Lectures and Events

Gain new insight into the art and culture of Philadelphia with Woodmere’s engaging lectures and gallery talks. Hear from artists, art historians, professors, curators, and writers who offer new perspectives on the Museum’s collection, exhibitions, and related topics.

Lessons Learned Through Gilbert Lewis: A Gallery Talk with Aaron Feltman

Thursday, September 17

7 pm (Online via Zoom)

$15 ($10 members)

Join artist Aaron Feltman for an online gallery talk of Gilbert Lewis: Many Faces, Many Figures. A recent graduate from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts—the alma mater of Gilbert Lewis and where he once taught—Feltman will share insights he has gleaned from spending time with Lewis’s work to help viewers understand how his teachings can live on through his paintings.

This event will be offered through Zoom and registration is required. Registrants will receive a confirmation email containing the Zoom meeting link. Click here to register.

Opening Reception: Sam Feinstein, Group '55, and Midcentury Modernism

Thursday, September 24

7 pm (Online via Zoom)

Free

Attend the online opening reception and celebrate this multi-venue initiative that involves three exhibitions: Sam Feinstein: Immersive Abstraction and Group ’55 and Midcentury Abstraction in Philadelphia at Woodmere, and Sam Feinstein: The Early Years at Springside Chestnut Hill Academy. All three exhibitions will open to the public on Saturday, September 26, 2020.

This event will be offered through Zoom and registration is required. Registrants will receive a confirmation email containing the Zoom meeting link. Click here to register.

Gay, Community, Nudes: The Times of Gilbert Lewis

Thursday, October 8

7 pm (Online via Zoom)

Lecturer: Christopher Reed, Distinguished Professor of English and Visual Culture, Affiliate Faculty in Art History and in Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Pennsylvania State University

$15 ($10 members)

Christopher Reed, author of Art and Homosexuality: A History of Ideas, sets Gilbert Lewis's career in the context of the gay and lesbian art and cultures of the mid-1970s to the mid-1990s. This event will be offered through Zoom and registration is required. Registrants will receive a confirmation email containing the Zoom meeting link. Click here to register.

Louis Kahn, the Visual Arts, and the Idea of Modernism

Thursday, October 29

7 pm (Online via Zoom)

Lecturer: Izzy Kornblatt, Architectural Historian

$15 ($10 members)

Kahn’s involvement of Group ’55 offers a window into both Kahn’s and the larger group’s respective understandings of what it meant to be modern within the arts. Beginning with an outline of Kahn’s educational and visual arts background, this talk illuminates how Kahn developed distinctive ideas about the purpose and importance of art that he brought to Group ’55 in the form of a series of speeches given at group events. Those ideas reveal new dimensions to Kahn’s thinking and challenge long-held assumptions about the meaning of his buildings.

This event will be offered through Zoom and registration is required. Registrants will receive a confirmation email containing the Zoom meeting link. Click here to register.

Discovering the Story of Group '55 and the Philadelphia Abstract Artists

Thursday, November 5

7 pm (Online via Zoom)

Lecturer: Barbara Wolanin, curator, Sam Feinstein, Group '55, and Midcentury Abstraction in Philadelphia

$15 ($10 members)

Dr. Barbara Wolanin, who wrote the historical essay on the groups for the exhibition catalogue, will explore the history of Group '55 and how she became engaged with midcentury abstract painting in Philadelphia. Dr. Wolanin will talk about who the members were, how some of them branched off into the Philadelphia Abstract Artists, focusing on their accomplishments, and how they made a difference for the art world in 1950s Philadelphia and even today.

This event will be offered through Zoom and registration is required. Registrants will receive a confirmation email containing the Zoom meeting link. Click here to register.

Members' Tour: Sam Feinstein, Group '55, and Midcentury Abstraction in Philadelphia (in conjunction with annual meeting of members)

Wednesday, November 11

6:30 pm (Online via Zoom)

Free

Woodmere Art Museum members are invited to join us for our 2020 Annual Members Meeting. This virtual meeting will include a presentation from Director and CEO William Valerio, PhD, as well as an online tour of our latest exhibition Sam Feinstein, Group ‘55, and Midcentury Abstraction in Philadelphia by Assistant Curator Rachel Hruszkewycz. This is a free event for members offered online through Zoom. Registrants will receive a confirmation email with the Zoom meeting link. Click here to register.