for Helene Fischer (1931) from photographs, and the challenges of translating two dimensions to three! We’ll also be hearing how Casey’s experience as an arborist informs the way he works with wood!

Rewind: Artist Talks, Events, & More

Spotlight Talk: Dana Meyer and Esherick-Inspired Fashion Design

Spotlight Talk: Now, That’s Metal!

Spotlight Talk: Telling Tales Artist John RG Roth

Spotlight Talk: Telling Tales Artist, Suzi Fox

Spotlight Talk: Telling Tales Artist, Lucia Garzón

Spotlight Talk: A-Z of Wharton Esherick and American Studio Furniture

Spotlight Talk: Wharton Esherick at the Museum for Contemporary Crafts, 1958

Imprint 2023 Virtual Reception: Storytelling in Prints

Spotlight Talk: Geoffry Berwind and Esherick’s Music Stand

Spotlight Talk: Wharton Esherick’s Tilted Tales

Spotlight Talk: A Look at Wharton and Miriam in the Archives

Spotlight Talk: Filming with Craft in America

Spotlight Talk: Esherick Connections from the Fabric Workshop and Museum

Home as Stage Virtual Opening

Creatives on Esherick: Virginia Blanchard

Spotlight Talk: Esherick’s Concrete Architecture of the 1960s

Spotlight Talk: June Groff

Spotlight Talk: Coat Peg Portraits

Spotlight Talk: Esherick’s Self Portrait

Creatives on Esherick: Katie Hudnall

Spotlight Talk: Building the Studio

Spotlight Talk: Architectural Drawings

Spotlight Talk: Anne Tyng, Geometric Architecture, and the Wharton Esherick 1956 Workshop

Creatives on Esherick: Sam Olshin and Lisa Dustin, Atkin Olshin Schade (AOS) Architects

Spotlight Talk: Preserving Esherick’s Windows

Curator Conversations: Daring Design with Mark Sfirri

Creatives on Esherick: Roberta Massuch: Artist-in-Residence

Curator Conversations: Daring Design with Laura Igoe

Spotlight Talk: Helene Fischer, Wharton Esherick, and Furniture as Sculpture

Spotlight Talk: Gifts

Spotlight Talk: Esherick’s Bedroom

Spotlight Talk: The Holzhausen Curtains

Spotlight Talk: Marjorie Content Photographs

Creatives on Esherick: Christian Burchard

Curator Conversations: Out of Bounds: The Art of Croquet with Jennifer-Navva Milliken

Spotlight Talk: Barnegat Bay Map

Wood And… Opening Reception

Curator Conversations: Exploring the American Craft Council Digital Collections with Beth Goodrich

Spotlight Talk: The Homemade Bandsaw

Creatives on Esherick: Jason Turnidge

Spotlight Talk: Esherick’s Models

Creatives on Esherick: Aspen Golann

Creatives on Esherick: Sarah Watlington

Spotlight Talk: Material Combinations in the Studio

Curator Conversations: Stairways to Imagining with Mary Savig

Spotlight Talk: In the Garden with Wharton Esherick

Spotlight Talk: Wharton’s Printing Press

Curator Conversations: Woodworking, Labor, and Modernism with Holly Gore

Spotlight Talk: Esherick’s World’s Fair Chair

Curator Conversations: Homer, Esherick, and Interpreting Artists’ Studios with Diana Greenwold

Spotlight Talk: Henry Varnum Poor’s Portrait Plates

Creatives on Esherick: Keunho Peter Park

Spotlight Talk: Winter Woodcuts

Curator Conversations: Exploring Connections at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston with Nonie Gadsden

Creatives on Esherick: Laura Mays

When Artists Pivot: Wharton Esherick and His Career | PAFA – Culture & Coffee