Events and Exhibitions 2011-2012

Here's what we have planned at the WF for this membership year!  We're presenting our signature events with a "twist" and reviving the past in a brand new way!  Be sure to put these dates on your calendar and check for updates via facebook and here on the Daily Reminder.

Mourning Memphis

August 12 - November 6, 2011
Currently set
Featuring: mourning ritual and fashion, yellow fever 1878

Discover Memphis Day
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Buy one/ get one half off admission

Twilight Tour
7PM Friday, September 16, 2011
Admission: $15 (ages 18 +)

Victorian Village Home Tour
11PM-4PM Saturday, October 22, 2011
Volunteers and docents needed

Haunted Happenings
6PM Friday, October 28, 2011
Admission: $10 (ages 10 +)
Partnering with paranormal groups
Volunteers and docents needed

Victorian Yuletide (140th Anniversary)
November 16, 2011 - January 8, 2012
Set up: November 14-15 from 10AM-4PM
Featuring: Mollie’s Wedding and Yuletide traditions

Nouveau Nuptials
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Exclusive bridal event with the best of Memphis’ bridal and event specialists

Victorian Romance
January 18 - March 11, 2012
Set up: January 16-17
Featuring: silver collection, chocolat pots, and valentines

A Sweet Serenade
6:30 PM Saturday, February 11, 2012
Admission: $35
Luna Nova concert in ballroom
Chocolate reception in root cellar

Spring Awakenings
March 21 - May 20, 2012
Set up: March 19-20
Featuring: light textiles, christening gowns, springtime and Easter ephemera

Springtime in Victorian Village
2 - 4 PM Saturday, March 31, 2012
Admission: Free (ages 10 -)
Volunteers needed for Egg Hunt

Speakeasy
7 PM Saturday, March 31, 2012
Admission: $20 (ages 18 +)
2nd annual spring fundraiser
Volunteers needed for admissions and hosting

Southern Summers
June 6 - August 5, 2012
Set up: June 4-5

Junebugs and Juleps
7-11 PM Saturday, June 2, 2012
2nd annual summer fundraiser
Admission: $25 single, $40 couple, $200 table of 8 (ages 18 +)
Volunteers needed for admission and hosting

Afternoons in the WF

I've probably mentioned that the light is always changing at the WF.  Especially in the late afternoons.  Now, with "Mourning Memphis" set, everything has an almost magical shadow.  It's something that's hidden...even by the camera...one has to see and experience this personally.  The experience is "extra sensory"...the eyes open wider through the dim light and shadows, sound almost modifies to complete silence, and everything just feels "different".  Here's a few images that really look better by the naked eye than captured by camera.

This Parisian incense burner sits on a marble top occasional table in the large parlor.  Note the background, though out of focus, there is a definite change of light and shadow.  And the camera presents a brighter image...it was actually very dark in the room.

Reflections also play a large part in how things look.  Reflections of objects, furniture, and light are manipulated and almost haunting, if caught off guard.  I adore this time of day at the WF...it's magical.

Uncovering the Past: George Hunzinger Chair

There are, on occasion, that I don't have an answer to give our guests.  While on tour a very nice New Jersey lady the other day she asked about an occasional chair in the Canton room on the second floor.  I told her I would gladly do some research and get back with her about the piece.  The best resource was a book that Barry R. Harwood wrote...The Furniture of George Hunzinger: Invention and Innovation in Nineteenth-Century America. Brooklyn, New York: Brooklyn Museum of Art, 1997. 168 pp.; 10 color and 189 bw illus., bibliography, index. $29.95. For the sake of accuracy, I used passages from a piece written by Milo M. Naeve, Field-McCormick, Curator Emeritus of American Arts, Art Institute of Chicago. So, here you are ma'am...

"George Jakob Hunzinger (1835–1898) gradually has gained recognition as being among those New Yorkers of the late nineteenth century whose furniture was innovative in construction and significant in design."

"...Success rested on “fancy” chairs, folding chairs, platform rockers, and lounge chairs as accents to other domestic furniture. To an unknown degree, Hunzinger offered tables and suites of chairs in different sizes, settees, and daybeds. No furniture can be identified with patents for extension dining tables, folding beds, and chair-tables, although a table combined with chairs and a game table with a revolving top are rare survivals from other patents. Analysis of all of these sources leads to Harwood’s conclusion that Hunzinger ingeniously manipulated elements of form, decoration, finish, and upholstery for a wide range of variations and budgets."

"Hunzinger’s simple furniture offers similarities in design to midtwentieth-century modernism."

"Harwood’s book is a significant record of Hunzinger’s unique engineering and original designs. His taste, as the exhibition demonstrated and the book reveals through selected examples, influenced his contemporaries. Harwood’s new perspective on Hunzinger will not soon be dated. His research is thorough, and his analysis of it is perceptive."

After reading over a few pieces, this one was the best...written for the museum exhibition, of course.  By the books description, it's definitely going to be on the list to read during the winter!  Please, contact the museum to find the book (it's a museums passion, to the core)



A New Season

It's been an incredibly long, dry spell here on the blog.  However, we finally composed the new season of events and exhibitions.  The WF season usually begins in August.  So, we arehaving an ice cream social to get things started with a BANG!!!  An ice cream social brings to mind one of those festivities best suited for jovial mid summer.  Which, may clash a little with the current state of the WF.  Because we have started a new tradition of launching the season with the most somber of tributes...Victorian mourning and yellow fever! The entire mansion seems draped with black veils and is a bit gloomy..(it says, " Throw some dirt on me!")  So, we make lemonade (or perhaps lemon sherbet) out of lemons.  That's just how we roll at the WF.

We'll be announcing everything that will be going on and bragging about the success of this past season!  LOTS to talk about and LOTS of ice cream will be served up!  The social is 2-4PM and is FREE!!!  We originally had Andrea Cowart scheduled to show off her beautiful photography, but after scheduling conflicts she had to postpone until another time.  So, I will be in the museum today brewing up a plan for a mini exhibition from the museum's permanent collection.  Of course, the museum will be open for members (both old and new) to tour.  It's always a great time to catch up with old friends and see the museum in a different light!

I'll post the new season after the social on Sunday with some pictures from the event, too!  Just in case you miss it, you'll get to kick yourself in the pants for not being there.  (So, join us!)

Afternoons in the WF

If anyone has ever met and talked with me for less than five minutes, it's perfectly clear that I have a true passion for the WF.  I often call it my "home away from home" because I feel absolutely calm and safe inside.  My favorite chosen day to serve as docent is Sunday.  As I turn the lights at the close of the day, I always have my camera in tow.  I snap images of things that really grab my attention.  Sometimes, I've found that I have multiple photos of the same thing. 

I made mention yesterday to Mrs. Joan, surrogat grandmother, that the light seemed different.  We agreed that the autumn season is upon us, for sure.  I think it's the light (or lack of) that intriques me...it's always different.  I admire details differently when there is unique light and shadows.  Granted, I'm never going to get rich like my photographer friends Monty, Andrea, or Amanda...but, the images make me happy.  Most turn out a little blurry, but these details need to be seen and appreciated in person.  (Maybe a twilight tour??) 

The Mourning Memphis exhibition is nearly complete and the ambiance has definitely changed, for the darker, giving me a chill when I walk through the halls of the WF in the late afternoon.  It's my favorite time of the year...and I think the WF reflects the deep respect and profound love we all share for her.



Cotton Museum at Memphis Cotton Exchange Photostory

Downtown Museum Day

Memphis’ First Downtown Museum Day to Take Place on September 10


PRESS RELEASE
August 9, 2011

Memphis, TN – The first annual Downtown Museum Day will take place in Memphis on Saturday, September 10, 2011 with eleven local museums and attractions participating by offering free or half-price admission. The event is being hosted by Discover Memphis, a newly created collective of downtown museums and attractions.

The all-day event offers Tennessee residents the opportunity to visit their community museums – and to enjoy and share in their own heritage – for a significantly reduced cost. The committee organizing the event hopes to encourage residents to take advantage of their hometown culture and bolster awareness of the role of museums in Memphis.

“We want Downtown Museum Day to become a Memphis cultural tradition, inviting all members of our community to experience the Bluff City’s incredible wealth of history, art and music at numerous participating museums at reduced or no cost,” says co-organizer Anna Mullins, Executive Director of the Cotton Museum.

In addition to free or discounted admission, many participating museums and attractions (listed below) are offering unique programs and special tours for the day. Visitors should check each attraction’s website for hours and unique offerings.

“The day is intended to emphasize the lasting impact museums have on their communities and provide new opportunities for the community to participate in the wide-ranging programs that our museums and attractions offer,” adds Kimberly McCollum, Executive Director of Elmwood Cemetery.

For more information about Downtown Museum Day, visit our facebook page at facebook.com/downtownmuseumday, email us at downtownmuseumday [at] gmail [dot] com">downtownmuseumday@gmail.com or call Anna Mullins at 901.857.2335.

Downtown Museum Day Participants
Discounts are available to all Tennessee residents. Check each attraction’s webpage for hours and additional information.

Belz Museum of Asian and Judaic Art
Cotton Museum
Elmwood Cemetery
Fire Museum of Memphis
Jimmy Ogle Tours
    Free City Tours
    10:00 a.m. Union Avenue Manhole Cover & History Tour (begins at the Cotton Museum)
    11:30 a.m. Cotton Row (begins at the Cotton Museum)
    1:00 p.m. The Mississippi River (begins at Confederate Park)
    3:00 p.m. Court Square & Surroundings
Mississippi River Museum at Mud Island River Park
National Civil Rights Museum
National Ornamental Metal Museum
Stax Museum of American Soul Music
Sun Studio
Woodruff-Fontaine House

Southern Summers: Summer Scavenger Hunt

The final item included in the scavenger hunt is this...Boulle clock with tortoise shell and brass inlay on the case, ormulu mounts.  Andre Charles Boulle, chief designer of baroque furniture, which bears the hallmark of the Louis XIV style, perfected the art of tortoise shell and brass veneer on cabinet and clock pieces to such a fine degree that such work bears his name today!  All work executed by Boulle himself is in museums, however this Boulle-esque cloak is fine and rare.  The clock rests on the entry hall credenza (Second Empire...between 1870-1880) ebonized with brass and gilt trim.  And as with the sands of the hour glass, time has come to a finish on "Southern Summers" at the WF.  We proudly announce the opening of "Mourning Memphis" coming August 17th!

Southern Summers: Summer Scavenger Hunt

The sands of TIME are slipping into another season and with that said, this is our last item of the hunt!  This item will tie in nicely with the next exhibition, "Mourning Memphis"...when the hands of TIME stop to mourn our heroes, heroines, and martyrs of the tragic yellow fever epidemic of 1878.

Southern Summers: Summer Scavenger Hunt



This crotch mahogany tester bed, thought to be a Mallard, sits inside what is affectionately referred to as the Rose room, for it's cabbage rose wall covering.  Upon the net lace bedding lay a few Christening gowns made of cotton...for those hot summer afternoon Christenings at St. Mary's!  The Rose room is also known as "Miss Mollie's room" for Mollie Woodruff who later shared the room with her husband Egbert Wooldridge.  The gentle spirit of Mollie is said to return for visits from time to time...more on that in a future post!  The room itself has been filled with dolls and jovial girls having a tea party, however the ambiance of this room will take a darker turn for our upcoming exhibition, "Mourning Memphis".