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Study Programs
: Continuing Education
: Conferences, Forums, and Workshops at Colonial Williamsburg
The office of Conferences, Forums and Workshops presents a broad range of high-quality programs that address issues of historical and contemporary significance as well as focusing on the decorative arts, material culture, historic trades and horticulture. Skilled professionals at Colonial Williamsburg are joined by distinguished members of the academic and professional communities to present these programs.
Join us for the Garden
Symposium, Working Wood, the Antiques Forum, and other programs for a rewarding learning experience.
Please bookmark this site and check back frequently for new offerings. Special conference rates are available for programs at the official hotels of Colonial Williamsburg. To make room and dining reservations, call 1-800-261-9530, Monday through Friday, from 8:30 a.m to 5 p.m.
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January 7-10
January 11-14
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Working
Wood in the 18th Century: Bedroom Furniture
Colonial Williamsburg and Fine Woodworking present
the eleventh annual Working Wood in the 18th Century conference
at Williamsburg during the week of January 7-14, 2009. The
topic is bedroom furniture. Mack Headley and the staff
of the Colonial Williamsburg Historic Trades Cabinetmaking
Shop will present the design and construction of two mid-eighteenth-century
bedsteads, one a high-post, the other a low-post. They
also will make a mahogany child’s cradle. While
the focus will be on the woodwork, beds are incomplete without
their hangings and other textiles, many of which were cleverly
engineered, and curators and conservators will show how to “dress” the
products of our woodworking shops.
In addition to beds, Historic Trades cabinetmakers will
demonstrate the production of several looking glasses/mirrors,
including techniques such as joinery and gilding that are
applicable to picture-frame making as well. Finally,
we will be joined by noted educator and craftsman Steve Latta,
who will present the construction and decoration of a Portsmouth,
New Hampshire,-style lady’s dressing table, taking
the symposia for the first time into the exploration of a
formal, high-style Federal case piece.
As always, these demonstrations will concentrate on period
methods of workmanship, and close-up video monitoring will
show the processes in detail.
Speakers Include:
- Tara Gleason Chicirda, curator of furniture, Colonial
Williamsburg
- Beth Gerhold, textile refurnisher, Colonial Williamsburg
- Mack Headley, master cabinetmaker, Colonial Williamsburg
- Kim Ivey, associate curator of textiles and needlework,
Colonial Williamsburg
- Steve Latta, educator and craftsman, Thaddeus Stevens
College, Lancaster, Pennsylvania
- Kaare Loftheim, journeyman cabinetmaker, Colonial Williamsburg
- Bill Pavlak, apprentice cabinetmaker, Colonial Williamsburg
- David Salisbury, journeyman cabinetmaker, Colonial Williamsburg
- Chris Swan, furniture conservator, Colonial Williamsburg
- Brian Weldy, apprentice cabinetmaker, Colonial Williamsburg
The conference is informal. Participants’ comments
and questions are welcomed. During morning and afternoon
breaks, speakers display their work, tools, and materials;
demonstrate techniques; and chat with participants. To
include more participants while keeping the conferences small
enough for everyone to be involved, two virtually identical
programs are offered (with some changes in the sequence of
presentations). Please note that the first session
begins Wednesday evening, January 7, and closes Saturday
afternoon, January 10. The second program begins Sunday
evening, January 11, and closes Wednesday afternoon, January
14.
Download
brochure (requires
Adobe Acrobat Reader)
Register
online
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February
1-5
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The 61st Annual
Colonial Williamsburg Antiques Forum
The Origins of American Style
American decorative arts, inspired by British and other
European antecedents, evolved steadily over the course of
the nation’s
first three centuries. Fresh expressions of style emerged
with every passing decade and new forms were introduced regularly,
especially in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. At
the 61st annual Colonial Williamsburg Antiques Forum, The
Origins of American Style, you are invited to explore this
rich and varied heritage.
The 2009 Forum will bring together
a host of widely recognized speakers to investigate the remarkable
furniture, silver, ceramics, textiles, paintings, and buildings
produced in early America. More than twenty curators, collectors,
and historians (including three from Great Britain) will
present their latest findings in a series of illustrated
lectures and video-assisted workshops. Scheduled speakers
include English decorative arts scholar Lisa White, Winterthur’s
Brock Jobe, and American furniture specialist Erik Gronning
of Sotheby’s.
In addition to the formal program, Forum
guests may register for optional hands-on workshops with
the Colonial Williamsburg collections and private tours of
historic homes in the region. Please plan to join us February
1-5, 2009, for The Origins
of American Style.
Download
brochure (requires
Adobe Acrobat Reader)
Register
online
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February
22 - 25
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"Quilted Fashions"
400 Years of Quilting
The process of quilting textiles to enhance their warmth,
comfort, and luxury has been around for thousands of years.
And quilts still speak to people today, whether it is the
concept of creating beauty from small bits and pieces, giving
one’s self through a special handmade gift, or connecting
with a past ancestor through his or her surviving quilt.
To some, quilts evoke family, friends, warmth, and tradition.
To others, quilts are striking art objects hung on the wall.
This symposium brings together
nationwide experts for two days of illustrated lectures on
quilts and quilted clothing from 1600 to the present. Optional
workshops and special behind-the-scenes tours give participants
the opportunity to learn a new technique or see museum artifacts
close up.
Download
brochure (requires
Adobe Acrobat Reader)
Register
online |
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March 22 – 26
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37th Annual Conference
on Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology
(CAA)
“Making History Interactive”
CAA 2009 Williamsburg
The 37th Annual Conference on
Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology, “Making History Interactive,” will
be held in Williamsburg, Virginia, U.S.A., March 22–26,
2009. The conference theme will explore how digital technologies
make it possible to access and investigate our cultural heritage
in new ways and how we as scholars can use these innovative
approaches to engage the public in the study of the past.
The meeting will be held in the Williamsburg Lodge Conference
Center, adjacent to Colonial Williamsburg’s Historic
Area, and is being sponsored by The Colonial Williamsburg
Foundation and the University of Virginia.
For further information, please visit the conference website:
http://www.caa2009.org
Register
online |
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May 1
*Note Date Change*
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63rd Colonial Williamsburg
Garden Symposium
The Natural Rhythm of Gardening
A natural rhythm is always present in our gardens. We
can become attuned to the rhythm and cycles of our plants
and landscapes as they change through the seasons if we garden
in harmony with our surroundings. Colonial Williamsburg’s
63rd Garden Symposium will focus on that natural rhythm
and how to create gardens that are both aesthetically rich
and ecologically sound.
Speakers will share tips that
promote healthy plants, beautiful landscapes and responsible
gardening.
- Felder Rushing, horticulturist, writer,
and lecturer, will begin the symposium with his philosophy
on “Slow Gardening: Enjoying Our Gardens
in a Hectic World."
- James van Sweden, author
and founding partner of Oehme, van Sweden & Associates
in Washington, D.C., will present “Natural Gardens:
Embracing an Aesthetic of Region and Seasonal Change."
- Renee
Shepherd, owner of Renee's Garden seeds, will discuss “From
the Ground Up: What’s New and Unique from Seed?”
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day will culminate with dinner and a program by David Howard,
horticulture consultant, who will discuss the trends in
gardening he has observed during his 30 years of gardening
in England.
In
addition to the featured speakers, there will be several,
smaller break-out sessions throughout the day which will
examine a specific topic in more detail. The date for
the symposium is Friday, May 1, 2009. There also will
be optional tours, both on and off site, offered on Thursday,
April 30 and Saturday, May 2.
Held at the Williamsburg
Lodge and Conference Center, the symposium has been sponsored
jointly by The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, the American
Horticultural Society, and Fine Gardening magazine. Additional
information and registration will be available in January
2009.
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September
20-22
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“A very large
curious & compleat Assortment”
Textiles for Interiors,
1730–1830
An understanding of the design,
construction, and materials of textile furnishings is of
primary importance to scholars and designers who focus on
the recreation of traditional and historic interiors. For
more than 25 years, the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
has taken the lead in reinterpreting the use of textiles
in historic interiors from the eighteenth century.
This symposium
gathers the leading American and English scholars in the
field to review the design and composition of textile furnishings
available between 1730 and 1830, including upholstery, bed
and window treatments, and floor coverings. Complementing
the lectures will be special tours in Colonial Williamsburg’s
Historic Area and optional workshops. Particular attention
will be given to the accurate, yet practical, application
of these design tenets for today’s interiors. Because
it is becoming more and more difficult to find authentic
reproduction textiles, hardware, passementerie, and qualified
fabricators, Colonial Williamsburg will provide a venue for
well-respected vendors and booksellers who are able to supply
the essential resources for fabricating authentic textile
décor.
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November
8 - 10
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Foodways in the
18th Century: Bringing Virginia's Bounty to the Royal
Governor's Table
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January
13-16 and 17-20
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Working
Wood in the 18th Century
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February
7-11
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Antiques
Forum
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March 18 – 21
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Salt-glazed
Stoneware in Early America: Collecting, Archaeology, and
Research
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* Brochure downloads require Adobe Reader
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
Post Office Box 1776
Williamsburg, VA 23187-1776
Fax: (757) 565-8921
Telephone: (757) 220-7255
Toll free: (800) 603-0948
Email: dchapman@cwf.org
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