Past Programs

Spotlight Talk: Esherick at the 1939 Golden Gate Expo and the Ski Lodge that Never Was

The vision of hand-crafted modernism Wharton Esherick presented at the 1940 World’s Fair in his Pennsylvania Hill House was one of the artist’s most successful exhibitions. Esherick’s invitation to the fair came on the heels of another, oft-overlooked exhibition on a world stage: the 1939 Golden Gate Exposition in San Francisco. The artist was invited to represent American sculpture in wood at the behest of Dorothy Liebes, an innovative textile designer and weaver.

Enjoy this virtual talk exploring Wharton Esherick’s involvement in the 1939 Golden Gate Exposition, a model room of a ski lodge that never materialized, and the cross-country travel of Esherick’s sculpture and furniture. In this program, we look at photographs, archives, and other rarely-seen pieces from the Wharton Esherick Museum collection.

Preserving Esherick’s Home and Studio Since 1966: A Conversation with WEM’s Building Preservation Director Andrew Gustine

Wharton Esherick’s Home and Studio was a forty-year undertaking for the artist, and the building developed over time based on changing needs. Wharton Esherick broke ground on a sculptor’s studio in 1926 and put the finishing touches on what was by then a home in 1966 with a muraled silo. To help celebrate the Studio’s Centennial year, enjoy our conversation with WEM’s Building Preservation Director Andrew Gustine about the ways this National Historic Landmark has continued to change over the past 60 years and the persistent preservation efforts around this building!

Spotlight Talk: A Pennsylvania Hill House – Building and Exhibiting the Wharton Esherick Studio

Wharton Esherick began building his Studio one-hundred years ago, in 1926. In celebration of the Studio centennial, WEM is launching a year of programming that explores acts of breaking ground. Esherick is best known as a modernist furniture maker, yet he had an abiding interest in architecture—in particular, the old barns that stood throughout the Pennsylvania countryside where he lived. When the time came for him to construct his Studio, he modeled the building on these vernacular forms. In this way, Esherick participated in the broad currents of regionalism that swept through American art and design. Enjoy this program exploring Esherick’s regionalism—as he built the Studio, and as he exhibited aspects of the building in the autobiographical model room, “A Pennsylvania Hill House” at the 1940 New York World’s Fair. In this 20-minute program, we look at photographs, archives, and a rarely-seen Esherick lamp from the WEM collections.

Imprint 2026 Reception: Groundbreaking

Enjoy this virtual reception celebrating WEM’s 18th year of Imprint— our annual high school printmaking competition. This year, we are celebrating the act of groundbreaking in all forms and the talented young printmakers who made creative breakthroughs in this year’s show! We were joined by our guest juror, Em Dombrovskaya, the Suzanne Andrée Curatorial Fellow in Prints and Drawings at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Em shared their insights on the history of print education in 20th century Philadelphia and the development of printmaking initiatives throughout the region to support this practice – including ones that remain an important resource for young printmakers today. We take a brief look at the history of the Imprint program and Esherick’s own time as a graphic artist. We are honored to celebrate the exceptional artworks on view in the year’s Imprint exhibition and the talented young printmakers and dedicated art teachers in our region!