The Decorative Arts Trust

09/14/2026

Get ready! Registration opens next month for our Spring 2027 Symposium in Houston! On April 14–18, we explore staggering collections at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), dazzling European decorative arts at Rienzi, Ima Hogg’s celebrated American material culture collection at Bayou Bend, and outstanding examples of Modern architecture.

See https://decorativeartstrust.org/houston-symposium-2027 to learn more! As a reminder, members at the Ambassador and Champion levels receive the first opportunity to register. We hope to see you in Houston!

Pictured: A period room at Bayou Bend, this Dining Room’s shimmering, gold-leaf canvas wall covering, designed in 1927–28 by New York artist William MacKay, is hand painted with Texas dogwood branches, peonies, and garden creatures.

09/09/2026

Fiona Owens observed how architectural preservation is enhanced in its power by intact interior spaces during the Victorian Society in America Chicago Summer School, with support from a Decorative Arts Trust scholarship.

The Driehaus Museum (image 1) displays an exceedingly wide variety of objects ranging from fire-backs to stained glass. The different cultures and themes represented in each room, ranging from a British Pre-Raphaelite painting and frame to majolica tiles with Middle Eastern inspirations, gives visitors a powerful sense of what cultures and ideas came together to form the Gilded Age aesthetic.

The Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio (image 2) communicates to visitors the effect of one single designer’s all-encompassing power, as opposed to the mosaic effect of Driehaus.

Read more about Owens’s experiences in a new post in 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘈𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘉𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯: https://decorativeartstrust.org/historic-preservation-chicago-post.

09/04/2026

In 1791, the Valencian sculptor Manuel Tolsá arrived in Mexico City, bringing with him books, instruments, and over 60 crates of plaster casts destined for the newly founded Royal Academy of San Carlos. The casts, the focus of my research, were intended to establish a canon of Classical forms to train colonial artists in the aesthetics of Western Europe.

Thanks to a Decorative Arts Trust Research Grant, Rebecca Yuste, who received her PhD from Columbia University, traveled to Mexico City to examine both the plaster cast collection at the Academy of San Carlos and the corresponding archival records. See https://decorativeartstrust.org/neoclassicism-in-mexico-post to read more about her research.

Images: Gaddi torso, c. 1790. Plaster cast. Academia de San Carlos, UNAM, Mexico City. Photo by author; Germanicus, c. 1790. Plaster cast. Academia de San Carlos, UNAM, Mexico City. Photo by author.

09/02/2026

September 30 is the deadline for institutions to submit applications for our Curatorial Internship Grants! The Decorative Arts Trust underwrites curatorial internships for recent Masters and PhD graduates in partnership with museums and historical societies. These internships enable host organizations to hire a deserving young professional who will learn about the common responsibilities and duties of the curatorial field while working alongside a talented mentor.

Steven Baltsas serves as the Peggy N. Gerry Curatorial Fellow at Preservation Long Island (PLI) in Cold Spring Harbor, NY, where he played a key role in developing the exhibition 𝘞𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘞𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳: 𝘍𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘓𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘐𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥, 1660–1860. He is pictured with his mentor, PLI’s Chief Curator & Director of Collections Lauren Brincat.

See https://decorativeartstrust.org/grants-and-scholarships/curatorial-internship-grants to learn more about the application process, and please share!

Photo by Pineapple Shirt Productions.

09/01/2026

Now online: select articles from the summer issue of 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘈𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵! Our Semiquincentennial section featured stories from the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Independence Seaport Museum, Historic Trappe, Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library, and The Clay Studio. We also shared highlights from our recent Scotland, Low Countries, Atlanta, and Virginia programs.

See https://decorativeartstrust.org/summer-2026-magazine-post for details, and feel free to share!

The magazine cover shows a rare pickle stand featured in 𝘈 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘈𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘴 at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Gousse Bonnin and George Anthony Morris founded the American China Manufactory in Philadelphia in 1770. Designed to serve pickled nuts and fruits during the dessert course of a meal, this small stand is made of more than 72 elements individually formed from a refined white clay called kaolin. The shells were molded from actual shells. Once assembled, the stand was then decorated with cobalt blue ornament, covered with a clear lead glaze, and fired at a high temperature. Bonnin and Morris’s ability to make soft-paste porcelain provided direct evidence that Americans could prosper without the assistance of Great Britain and its mercantile system, emboldening leaders such as Benjamin Franklin and Dr. Benjamin Rush. (American China Manufactory, Pickle Stand, 1770–72, Philadelphia. Soft-paste porcelain with underglaze blue decoration. 5 1/8 × 7 in. Philadelphia Museum of Art, Gift of a 7th-generation Philadelphian, 2014-166-1. Image courtesy of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.)

08/07/2026

At the turn of the 20th century, new technologies affected how the labor involved in embroidery pattern transfer and kits. Anna Flinchbaugh, a PhD Candidate at the University of Southern California, was awarded a Decorative Arts Trust Research Grant to study this topic at three institutions in Massachusetts (Harvard’s Schlesinger Library, Historic New England, and the Deerfield Memorial Hall Museum) and two institutions in New York (The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Antoni Ratti Textile Study Center and the Drue Heinz Study Center for Drawings and Prints at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum).

In a new post in 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘈𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘉𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯, read about what she discovered about needlework pioneers Amelia Muir Baldwin, Grace Isabel Berkeley, Margaret C. Whiting, Ellen Miller, and Candace Wheeler and the Associated Artists. See https://decorativeartstrust.org/needlework-labor-post to learn more!

Pictured: Anna Flinchbaugh examining “The Peacock,” an embroidered screen panel made by the Deerfield Society of Blue and White Needlework, c. 1910, Massachusetts. Deerfield Society of Blue and White Needlework, Memorial Hall Museum. Photo by Ray Radigan.

08/04/2026

August 31 is the application deadline for IDEAL Internship Grants from the Decorative Arts Trust. These grants award up to $5,000 for museums and historic sites to support internships that create opportunities for disadvantaged high school and undergraduate students from underrepresented communities. Internships should focus on the decorative arts and object-based research, exhibitions, installations, and educational programs.

See https://decorativeartstrust.org/ideal for application details, and please share!

Pictured: Julia Yun was the IDEAL Intern at The Clay Studio in Philadelphia, PA, in 2025. She worked with Curator and Director of Artistic Programs Jennifer Zwilling and Exhibition & Development Coordinator Trinity Dubois on several projects, including Minah Kim’s solo exhibition, 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘹. Left to right: Jennifer Zwilling, Julia Yun, Trinity Dubois.

IDEAL Internships advance inclusivity, diversity, equity, access, and leadership within the museum field.

07/31/2026

𝘏𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬: 𝘏𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘖𝘣𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘔𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢 is a visually stunning celebration of America’s spirit through ordinary, surprising, and overlooked handcrafted objects spanning more than 250 years. The title is the official book of Handwork: Celebrating American Craft 2026, Craft in America’s nationwide initiative in which the Decorative Arts Trust is a participating organization.

Edited by Emily Zaiden, Director and Lead Curator of the Craft in America Center, with a foreword by Carol Sauvion, the visionary behind the Peabody Award–winning series 𝘊𝘳𝘢𝘧𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢 on PBS, the book features contributions from Glenn Adamson, Alexandra Alevizatos Kirtley, Nonie Gadsden, Monica Obniski, Roberto Lugo, Mira Nakashima, and Decorative Arts Trust Executive Director Matthew A. Thurlow as well as many more scholars and makers.

Read more about 𝘏𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 in this 𝘋𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘈𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘉𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯 post: https://decorativeartstrust.org/handwork-book-post.

07/24/2026

Have you heard of Functional Fashions? In the mid-20th century, Shannon Rodgers designed for disability under Jerry Silverman’s brand, Jerry Silverman, Inc., collaborating with the nonprofit Clothing Research and Development Foundation (CRDF) on an accessible clothing line. Rodgers created at least 23 Functional Fashions in his Parisian-style silhouettes, and as the businessman of the brand, Silverman also sat on the CRDF board.

Natalie Wright received a Decorative Arts Trust Research Grant to study Functional Fashions at the Kent State University Museum and Kent State’s Special Collections and Archives. Read about her discoveries in this new 𝘋𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘈𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘉𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯 post: https://decorativeartstrust.org/functional-fashions-post.

Pictured: Natalie Wright (left) and Dr. Sara Hume (right) examining a 1966 Jerry Silverman, Inc. Functional Fashions dress from Wright’s own collection; Shannon Rodgers (1911–96) for Jerry Silverman (1910–84), Dress (Detail), 1969, American. Silk and wool with rhinestones. Kent State University Museum, gift of Mrs. James Spearman, 1987.077.0002 ab. Photo by Natalie Wright; Marian Stephenson (photographer, 1896–1973) for the Clothing Research and Development Foundation, Virginia Connors (model, 1923–96) wearing Jerry Silverman, Inc., 1969. Image courtesy of Natalie Wright and Mary Joan Connors.

07/22/2026

Save the dates: Our Spring 2027 Symposium in Houston will be held April 14–18! Explore staggering collections at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), dazzling European decorative arts at Rienzi, Ima Hogg’s celebrated American material culture collection at Bayou Bend, and outstanding examples of Modern architecture.

See https://decorativeartstrust.org/houston-symposium-2027 to learn more. As a reminder, members at the Ambassador and Champion levels receive the first opportunity to register. We hope to see you in Houston!

Pictured: Rienzi, the MFAH house museum for European decorative arts.