Art Tour of Philadelphia
April 24–April 27

Join the Concord Art Association for a collectors’ tour and exploration of Philadelphia, City of Brotherly Love. We’ll leave by bus from Concord on Thursday, April 24 to drive to Philadelphia, stopping en route for a tour of Weir Farm, home and studio of painter J. Alden Weir, a contemporary of Elizabeth Wentworth Roberts. Weir and his family transformed their summer retreat in Branchville, CT into a creative refuge for friends and fellow artists.  We’ll tour and talk with staff about the two-pronged goals of land preservation and support of creativity. We’ll have box lunches with the Weir staff and Marney Hupper’s parents, Bob and Nancy Faesy, who have been active in the entire preservation project.

Arriving in Philadelphia (after a nap and snack on board), we’ll drop off the luggage at our comfortable rooms at the Union League of Philadelphia. Founded in 1862 as a patriotic society to support the policies of President Abraham Lincoln, the Union League has hosted U.S. presidents, heads of state, and us. We’ll have an introductory walking tour of the area, which reflects the variety of architectural styles for which Philadelphia is noted.  

Our tour leader will be the remarkable Dr. George E. Thomas, from the University of Pennsylvania and author of the principal architectural histories on the city.  Dr. Thomas and his wife Susan N. Snyder who is an architect and authority on Philadelphia’s outdoor sculpture will join us for a welcome dinner at the League. (Strict dress code at Union League: jackets for the men, no jeans or sneakers at any time during our stay.)
  
On Friday morning, we’ll leave for the Philadelphia Museum of Art where we’ll have a guided tour of the Frida Kahlo show and time to enjoy the permanent collections on our own. At noon, we’ll walk or ride to the nearby Waterworks, newly converted to a restaurant, for lunch overlooking the Schuykill River and its famous Boathouse Row. In the afternoon, we’ll visit the Art Deco Perelman Building, the PMA’s newest addition, and tour  its contemporary sculpture, photography, costume and textile, and design collections. Everyone is invited to stay for the Museum’s Friday evening jazz concert which begins at 5:00 p.m. in the Main Museum Building, before returning to the Union League. Dinner is on your own and there is a fabulous array of excellent restaurants in Philadelphia.  
  
On Saturday, after breakfast at the League, we’ll drive to nearby Merion for a tour of the Barnes Foundation. Established by Albert C. Barnes in 1922 to "promote the advancement of education and the appreciation of the fine arts" and located in a twelve-acre arboretum, the Foundation is home to one of the world's largest collections of Impressionist, Post-Impressionist and early Modern paintings, with extensive holdings by Picasso, Matisse, Cézanne, Renoir and Modigliani, as well as important examples of African sculpture. After the tour we will be museumed-out, so we’ll come back to Philadelphia for a visit to the Reading Terminal Market with its 80 vendors selling everything from Amish foods to Philadelphia cheese-steaks. This is the continuation of the markets of William Penn’s day and contains every imaginable food and a few you’ve never heard of. After a short walk in the area led by Dr. Thomas we’ll hop onto the bus for a driving tour to see more distant Philadelphia architectural highlights including Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, the Waterfront and Historic District with its distinctive 18th century architecture of Society Hill – and a real Quaker meeting. We’ll even pass the site of our founder’s home when she lived on Rittenhouse Square in a remarkable Frank Furness mansion – unfortunately demolished but one of Furness’s six houses on the square still survives. We’ll see the Antiques Row area with 40 Philadelphia galleries, including several known to Miss Roberts.  

On Saturday evening dinner is on your own at the League or in nearby restaurants. That evening you can take your choice of a sound and light show called “Lights of Liberty” at Independence Hall, or go to the Kimmel Center, near the League for a performance by the Philadelphia Orchestra. (additional charge for tickets—see Lili)

 On Sunday morning, we’ll meet Dr. Thomas once again for a visit to Frank Furness’s masterpiece, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. This is also a great opportunity to see the industrial culture that made Philadelphia so distinctive and explains much about Thomas Eakins’ view of the world. He taught in Furness’s building. Then we will board our bus for a farewell ride, a box lunch and a stop in Connecticut for a tour of the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield, CT plus a Balducci’s snack, and back to Concord by early evening.
  
The cost of the trip is $1200 for four days including all transportation, all breakfasts, three lunches, one dinner, lots of snacks, all admissions, and tips. Reservations are held by first come, first listed with a deposit of $200. For more information, please call Lili Ott at 978-369-2578.