Music at Woodmere: Philadelphia Big Brass

Tribute to Ella Fitzgerald: Arpeggio Jazz Ensemble with special guest vocalist Tonya Milburn

Hay Maze returns to Woodmere

Woodmere Art Museum invites kids of all ages to experience family-friendly fall programs beginning in September. Woodmere welcomes the return of the large-scale landscape hay maze to the front lawn for the months of September and October. This year’s maze, titled Owl’s Eye, is a labyrinth of concentric circles made with bales of hay, evoking the shape of an owl’s eye. The fall season also includes two new children’s exhibitions featuring artwork by local students, an art installation in the museum’s new Children’s Garden and Friday Night Family Happenings through December. A full schedule of family oriented, art-inspired programming can be viewed at www.wooodmereartmuseum.org.

Building the House of Wisdom: A Closer Look at Violet Oakley

 

In 1911, Violet Oakley (1874 – 1961) created a mural cycle, The Building of the House of Wisdom, for the central hall of the mansion of Charlton Yarnall at 17th and Locust Streets in Philadelphia. The murals were painted on canvas shapes that were inserted into the architectural structure.

Roofing and Climate Control Replacement Project

As part of the roofing and climate control replacement project at Woodmere, all of the 1987 vintage equipment, including a 40-ton air handler and ductwork, have been removed from the roof of the museum. This equipment provided conditioned air to the exhibition galleries and had reached the end of its useful life.

Museum Store: New Maruca handbags!

The Museum Store just got a brand new shipment of these wonderful bags! Stop in and get one before they are all gone!


ABOUT MARUCA:

Maruca Design is a small design house nestled in the foothills of Boulder, Colorado. We're a collaborative, eclectic group (with a couple of odd ones, but nevertheless effective) sharing one common thread: our love for unusual and progressive fabrics. Twice a year our designer (one of the odd ones mentioned above) creates a new fabric line which is then cleverly handcrafted into Maruca handbags.

Photos: Jazz Meets R&B

Enjoy some photos from Woodmere's last Friday Night Jazz event of the summer! To The Max Band performed Jazz meets R&B!

 









We would like to thank everyone that came out and supported Woodmere's Friday Night Jazz series! Because of your overwhelming support, we were able to continue the series through the end of June. We'd also like to thank all of the talented musicians that played their hearts out in our Kuch gallery and the generous support of the Klorfine Foundation.


Our Friday Night Jazz series will resume again in September, along with the addition of Classical Sundays! Check our website for updates about our Fall events  www.woodmereartmuseum.org.

Photos: Tribute to Father's Day featuring Joanna Gardner

Vocalist Joanna Gardner gave a stunning, sultry performance last Friday! Check out some photos from that night.

Photos: Philadelphia Clef Club Youth Jazz Ensemble

An amazing performance by Philadelphia Clef Club Youth Jazz Ensemble last Friday night! The Clef Club is incredibly talented and we really enjoyed having them perform at Woodmere! Enjoy some photos we took of the event. A special thanks to all the parents and families that came out to support Woodmere and the Clef Club!

Spotlight: Instructor Paul DuSold

Paul DuSold is an instructor for Woodmere Art Museum's classes and is a graduate of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art.





Paul has painted portraits for Pennsylvania Hospital, The Federal reserve bank of Philadelphia, Thomas Jefferson University as well as many other institutions and private commissions. He is represented by Gross McCleaf gallery in Philadelphia.

Photos: Gershwin Night

Enjoy our photos from Gershwin Night with Warren Oree & the Arpeggio Jazz Band and pianist Reiko Okuda, a recent graduate of The University of the Arts.

Spotlight: Our intern Lizzi shares her experience at Woodmere

 

Hi, my name is Lizzi. I have been an intern at the Woodmere Art Museum for two years now. I thought I’d tell you about how I came to work here and my insider impressions as a Woodmere first timer with a photo tour of my typical Wednesday journey to and around the museum. Enjoy!
 

Photos: Po/Jazz Night

We heard some amazing words from the poets at our Po/Jazz Night. Warren Oree & the Arpeggio Jazz Band also gave an incredible performance.

Photos: Latin Jazz Night

Enjoy some of our photos from Latin Jazz Night with Edgardo Cintron and his band!

Chestnut Hill House Evolves into a Home for Art

Chestnut Hill House Evolves into a Home for Art 
By James Weaver

Some people have called it the “Addam’s House” because it resembles the house in the television show The Addams Family. Actually, no one knows where the name of the handsome Victorian mansion at the corner of Bells Mill Road and Germantown Avenue, Chestnut Hill, originated. Charles Knox Smith (1845-1916), a prominent Philadelphia businessman (oil brokerage and gold and silver mining in Mexico) and member of the Philadelphia Common Council (before it became City Council) acquired the house and grounds in 1901. Built sometime before 1867, it was already called “Woodmere” and the name stuck. Smith was the fourth owner. He was living in the city’s Kensington neighborhood at the time, but he was rapidly outgrowing his space. He had become interested in art and art collecting and his collection was growing.

Videos: Jazz Nights - Ellington, Coltrane, Gershwin, Armstrong

 

Warren Oree & the Arpeggio Jazz Band

Photos: Woodmere's Friday Evening Jazz Series - Ellington, Coltrane, Gershwin, Armstrong

Enjoy some of our photos from our recent Jazz Night on Friday, May 13! Warren Oree & the Arpeggio Jazz Band played an incredible show featuring the Jazz Classics: Ellington, Coltrane, Gershwin, Armstrong and more. Thank you for all your support!

Artists At Work

ARTISTS AT WORK, a Woodmere Art Museum program, is designed to be an educational experience demonstrating to young people that making art can be a vocation, a viable lifestyle and a means to make a living. Classes of elementary school students from local public and private schools will watch artists creating art work at the Woodmere Art Museum.

Artists Include:

Paul Dusold – Portrait Painter 

Shelley Thorstensen – Printmaker

Laura Pritchard – Batik Artist

Friday Night Jazz: Ellington, Coltrane, Gershwin, Armstrong featuring Warren Oree & the Arpeggio Jazz Band

Join us this Friday, May 13 from 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm for Jazz Classics: Ellington, Coltrane, Gershwin, Armstrong and more featuring Warren Oree & the Arpeggio Jazz Band. 

Woodmere Reciprocal Membership Benefits

Woodmere Art Museum is a member of the North American Reciprocal Membership program! Our Contributor level membership ($100) is good at over 400 museums in the United States and Canada! Some of the participating museums near Philadelphia include:

Pennsylvania:

The Brandywine River Museum

James A. Michener Art Museum

Susquehanna Art Museum

Abington Art Center 

Lancaster Museum of Art 

Tyler Arboretum

Institute of Contemporary Art/University of Pennsylvania 

National Museum of American Jewish History 

Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts

The Philadelphia Art Alliance 

The University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology 

August Wilson Center for African American Culture

Pittsburgh Center for the Arts 

Reading Public Museum 

Valley Forge National Historical Park

Our Collection: Frederic Edwin Church

Frederic Edwin Church was perhaps the best-known representative of the Hudson River School of landscape painting. Born in Hartford in 1826, he was the privileged son of Joseph Church, a jeweler and banker of that city, who interceded with Connecticut scion and collector Daniel Wadsworth to persuade the landscape painter Thomas Cole to accept his son as a pupil. From 1844 to 1846, Church studied with Cole in his Catskill, New York, studio and accompanied him on sketching sojourns in the Catskill Mountains and the Berkshires of Massachusetts. At one point, the master characterized the student as having "the finest eye for drawing in the world."

Events: Jazz Nights in May and June!

Woodmere Art Museum is pleased to announce that the our Friday Night Jazz series has been extended into May and June! Because of the overwhelming support from our visitors, we decided to continue to offer this great music series to the public! Please join us for the following Friday Nights in May:

Classes: The Clothed Figure

The Clothed Figure
Meets 8 times
Wednesdays, May 18 and ending June 22, for 6 sessions, 6:30-9:30 p.m. 

(no class May 11)
Instructor: Frances Galante
price: $165 plus $60 model

 

In this class models are dressed in contemporary clothing and arranged in naturalistic poses in the studio. Students are encouraged to observe the gesture and tones of the figure in the setting, and create a composition that incorporates drapery (the clothing) and some surrounding details. The instructor’s medium is oil paint, but students can work in the drawing or painting medium of their choice. (Beginners start with drawing in charcoal).

Photos: Woodmere's Friday Evening Jazz Series - Marina Vishnyakova

Enjoy our pictures of Seine-suous Strings featuring jazz violinist Marina Vishnyakova and Paris for Kids: Circus Creatures inspired by the work of artist Alexander Calder.

Video: Reiko Okuda and Warren Oree at Cole Porter Night

 

Check out our short video clip of last Friday's Jazz performance. Pianist Reiko Okuda and bass player Warren Oree played music of the great American composer Cole Porter. 

Classes: Alla Prima Figure Painting with David Shevlino

 

This video highlights the Woodmere Art Museum's studio instructor, David Shevlino. David studied painting and drawing at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia and at the Art Students League in New York. He also received a bachelor of fine arts degree from The University of Pennsylvania.

Photos: Woodmere's Friday Evening Jazz Series - Cole Porter Night

Pianist Reiko Okuda, a student at The University of the Arts, and bass player Warren Oree gave an incredible performance last night at Woodmere. The music of the great American composer Cole Porter was featured.

Enjoy some pictures we took of the event. Thank you for your support!

Lectures: Paris 1910 to 1920: A Decade that Changed Modernism

Join Matthew Palczynski, (Staff Lecturer of Western Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art) for a lecture this  Sunday, April 17 from 1-4pm on Paris 1910 to 1920: A Decade that Changed Modernism.

Spend the afternoon in Paris. This pair of lectures will examine the School of Paris, during one of the most dynamic decades of modern art. We’ll examine the work of Picasso, Matisse, Brancusi, and Modigliani, among others, and discover why so many artists were drawn to the magnetic pull of Paris. Between lectures we’ll enjoy French champagne, coffee, and pastries.

• Lecture one: Picasso and Matisse
• Champagne break
• Lecture two: Brancusi and Modigliani 

$30 ($24 members) 

Arpeggio Jazz Ensemble

 

Take a peek! Here is a video of a performance by the acclaimed Arpeggio Jazz Ensemble at our first Jazz event last Friday, April 8. Join us this Friday, April 15 from 6:00–8:00 p.m. for Cole Porter Night.

Photos: Woodmere's Friday Evening Jazz Series - Arpeggio Jazz Ensemble

Warming up...

We had a great turn out tonight! Thank you for coming out to listen to some jazz music, enjoy some french wines, and see our exhibitions. It was a packed house! 

We would also like to thank the Arpeggio Jazz Ensemble! The show was amazing! The music was incredible!

Bonjour! Paris is in the air!

Violet Oakley
(American, 1874-1961). Lady with a
Fan, 1895, oil on canvas, 28 x 18 in.

Paris is reborn in Philadelphia! 

We are incredibly excited to be participating in the long-awaited Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts (PIFA). As part of this collaboration, Woodmere will be enjoying an evening Jazz series the first of which will be held this Friday, April 8 from 7:00pm - 9:00pm. In celebration of our new exhibitions Charles Demuth in the City of Lights and Violet Oakley and the Women Artists of Paris, french wines and cheeses will available along with a performance by the Arpeggio Jazz Ensemble. So come out and have some fun this Friday night! Oui, s'il vous plaît!

Looking for a place to have dinner before heading to Woodmere on Friday? Check out the restaurants along Germantown Avenue in Chestnut Hill. Great shops, great food, great art, and great music all in one night!

Events: Friday Jazz Nights in April

April 8 – 29, 2011

Woodmere celebrates Jazz Appreciation Month on Fridays in April with music, food, drink, and children’s programming. These programs are offered in conjunction with PIFA and in partnership with Lifeline Music Coalition, Inc.

New Exhibitions at Woodmere!

PHILADELPHIA – Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia’s premier institution for interpreting the art and culture of the Philadelphia region, announces the opening of five new exhibitions on Sunday, April 3 alongside a full calendar of engaging programs, including a Friday evening jazz series in April, children’s activities, and lectures. The museum will also introduce new visiting hours including extended evening and weekend hours, beginning April 3.

New museum hours (as of April 3) are: Tuesday through Thursday 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m., Friday 10:00 a.m.–8:45 p.m., Saturday 10:00 a.m.- 6:00 p.m., and Sunday 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. Woodmere is located at 9201 Germantown Avenue in the historic cobblestoned Chestnut Hill neighborhood of Philadelphia. Admission to special exhibitions is $10 for adults, $7 for seniors, and FREE for students and children. For visitor information, call (215) 247-0476 or visit www.woodmereartmuseum.org.

Woodmere Art Museum will present two exhibitions in conjunction with the Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts (PIFA) – Charles Demuth in the City of Lights, which explores the work of one of America’s greatest modernists, and Violet Oakley and the Women Artists of Paris, which offers an intimate look at the Philadelphia/Mt. Airy illustrator, muralist, and stained glass artist.