(b)logs for the Fire: Part 2

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Yesterday, I posted about the details that can emerge if you focus on what is around (or specifically, below) the art on the walls. Here are some more examples of the tiny stories told by the tiny details and embellishments on the fireplaces sprinkled throughout the museum.

blue tile detail

Over eighty ornate blue and white tiles depict scenes of castles, ships, and farmers. Each tile is different from its neighbor, showing the artistry of this work on a fireplace in an upstairs room of the original Phillips house.

secret face detail

Is that a face hidden in the East Parlor fireplace andiron, or just an artful arrangement of leaves?

Roig detail

Bernardi Roig’s An Illuminated Head for Blinky P. (The Gun) cuts off a bright yellow fireplace from closer observation. What other artworks, and what other shoes, have come and gone before this yellow brick fireplace?

Emily Hurwitz, Marketing and Communications Intern

(b)logs for the Fire: Part 1

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Part of what makes The Phillips Collection unique is that the art on the walls is always rotating. But it is also important to note that some of the residents of the collection do have permanent homes. So permanent, in fact, that they were built right into the walls. Many visitors are perhaps familiar with the ornate and beautiful detailing of the Music Room fire place, but sprinkled throughout the gallery are several others—each with their own unique details, styles, and character. Here a just a few examples of what can emerge if you look closer.

baby detail

This little guy is a permanent resident of the West Parlor. What have those little baby eyes seen through the years?

fleur de lis detail

The repeating fleur de lis-style pattern on these bricks lies underneath a glassy, cracked glaze. From certain angles, you can barely make out the design at all.

Swirl detail

Hidden swirls and circles everywhere! This fireplace has a decorative wrought-iron detail and a textured fireplace interior wall.

Check back tomorrow for more fireplace details.

Emily Hurwitz, Marketing and Communications Intern

Arts & Healing: Speaking with NEA Chairman Dr. Jane Chu

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Phillips Head of Public Engagement Brooke Rosenblatt speaks with Iona Art Therapist Jackie Sargent and Dr Jane Chu, Chairman of the NEA. Photo: Gerlach Graphic

Phillips Head of Public Engagement Brooke Rosenblatt (left) speaks with Iona Art Therapist Jackie Sargent (center) and Dr. Jane Chu, Chairman of the NEA (right). Photo: Gerlach Graphic

I recently had the honor to sit down with Dr. Jane Chu, the new Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts. Dr. Chu was invited by the National Center for Creative Aging to visit the Phillips’s partner Iona Senior Services. She wanted to witness creative aging programs in action! During her site visit, we discussed the Phillips’s ongoing museum-education and art therapy partnership with Iona and the program’s positive impact on participants and their families. Her visit to Iona was timely–the NEA Arts Magazine‘s most recent issue highlights the innovative ways that organizations are using art as an instrument of healing.