Programs
The Decorative Arts Society organizes members-only tours, lectures, study trips, and other events. Join us for behind-the-scenes tours with exhibition curators, talks by leading scholars in the field, and hands-on workshops.
UPCOMING PROGRAMS
A DAY IN PHILADELPHIA
Friday, September 18, 2026, 10:30 am - 2:30 pm.
Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2600 Benjamin Franklin Parkway
Join us for an exciting day of decorative arts at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. We will begin with a tour of Workshop of the World: Arts and Crafts in Philadelphia, led by co-curators David Barquist, the H. Richard Dietrich, Jr., Curator of American Decorative Arts, and Colin Fanning, the Louis C. Madeira IV Assistant Curator of European Decorative Arts. After lunch at the museum cafe, Alexandra Kirtley, the Montgomery-Garvan Curator of American Decorative Arts, will lead us on a tour of A Nation of Artists. Participants will be able to enjoy the museum on their own following the tours.
Workshop of the World marks the 150th anniversary of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, one of several local institutions founded following the 1876 Centennial Exposition. It celebrates the creative innovations that emerged from a network of Philadelphia artists, architects, and manufacturers in response to the problems of urban industrialization in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Inspired by the ideals of the British Arts and Crafts movement, these artists sought to beautify everyday life through simple designs and hand craftsmanship.
Highlighting the richness and diversity of American art, A Nation of Artists traces the evolving story of American creativity across three centuries, featuring works of fine and decorative arts from the Philadelphia Museum of Art collected over the past 150 years and the Middleton Family Collection, one of the country’s most significant private holdings of American art. Presented chronologically around distinctive themes, the exhibition explores art making of all types, from ceramics to wood carving and painting to fashion, and includes works by Indigenous, African American, and historically underrepresented artists who have shaped the nation’s visual culture.
Adults, $28; Seniors (65+), $26; Students (19+ with student ID), $12. Please note that transportation is not included.
This event is open to current members of the DAS and their guests.
Limited to 20 attendees on a first come, first-served basis.
Image: Violet Oakley (1874–1961), Made by Enfield Pottery & Tile Works (1906– c. 1936),
The St. George and Gertrude Mosaic, c. 1911-13. Philadelphia Museum of Art,
Purchased with the American Art Revolving Fund, 2025, 2025-7-1Recent Programs
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Curator-Led Tour of Fanmania at The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Monday, March 30 at 3 p.m.
A tour of Fanmania with Ashley E. Dunn, Associate Curator in the Department of Drawings and Prints, and Jane R. Becker, Collections Specialist in the Department of European Paintings.
Showcasing more than 75 artworks from Europe and Asia including folding fans, paintings, prints, and photographs, the exhibition explores the 19th-century phenomenon of “fanmania.” The show illuminates how the handheld fan became an unexpected muse for some of the most innovative artists in 19th-century Europe. Fans became enormously popular throughout European society during this period, serving as functional and fashionable objects of adornment and communication. At the same time, newfound artistic appreciation for fans emerged, fueled by cultural crazes for all things Japanese and Spanish, as well as exhibitions and publications devoted to fan making and its history. This display explores the myriad reasons artists were attracted to the semicircular form, including its commercial potential, its fashionability, and the opportunities it offered for formal and technical innovation.
Image: Henri-Gabriel Ibels (French, Paris 1867–1936 Paris). Circus Fan, ca. 1893–95. Lithograph on silk fan leaf. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1938 (38.91.98).
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Curator-Led Tour at the Newark Museum of Art
Thursday, December 4, 2025 at 2pm
The Newark Museum’s Associate Curator of Decorative Arts, Amy Simon Hopwood, led participants through the historic 1885 Ballantine House, sharing information about the Newark Museum’s decorative arts collections and newly discovered stories of Newark’s craftspeople.
Image: The Ballentine House Main Bedroom, 1885, as installed in 2023, The Newark Museum of Art, photo by Richard Goodboy
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Awards Ceremony, Lecture, and Reception
Tuesday, November 4, 2025 at 6 pm
Held at the Explorers Club, the event included presentation of the annual DAS publication awards and an illustrated presentation by curators David Barquist and Colin Fanning about their upcoming exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Workshop of the World: Arts and Crafts in Philadelphia.
Image: Library Table, 1904, William L. Price (American, 1861–1916), designer, Rose Valley Shops (Philadelphia, 1901–1906), manufacturer, oak, Private Collection, photo by Joseph Painter
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Curator-Led Tour of An Ecology of Quilts at the American Folk Art Museum
Thursday, October 16, 2025 at 5 pm
Exhibition co-curator Emelie Gevalt toured participants through An Ecology of Quilts: The Natural History of American Textiles, which presented quilts from the 18th to the 20th centuries from an ecological perspective. The exhibition explored the environmental and social impact of cultivating and harvesting raw materials, the networks of overland and ocean trade used to transport materials, and the technologies and industrial techniques which allowed quilt making to flourish as a quintessential art form.
Image: Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden Quilt, mid-19th century, attributed to a member of the Sinclair Family (Vermont), cotton, American Folk Art Museum, Museum purchase with funds provided by Nina Beaty, 2024.10.1