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 Program
Curator-Led Tour of Fanmania at The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Monday, March 30 at 3 p.m.
Join us for 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.
Date: Monday, March 30, 2026
Time: Please arrive by 2:45 p.m. The tour will begin promptly at 3:00 p.m.
Location: The Met, 1000 Fifth Avenue at 82nd Street
Cost: Adults, $28; Seniors (65+), $20.
This event is open to current members of the DAS and their guests.
Limited to 15 attendees on a first come, first-served basis.
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).
Recent Programs
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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