candace wheeler: the art and enterprise of american textile design 1875-1900

8/11/2019 Candace Wheeler: The Art and Enterprise of American Textile Design 1875-1900

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CANDACEWHEELER

The Art and Enterprise of

American Textile Design:

1875-1900

EMILYCLARK2013


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Curatorial Statement

Interpretive Goals

Audience

Object Placement

Concept Map

Visitor Experience

Visitor Paths

Object Walkthrough

Entrance Treatment

ElevationsInteractive

Exit Treatment

Graphics


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CURATORIAL STATEMENT

In the decades following the Civil War, the second phase of the Industrial Revolution radically altered the

socio-economic fabric of the United States. Newly-developing technologies made industrial production

ever faster and ever cheaper, causing traditional economic systems to be displaced by new roles and

relationships. The shifting landscape would have a signicant impact on American design, with changing

expectations for design integrity and affordability coming from the buying public, as well as on American

women, whose burgeoning struggle for economic empowerment would mark the beginning of modern

feminism.

Textile designer Candace Wheeler set some instrumental precedents on both these fronts, and her

career is a unique window into this period of American history. Her passion for social stewardship coupled

with her enthusiasm for design spurred Wheeler to create the Society of Decorative Art and The Womans

Exchange in the early part of her career, attracting the cream of New York City society to her cause

even though she was a middle class woman with no impressive social standing of her own. The mission

of these organizations to provide economic independence to middle class women would be a theme

resonant with Wheelers entire career.

As she began to come into her own as a designer working with Louis Comfort Tiffany, Wheeler turnedher attention more towards the eld of textiles, where her innovations in weaving technologies and her

championing of a specically American design style kept pace with, and to a large extent informed, the

changing tastes of the American public. She was already the acknowledged national expert on textile

design when she struck out on her own to form Associated Artists, and her work there was pivotal in

professionalizing the eld of interior design and in growing the market for design products by utilizing

technology to produce inventory that was affordable for middle class families.

The arc of Candace Wheelers career was driven by her entrepreneurial vision: she saw problems she

wanted to x and she leveraged her passion for design and her sense of social stewardship to attract and

maintain relationships with those in the social and industrial worlds who could help her fashion solutions

to those problems. The surviving artifactual output of her career is highly collaborative, and the impact of

other people and events that inspired or collaborated with Wheeler will have representation in the show.


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INTERPRETIVE GOALS

The goal of Candace Wheeler: The Art and Enterprise of American Textile

Designis to impart a holistic understanding of the impact of Wheelers career

in the context of socio-economic and design history by answering the following

questions:

Why is Candace Wheelers career important to us today?

How did the work of Candace Wheeler promote womens equality?

What was the social and economic context in which Candace Wheeler

launched her career?

What design/philanthropic projects and relationships helped Candace

Wheeler launch/maintain her career?

In what ways could Candace Wheeler be considered an entrepreneur or

innovator?

What is Candace Wheelers importance in an art historical context?

What were Candace Wheelers major projects/commissions?

A complete picture or concept of what is being addressed in the exhibition

should be apparent to a visitor who goes through every piece of information

and artifact, as well as those visitors who choose to spend less time in

the show. At the same time, the goal is not to overwhelm the visitor with a

plethora of textual information to wade through, and as such, the interpretive

strategy of the show will involve some of the following techniques:

Use the designed environment to convey contextual information.The

environment will incorporate architectural molding and wood paneling, as

well as draping fabric and cord to convey a period setting, and as a way

of delineating space. At the same time, modern and industrial materials

and structures will be present to emphasize the context of the Industrial

Revolution and Wheelers involvement with manufacturing innovations.

Provide most contextual information in the form of documentary lms.

Film areas will be appropriately placed throughout the exhibition near

relevant artifacts and graphics, and seating will be provided at each area.

Text labels for artifacts will be simple.The body text will be tailored

to briey explain how a particular artifact addresses one of the above

questions. Labels will include graphic cues to identify which question or

questions (or informational tracks) are being addressed through which

artifacts/labels.

Provide more than one linear track in the layout of the show.Much of the

in-depth information regarding social and historical context will be found

around the perimeter of the space, with the major periods of Wheelers

career as exemplied by artifacts from Associated Artists and her work on

The Womans Building at the Worlds Columbian Exposition will be placed

more centrally.

Non-digital interactives will be used to illustrate concepts of process and

technology related to textile production.


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AUDIENCE

The audience for Candace Wheeler: The Art and Enterprise of American Textile Designis men and

women of retirement age, who have a general previous knowledge of the social and possibly the art

historical context of the time period, if not previous knowledge of Candace Wheeler specically.

As a group, their personal connection to the content of the show could be based on the following shared

experiences:

They will be able to appreciate the wildly changing economic context of Wheelers career due to their

own experience of several successive nancial crises.

As a result, they will understand the comfort brought by economic self-sufciency, especially when the

opportunity is extended towards groups with previously little economic agency.

They will be able to appreciate the wildly changing social context of Wheelers career due to their

experience of the social upheaval of the 1960s and 1970s.

They will be able to appreciate the imagination and drive of Wheelers entrepreneurial activity due to

their experience of growing up during the rise of the technological age, and subsequently, the digital

age (familiarity with advances in industry and technology).

They will identify with Wheelers drive to be a positive force within her family and within her larger

social context (this concept also touches upon feminism).

They will hopefully appreciate the attempt to impart a holistic understanding of Wheeler and the

impact of her career in a way that reduces the exertion of physical and intellectual effort to a

manageable level.


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OB

JECTPLACEME

NT

INTROGRAPHICSANDVIDEO

EMBROIDERYINTERACTIVE


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INTROGRAPHICSANDVIDEO

EM

BROIDERYINTERACTIVE

READINGTABLE

READINGTABLE


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VISITOR EXPERIENCE

An environmental graphic featuring a portrait of Candace Wheeler

is set roughly ve and a half feet into the entrance and acts as

a draw through the entryway. Upon entering the gallery, a visitor

can go either to the left (towards the section labeled Social &

Economic Contexts) or the right (towards the section labeled

Mentors, Partners & Relationships).

Social & Economic Contexts and Mentors, Partners &

Relationships are each discrete linear unitsa visitor would beable to browse either of these spaces without needing to see one

or the other rst. However, chronologically speaking, the objects in

Social & Economic Contexts do come before Mentors, Partners

& Relationships.

The show assumes that most people will be entering the space

from the left hand side (as you look at the plan view of the

gallery), but those entering from the right will have the same visual

entrance experience. The exit treatment uses the same large

scale portrait of Wheeler about ve and a half feet inset from the

doorway.

The section labeled, Legacy easily serves as introductorymaterial to the rest of the gallery content for those entering

from the right hand side, just as it serves as a summation for

those visitors who entered from the left. Furthermore, the two

chronologically linear sections (Social & Economic Contexts and

Mentors, Partners & Relationships) can be read backwards as

well as forwards.

SOCIAL & ECONOMIC CONTEXTS

This section features Candace Wheelers early work, selected

portraits of Candace and Tom Wheeler, artifacts from the

Centennial International Exhibition in Philadelphia in 1876, andenvironmental graphics showing the Metropolitan Sanitary Fair,

and the Centennial International Exhibition.

An introductory panel with with an inset video featuring a short

biography of Candace Wheeler is placed on the opposite side of

Wheelers large scale entrance portrait.

The objets and graphics in this section will answer the following

questions:

Why is Candace Wheelers career important to us today?

blah

What was the social and economic context in which Candace

Wheeler launched her career?

MENTORS, PARTNERS & RELATIONSHIPS

This section shows the progression of Candace Wheelers design

career from her earliest involvement with Louis C. Tiffany to the

founding of Associated Artists, and highlights the various design

mentors, partners, and relationships that she leveraged along the

way. The section begins with examples of innovations in textile

manufacture, on which Wheeler collaborated with the Cheney

Brothers


questions:

What design/philanthropic projects and relationships helped

Candace Wheeler launch/maintain her career?

blah

In what ways could Candace Wheeler be considered an

entrepreneur or innovator?

blah


blah

How did the work of Candace Wheeler promote womens

equality?

ART HISTORY

This section forms a ring around the two inner galleries dened

by the structural columns, and answers the question: What is

Candace Wheelers importance in an art historical context?

British Infuences

These works are placed in proximity to environmental gr

featuring the Centennial International Exhibition to furth

upon the visitor the impact this event had on Wheelers

career. Two of the works are by British designers, includ

screen attributed to the Royal School of Art Needlework

section also includes one early work by Wheeler that em

these inuences.

American Style

These works are placed in proximity to the section chron

rise of Wheelers career. They feature styles that differ f

of the British designers in their rejection of more conven

ower patterns in favor of more naturally rendered plant

their utilization of a stronger, more intense color palette

works stand as good examples of the style, but referenc

be be made to stylistic choices throughout the rest of th

ENTRANCE

FOUR POTENTIAL VISITOR PA


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ASSOCIATED ARTISTS

This section exhibits a selection of works by Associated Artists. It is

positioned centrally, along with the section labeled The Womans

Building, as the pinacle of Wheelers textile design career. This

section and the The Womans Building can potentially stand alone

as fast track galleries if visitors have too little time to browse the

entire space.

The objets and graphics in this section will answer the followingquestions:


equality?

blah

In what ways could Candace Wheeler be considered an


blah


THE WOMANS BUILDING

This section attempts to make up for the fact that there are muchfewer artifacts that represent this important project in Wheelers

career by imparting the sense of an enclosure with large scale

environmental graphics that dene the space.


questions:


equality?

blah


LEGACY

This section balances out the entrance portraits of Candace Wheeler

with an oil by her daughter, Dora Wheeler, of Candace in her old age.

Additionally, the section features embroideries by Dora Wheeler, as

her own work as an artist and designer carried on after her mothers

death and embodied many of Candaces artistic values. Dora Wheeler

was also responsible for promoting her mothers legacy by donating

the initial collection of textiles to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

This section also backtracks somewhat to address the fou

the Society of Decorative Art, and contextualizing it as a m

has been often repeated. Video will highlight Wheelers co

on the project, and demonstrate how the connections she

during these years would launch her later design career.

The objets and graphics in this section will answer the fol

questions:

Why is Candace Wheelers career important to us toda

blah

How did the work of Candace Wheeler promote wome

equality?

blah

What design/philanthropic projects and relationships

Candace Wheeler launch/maintain her career?

blah

In what ways could Candace Wheeler be considered a


blah

What were Candace Wheelers major projects/commis

ENTRAN

CE

EXIT

ENTRANCE

EXIT

EXIT


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OBJECTWA

LKTHROUGH


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OBJECTWA

LKTHROUGH


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OBJECTWA

LKTHROUGH


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OBJECTWA

LKTHROUGH


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OBJECTWA

LKTHROUGH


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OBJECTWA

LKTHROUGH


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T


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ENT

RANCE

TREATMENT

limestone

masonry

dimensional

brass letters

steel

tubing

tone-on-tone

striped brocade walnut


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tone-on-tone

wallpaper gilded framessteel

tubing

tone-on-tone

striped brocade walnut


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ELEV

ATIONS


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steel tubing

wooden

door beads


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ELEV

ATIONS


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steel tubing

single color

embroidery

The interactive is a community embroidery project featuring simple ower designs. Visistors will ll in colored areas marked on a loose knit ground

with a single color thread, which will be much thicker than typical embroidery thread, woven using a blunt stylus-type tool rather than a needlefor

safety and ease of use.


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ELEV

ATIONS


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ELEV

ATIONS


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LOOKa

ndFEE

L

The overall look of the gallery combines Victorian

details with clean design and modern, including


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some industrial, elements. This strategy will

emphasize Candace Wheelers dedication to

design for industry and keep the modern visitor

from being overwhelmed by too much extraneous

visual stimuli, though a sense of the period is

conveyed through such details.

Priory: 146 pt

Gotham Extra Light Regular: 53 pt

Gotham Extra Light Regular All Caps: 28 pt


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GRA

PHICS

ExhibitionPoster:

24HX20W

CAND

The

Artand

Enterprise

OCTOB

ER

10,

2001-JA

NUARY6,

2002


Priory: 101 pt


Gotham Light: 30 pt


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TextPanel:24HX20W CA

ND

AC

AL

IF

EINA

RT

ANDB

US

INE

The

bu

sylifeo

fCandace

Whee

ler

Gotham Light: 30 pt

Kabel Light: 21 pt

Fig.1.Sarony&Company,C

andaceWheeler,ca.1

870


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GRA

PHICS Gotham Medium Regular: 20 pt

Gotham Book Italic: 20 pt

Gotham Book Regular: 20 pt


Object Label: 7.25 H X 8 W


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Label Rail: 12 H X 28.5 W


Gotham Medium Regular: 20 pt

Gotham Book Italic: 20 pt




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candace wheeler: the art and enterprise of american textile design 1875-1900

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