The Library Company has two innovative—and affordable—seminars planned for this fall. Both seminars will unfold over three evenings, and their complementary scheduling means that you could, conceivably, enroll in both.

The first seminar, “Mirror of a City: Images of Philadelphia, 1780-1950,” led by curators Erika Piola and Sarah Weatherwax, will take participants on a sensory journey through the Library Company’s premiere collection of prints, photographs, drawings, watercolors, maps, and ephemera, depicting the city as it developed over three centuries from a port city to an urban metropolis. Sessions will explore the social, cultural, and technological influences that shaped Philadelphia image making; the known, hidden, and forgotten image makers; and the changing aesthetics of the physical city, as well as tastes of those who notably collected all manner of Philadelphia imagery.

In addition to hands-on access to materials spanning from the early republic through post-World War II, all three sessions include intimate dinners in the Logan room.

Notably, Sarah and Erika have assembled an extraordinary docket of special guests for this seminar, including Karie Diethorn (Chief Curator, National Independence Historical Park, National Park Service), Anna O. Marley (Curator of Historical American Art & Director for the Center of the Study of the American Artist, PAFA), and Lily Milroy (Professor and Department Head, Art and Art History, Antoinette Westphal College of Media).

“Mirror of a City” will convene 5:30-8:00 p.m. on September 26, October 10, and October 24, 2019. Tuition for all three sessions is $500 ($350 for members and shareholders).