Summer Lecture Series
Fellows Lectures
Family Programs
Havana Living Today
Hermes Mallea, Architect and Author
Tuesday, July 24
6:00 p.m., Rosecliff, 548 Bellevue Avenue, Newport
Far from the cliché of dilapidated palazzos and 1950s-era cars, today’s Havana is a vibrant, creative, and forward-looking city. Recent changes in Cuba—such as the easing of restrictions on travel and commercial real estate enterprises—have led to a flurry of world-class renovations, giving rise to a palpable hopefulness in the Cuban capital and innovative interiors for a tropical lifestyle. Mr. Mallea brings an insider’s perspective to the styles present in this revitalizing city, revealing the elegant, eccentric, sophisticated, and classical melange of the city’s finest, most fascinating interiors.
Hermes Mallea is an architect and a partner in the New York City based firm M(Group). Mr. Mallea studied at the University of Miami's School of Architecture and Columbia University's graduate school of Historic Preservation and is a member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA). A longtime collector of vintage Cuban photographs, Mr. Mallea has travelled to Cuba frequently to research his recent books, Great Houses of Havana – A Century of Cuban Style, and Havana Living Today: Cuban Home Style Now.
Reception immediately following the lecture. Advance ticket purchase is required.
Preservation Society Members $15 / General Public $20
or call 401-847-1000 ext. 178
THE JOHN G. WINSLOW LECTURE
Life at the Top: New York’s Most Exceptional Apartment Buildings
Anne Walker and Kirk Henckels, Authors and Architectural Specialists
Tuesday, August 7
6:00 p.m., Rosecliff, 548 Bellevue Avenue, Newport
What are New York City’s best apartment buildings? Before 1900, it was the Dakota and the Osborne; soon after came McKim, Mead & White’s magnificent Fifth Avenue buildings, followed by the true luxury edifices of the roaring '20s and the Art Deco era. Today, the city’s skyline sparkles with palatial new buildings, such as Robert A. M. Stern’s 15 Central Park West, Richard Meier’s glass-walled Perry Street towers, and 432 Park Avenue, New York’s tallest residential building. Kirk Henckels and Anne Walker, real estate and architectural insiders, chronicle the fortunes and features of 15 outstanding apartment houses with a wealth of vintage and new photography and architectural plans, and show off select apartments as they look today, designed by top interior designers.
Kirk Henckels, is Vice Chairman of Stribling Residential Brokerage and the founding Director of Stribling Private Brokerage. He holds an economics degree from Stanford University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He is the former President of Edward Lee Cave, Inc., and has been at Stribling since 1995, where he leads Stribling's $5,000,000 and up luxury real estate brokerage division.
Anne Walker is an architectural historian at NYU and holds a Master's Degree in Historic Preservation from Columbia University. She has collaborated with NYC architect Peter Pennoyer on several books on the history of twentieth-century American architecture, including The Architecture of Warren & Wetmore, The Architecture of Grosvenor Atterbury, and, most recently, Harrie T. Lindeberg and the American Country House. She is the author of Peter Pennoyer Architects: Apartments, Townhouses and Country Houses, and co-author of The Finest Rooms in America with Thomas Jayne, and A House in the Country with Pennoyer and Katie Ridder.
Reception immediately following the lecture. Advance ticket purchase is required.
Preservation Society Members $15 / General Public $20
or call 401-847-1000 ext. 178
William Waldorf Astor: American Tycoon to English Lord
Curt DiCamillo, Author and Curator of Special Collections, New England Historic Genealogical Society
Tuesday, August 28
6:00 p.m., Rosecliff, 548 Bellevue Avenue, Newport
William Waldorf Astor was one of those rare beings who passed into legend during his own lifetime. The richest man in the world by the early 20th century, he created some of the finest houses, gardens, and collections in the world,and founded the legendary Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York. This richly illustrated lecture will feature Astor’s most magnificent houses, from his English country estates to his idyllic villa on the Amalfi Coast.
Curt DiCamillo, an internationally recognized authority on English country houses and the decorative arts is the Curator of Special Collections for the New England Historic Genealogical Society. He has led highly successful heritage tours to England and Scotland, lectured extensively in the United States and abroad, and taught classes on British culture and art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Curt was previously Executive Director of The National Trust for Scotland Foundation USA.
Reception immediately following the lecture. Advance ticket purchase is required.
Preservation Society Members $15 / General Public $20
or call 401-847-1000 ext. 178
The House of Mirth, Edith Wharton
Book discussion led by Dr. Renee Somers, Assistant Professor of English, Bridgewater State University, MA
Saturday, July 21
9:30 a.m. - 11:00 a.m., The Breakers Stable, Coggeshall Avenue, Newport
The House of Mirth is the story of Lily Bart, a well-born but penniless high society woman of New York and Newport, who was raised to be the wife to a rich man and a hothouse flower for conspicuous consumption. As an unmarried woman with gambling debts and an uncertain future, Lily is destroyed by the society that created her. Wharton’s heartbreaking masterpiece has been stimulating discussion since 1905. Join fellow book lovers and Wharton scholars in examining this compelling work!
Dr. Renee Somers is Assistant Professor of English at Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts and formerly taught at Curry College and LaGuardia Community College. She earned her MA in English from Northeastern University and holds a PhD in English Literature from the University of Rhode Island, where she did her doctoral dissertation on the work of Edith Wharton. In 2005 Dr. Somers published an academic title about Edith Wharton’s Newport years and their influence on her ideas about architecture (Edith Wharton as Spatial Analyst, Routledge ), and has given numerous lectures about Gilded Age literature.
Advance ticket purchase is required. Preservation Society Members $10 / General Public $15
or call 401-847-1000 ext. 178
The Jacalyn & William P. Egan 2017-2018 Research Fellows Lectures
Wednesday, July 18
11:00 a.m., Rosecliff, 548 Bellevue Avenue, Newport
The Kingscote Chitarrone and Stanford White’s Musical Legacy
Byron Pillow, Research Fellow
Stanford White may be best known for his contributions to architecture in Gilded Age America, yet there is another discipline in which he innovated at the turn of the century: his use of musical instruments as decorative elements. Mr. Pillow’s presentation will explore the history of the chitarrone installed by White in the dining room at Kingscote in 1881 and the conservation initiative which will see it returned to its original setting this summer, visible to the public for the first time as the last known original installation of Stanford White’s musical legacy.
Byron Pillow is an organologist and digital imaging specialist who is currently the Associate Curator at the National Music Museum in Vermillion, South Dakota. He has a Masters of Music from the University of South Dakota and specializes in the interpretation and use of musical instruments to facilitate exploration of the human experience and our universal cultural heritage.
Newporters’ Sense of Identity and Place Reflected in Their Perspectives in the 1890s
Jason Lilienthal, Research Fellow
Explore the perspectives, opinions, and beliefs of Newport residents in the 1890s through Mr. Lilienthal’s research into some of the many community issues of the period and how Newporters internalized concerns of national importance at the local level. His presentation will also examine their emerging middle-class values amidst the reforms and activism in an early phase of the Progressive Era which informed how they viewed themselves and Newport.
Jason Lilienthal holds a Masters in History from the University of Texas at San Antonio where he is pursuing a second Master's degree in Geography & GIS. His areas of research include the digital humanities, Hispanics in the American southwest, historic preservation, and urban/regional planning.
Advance ticket purchase is required. Preservation Society Members free / General Public $5
or call 401-847-1000 ext. 178
The Eaddo & Peter D. Kiernan 2017-2018 Research Fellows Lectures
Wednesday, August 1
11:00 a.m., Rosecliff, 548 Bellevue Avenue, Newport
Beyond the Gilding: Exploring the Construction of Newport’s Summer Homes
Kristin Potterton, Research Fellow
The design and construction of the Gilded Age mansions in Newport marks a rise of the professional architect and general contractor, as illustrated in the execution of designs by preeminent architects of the period. Ms. Potterton’s presentation will discuss how the construction of these residences represents a transition from local builders or craftsmen to regional and national contractors working closely with specific architects and how they applied the latest innovations in construction techniques to Newport cottages.
Kristin Potterton is a licensed structural engineer specializing in historic buildings, custom residences, as well as specialty commercial and public projects. She has Masters in Architectural Engineering from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, and a Masters in Conservation Studies, Historic Buildings, from the University of York, U.K.
Newport-Cuba Connections: Families, Legacy and Trade in the 19th Century
Emilio Ruiz Perez, Research Fellow
The 19th century signified a great era for American-Cuban relations especially in Newport and the surrounding areas where there is substantial evidence of the close commercial ties American families had with the island. Mr. Ruiz Perez’s lecture will focus on this period of heightened activity when Cubans were making their way to Newport to realize a host of new opportunities in their adopted country. The underpinnings of these connections will be discussed including their ties to several Preservation Society properties.
Emilio Ruiz Perez is a former Curator at National Museum of Decorative Arts in Havana, Cuba. In 2016, he served as a Fellow at the Newark Museum which precipitated his relocation to the United States. Mr. Ruiz Perez is furthering his research on the cultural and art historical ties between the United States and Cuba and while at the Preservation Society, focusing specifically on Newport – Cuba connections.
Advance ticket purchase is required. Preservation Society Members free / General Public $5
or call 401-847-1000 ext. 178
The Hartfield Foundation 2018 Research Fellows Lectures
Wednesday, August 8
11:00 a.m., Rosecliff, 548 Bellevue Avenue, Newport
The Intersection of Past & Present: Contemporary Sculpture in Historic Places
Tanya Kelley, Research Fellow
Whether presented as an exhibition, as part of a permanent installation or as a singular focal point in the landscape, sculpture has always been an important element of the design of private and public outdoor spaces. Today, more and more institutions and historic house museums around the country and the world are integrating contemporary sculpture exhibits into their programmatic offerings. Ms. Kelley will share her research into the variety of outdoor sculpture exhibitions and installations which today include an unlimited range of media and physical expression and tend towards the experiential or sensorial with the goal of further enlivening and activating the landscape for visitors to historic sites.
Tanya Kelley is a designer with thirty years of experience and is the founder and Principal of PLACEstudio Landscape Design in Newport, RI. She received a Bachelor of Science in Landscape Architecture from the City College of the City of New York and a Masters in Landscape Architecture from The Rhode Island School of Design.
Rivalry and Friendship: The Contrasting Decorative Art of Robert Winthrop Chanler and Howard Gardiner Cushing
Lauren Drapala, Research Fellow
Join Ms. Drapala for a fascinating discussion about the legacies of two decorative artists who crafted their own distinctly American identities at the turn of the last century. Both men were born into longstanding legacies within Newport's social circles; both were close companions with and benefited from the patronage of Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney; both lived and studied in Paris in the 1890s with the pursuit of art. But while the two shared similar inspirations, the existing work of artists Robert Winthrop Chanler and Howard Gardiner Cushing reflect widely different interpretations of the direction and meaning of decorative art in the early 20th century.
Lauren Drapala is an architectural conservator and design historian who has worked on preservation projects throughout the United States. A primary focus of her research is American decorative artist Robert Winthrop Chanler (1872-1930). Ms. Drapala will begin her Ph.D. at Bard Graduate Center in New York City in the fall of 2018.
or call 401-847-1000 ext. 178