Virtual Night At The Museum
View the film screening of “I Am Known As An Artist, Wharton Esherick” and the following Q&A with Carolyn Coal, the writer and director. The Museum host for the evening is Board member Peter Howell, Rose Valley Museum
World War I Trench Arts & Crafts
Watch “World War I Trench Arts & Crafts,” a lecture by Ryan Berley, Curator, Rose Valley Museum
Thunderbird Lodge 360° View and Video
The More on That blog has a 360° view of the Upper Studio in Thunderbird Lodge, along with a video from curator Ryan Berley.
Visit the Thunderbird Lodge page at More on That.
Hedgerow Theatre Puts Esherick Furnishings on the Auction Block
By Joseph Brin
Hedgerow Theatre, America’s first resident repertory theater, has hit upon hard times. Founded in 1923 in Rose Valley, Pennsylvania, the organization was championed by legendary furniture maker and sculptor Wharton Esherick. On March 31, looking for a quick fix, the theater’s board will sell off its inheritance of exemplary Esherick furniture. The orphaned pieces are now sitting in the queue at Freeman’s auction houses in Wayne and at 2400 Market Street in Philadelphia. Eight handcrafted, hammer handle wood chairs and three tables with Esherick’s charming trademark incised into vintage, burnished surfaces will go to the highest bidder. The right buyer may also walk into the venerated theater with a crow bar and cart off an original, built-in Esherick staircase.
The Legacy of Architect William Price Lives On In Rose Valley
By J. F. Pirro
From Thunderbird Lodge to Hedgerow Theatre to historic private homes, the late Wallingford native’s pioneering work can be seen throughout the borough.
George Thomas was a 25-year-old graduate student studying art history at the University of Pennsylvania when, in 1970, he spent $75 on thousands of glass plates and film negatives. It was to be his food money for the month, but he had a good feeling about his Freeman’s auction acquisition, which came wrapped in paper and manila envelopes from the office of William Lightfoot Price. “I only knew that he was a Philadelphia architect,” Thomas says now.
The purchase eventually led to a doctoral dissertation guided by a question: How could a designer who reshaped the architecture of his time suddenly
be forgotten?
“Will invented what led into Art Deco,” says Thomas. “Everyone still calls it Art Deco, but it was actually Art Price.”
Antique cookie event at Rose Valley Museum
By Leslie Krowchenko, Special to the Times
ROSE VALLEY — Ryan Berley does quite a bit of research as curator of Rose Valley Museum at Thunderbird Lodge.
He didn’t have to look far, however, to find a recipe for sand tarts.
The museum provided the dough, ovens and antique cookie cutters and nearly two dozen guests selected their favorite designs at Sand Tarts and Schnitte. Berley, co-owner of The Franklin Fountain and Shane Confectionery, presented a slide show and talk as the buttery shapes baked into crispy treats.