Wharton Esherick Museum

2022 marked the 50th anniversary of the Wharton Esherick Museum and our programming and exhibitions centered on this milestone. Throughout the year, a series of exhibitions and programs explored the idea of "home" in order to celebrate wem's 50-year history and to think creatively about the next fifty years - and beyond. The home as series divided our anniversary year into three themes: home as site, home as self, and home as stage. Each chapter of the series featured a new installation in the visitor's center highlighting the important role these concepts played in Esherick's life, practice, and work, as well as programs exploring the wem collection and Esherick's impact on contemporary creatives. Home as site showcased the architecture, process, and people involved in creating wem's campus as we know it today and the form it may take in the future. Programs throughout the spring examined the physical nature of Esherick's home and studio. Home as self reflected the studio as Esherick's most significant self-portrait, and in turn, our 28th annual juried woodworking exhibition opened in june and showcased the artists' own interpretations of what a self-portrait in wood can look like. Finally, home as stage opened in the fall and explored the idea of the studio as a stage for Esherick's life and relationships. The work of several contemporary artists was installed inside the studio, activating the space. Our in-person tours welcomed over 3,300 visitors to the site and our virtual programs another 1,200 attendees. These virtual programs remain a robust source of new audience due to the partners we worked with, and because attendees could join our program from anywhere in the world. In 2022, we also tackled a number of preservation projects, including installing a wireless intrusion and smoke detection system in the 1956 workshop building, which had previously not had any fire and security monitoring. The 1956 workshop, designed by louis kahn, served as the private residence of the Museum co-founders until their passing in 2020. The building was originally designed and built as a workshop for Wharton Esherick in 1956 which he used for 14 years until his passing in 1970. The Museum co-founders, Wharton's daughter and son-in-law, renovated the structure into a residence and lived in the space for 50 years. Now serving as office space until the campus expansion project affords an alternative space for administration, the future goals for the building are to open it to the public on a regular basis and interpret it as Esherick's workspace. In addition to the fire and security monitoring, we glazed and repainted several windows on the studio building, replaced a section of the sunekrest roof, repointed the chimney on both sunekrest and the 1956 workshop, and repaired and repainted fascia on the workshop.