Bring your party hats and come up the hill to join us in celebrating Wharton Esherick’s 138th birthday on Saturday, July 19, 2025. We’re extending the party this year! Tickets are available for a daytime celebration from 12:00-3:00 PM and an evening gathering from 4:00-......More
Bring your party hats and come up the hill to join us in celebrating Wharton Esherick’s 138th birthday on Saturday, July 19, 2025. We’re extending the party this year! Tickets are available for a daytime celebration from 12:00-3:00 PM and an evening gathering from 4:00-6:00 PM. Looking to join us for both? Combination tickets are available at a discounted price! Daytime EventDaytime festivities include artist textile and printmaking demonstrations by our artist-in-residence Kelly Cobb, our recent re-strike collaborator Katie Garth, and textile artist Dana Meyer. Come print your own tote bag with Esherick-inspired blocks designed by our guest artists! We’ll also host a pop-up birthday-themed exhibition in the 1956 Workshop, self-guided walkthroughs of the 1926 Studio, music by the Llama Dalis, and lawn games outside. Guests will be able to enjoy special access to the 1956 Workshop and patio along with light refreshments, cupcakes, and other celebratory fare! This year, we’re also asking you to help us make this party extra special by sending in a birthday card—handmade, store-bought, woodcut-printed, or whimsically scribbled. However you want to say Happy Birthday, we want to hear it. The only rule? Let your inner artist shine! We’ll display every card we receive at the party for all to admire. Evening EventThis year the festivities continue into the evening with an intimate wine and hors d’oeuvres gathering on the back patio of the 1956 Workshop. Experience special access to the Workshop and a wonderful view of the Studio as they change in the early evening light, amidst good conversation with old friends and new. In addition, the celebration continues into the evening with self-guided walkthroughs of the 1926 Studio with a special treat – classical music played from Esherick’s very own 1960s radio, resting on a custom swing-arm recently reinstalled in the Studio dining room. Join us to raise a glass in celebration of Esherick and the creative spirit that lives on at WEM! Artist Bios:Kelly Cobb is a Philadelphia-based textile designer and researcher and the 2025 WEM Artist-in-Residence (AIR). She is an Associate Professor of Fashion and Apparel Studies at The University of Delaware and the Director of the Textile RAD Lab. Her research examines the complexities inherent in apparel and textile supply chains through creative project-based work that reintegrates the wearer of clothes to local trades and economies, restoring integrity and kinship to the origins of materials and to the environmental resources and human labor involved in textile and apparel production. For her residency with WEM, Kelly is focused on the textiles and garments made by Letty Esherick. Through archival study, material experimentation, and public engagement, this project will highlight Letty’s creative life through her contributions as a weaver, garment maker, educator, and community builder. Katie Garth is a print-based artist in Philadelphia. Her interdisciplinary work explores tedium as a coping mechanism for uncertainty, and often reflects her interests in language and independent publication. She is Visiting Assistant Professor in Printmaking at Sarah Lawrence College and teaches at several Philadelphia-area universities. Recently, we engaged Katie to produce a selection of prints struck from Esherick’s original woodblocks that are now available in the WEM store. The paper quality, size, and printing technique used to make these prints were chosen from close examination of Esherick’s originals and skillfully printed by Katie. Dana Meyer has always been a maker. Her entire life has been centered around her creative ambitions and love for art and fashion. She currently works as a full-time fashion designer in New York City and has designed for Kate Spade, Ralph Lauren, Jessica Simpson and Lucky Brand. While apparel design is the foundation of her work, she focuses her artistic efforts on all types of textile art, manipulation and design. Her work is multi-faceted and emphasizes technical sewing construction, skill and detail in every medium she works with. This includes endeavors in needlepoint, hand embroidery, weaving, knit and crochet pieces, traditional tailoring methods and leather work. Recently, Dana has collaborated and consulted with WEM on textile reproductions and conservation, and collaborated with WEM’s 2023 Artist-in-Residence Martha McDonald to create stunning costumes for McDonald’s performance, The Wood is Singing in Color. Daytime Event Ticket Details:12:00-3:00PM $50 per person $40 for Members – Join or renew today to purchase your ticket at this special price! Reserve Your Daytime Tickets Evening Event Ticket Details:4:00-6:00PM $75 per person $60 for Members – Join or renew today to purchase your ticket at this special price! Reserve Your Evening Tickets Join us all day for a discounted combination price of:$100 per person $75 for Members – Join or renew today to purchase your ticket at this special price! To purchase combination tickets simply click either link above, and select the “Combination Ticket Add-on” when prompted during the checkout process. Tickets are non-refundable. The event will be held rain or shine. Can’t make the party? Consider a gift of support to celebrate Esherick’s birthday!WEM represents Esherick’s artistic home, a home to his truest expression of self and his boundless creativity. Your support ensures the preservation and celebration of this special place for generations to come! Thank you! Give a Gift Today
Wharton Esherick Museum, 1520 Horseshoe Trail, Malvern, PA, 19355, United States
