Participating Speakers

"The Workshop of a Loved American Genius:" Daniel Chester French's Studio at Chesterwood

by Linda Jackson
Manager of Collections and Interpretation, Chesterwood, Stockbridge, MA

Linda Wesselman Jackson has served as the Manager of Collections and Interpretation at Chesterwood Museum for eighteen years, coming to the site from the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities where she was Assistant Curator. During her tenure Ms. Jackson has overseen numerous projects relating to both the preservation of the site and its collections. Most recently she functioned as project manager for the development and installation of a permanent orientation exhibition on Daniel Chester French's sculpture in the site's barn gallery, and the past summer she wrote an article for American Art Review entitled "Chesterwood, Home and Studio of Daniel Chester French." Ms. Jackson is actively involved in preservation at a local and national level, serving on numerous committees, including the National Trust for Historic Preservation's Historic Artists' Homes and Studios Committee, as an Advisor, the Bay State Historical League, and the Stockbridge Historical Commission, where she has acted as Chair since 1994.

"This Little Corner of the World:" N.C. Wyeths Chadds Ford Studio

by Christine Podmaniczky
Associate Curator of N.C. Wyeth Collections, Brandywine River Museum, Chadds Ford, PA

N.C. Wyeth in his studio, ca. 1923, working on one of five murals for the First National Bank of Boston.
Photograph by Chester H. Thomas, Kennett Square, Pa., in collection of Brandywine River Museum.

Christine Bauer Podmaniczky, a former curator at the Farnsworth Art Museum, Rockland, Maine, joined the staff of the Brandywine River Museum in 1990 to assemble the N. C. Wyeth catalogue raisonne. Now Associate Curator of N. C. Wyeth collections, she continues to work toward both hardcover and web-based publications of the catalogue. In addition, Ms. Podmaniczky oversaw the installation of both the N. C. Wyeth house and studio in Chadds Ford prior to public opening and has organized a number of exhibitions devoted to various aspects of Wyeth's work. She is the author of several exhibition catalogues on the artist and the entries of N. C. Wyeth in the American National Biography and the Dictionary of Literary Biography.

Dragon Rock: Russel Wright's Consummate Achievement at Manitoga

by Anita Pidala
Executive Director, Manitoga, the Russel Wright Design Center Garrison, NY

Russel Wright working on a pottery line in his New York City studio, 1945. Collection Russel Wright Design Center, Garrison, NY

Anita Pidala first worked for Manitoga - the home, studio and 75-acre property of influential 20th century industrial designer Russel Wright -- in 1984 under the aegis of The Nature Conservancy. Since that time, she has worked at Manitoga in various capacities, including Program Director and Site Coordinator, before being appointed Executive Director in 2003. Ms Pidala has overseen the transformation of Manitoga from predominantly a nature preserve to a historic site of national significance. Her most notable achievement has been overseeing the complete restoration of Wright's Studio to its 1962 appearance. Anita's commitment to historic preservation and community service has been demonstrated by her work with PROCO, the driving force behind the historic preservation and revitalization of the village of Cold Spring.