One of the most important homes in America needs you

Dear Friends of the Glass House,

The Glass House is approaching the end of an exciting season with the introduction of many new programs, part of a strategic initiative I like to refer to as Glass House 2.0. The Glass House of Philip Johnson and David Whitney was known as “the most sustained cultural salon the United States has ever seen.” Glass House 1.0 represented the first five years of the house’s public life as a National Trust Historic Site and house museum. Glass House 2.0 aims to recapture the site’s earlier legacy as a unique cultural center, a laboratory for the presentation of new works and ideas.

This year we launched an exhibitions program with two shows: Frank Stella: Scarlatti Kirkpatrick and Night (1947-2015) and welcomed over 13,000 visitors to the site. We also inaugurated a fresh flowers program, bringing new life to the interior of the Glass House. In the coming seasons, we will develop more ambitious projects, and are currently exploring new programs and activities that will strengthen the liveliness and relevance of our special site. Educational programs continue to take center stage, as we host monthly Conversations in Context, Glass House Conversations, and think tanks both on site and in the field, including our first participation in this year’s Venice Architecture Biennale. In time, we hope to add site-specific initiatives including residency programs, performances, and scholarly and community gatherings.

In addition to urgent needs, we are still working to raise funds to restore the Brick House, which has remained closed for the last five years, as well as make necessary repairs to the Sculpture Gallery roof. The Glass House is a preservation-based organization, and its 14 buildings, world-class art collection and 49-acre landscape demand ongoing maintenance.

To maintain our role as an important cultural asset and site of international significance, we need your support. Please help with a generous year-end donation. We welcome your support at every level.

If you would like to speak to a Glass House representative about your donation, please contact Scott Drevnig, Director of Development, at 203-594-9884 x33335, or sdrevnig@savingplaces.org.

As a thank you for a donation of $2,500 or more, we are pleased to send you a signed copy of the James Welling: Glass House hardcover book. This book features mesmerizing images by one of the world’s eminent photographers.

We have an exciting new year in the works, filled with a vibrant and diverse range of exhibitions and programming. Thank you in advance for your care and support of the Glass House. We have a special place and an incredible team serving as its stewards.

Warm regards,

Henry Urbach
Director

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Filed under: About The Philip Johnson Glass House, Conversations in Context, Educational Partnership, Exhibitions, Glass House Conversations, In the News, Message from the Director, Preservation in Action, Tours + Programs, Brick House, Conversations in Context, David Whitney, Frank Stella, fresh flowers, Glass House 2.0, Glass House Conversations, Henry Urbach, James Welling, National Trust Historic Site, Philip Johnson, Preservation, Scott Drevnig, Sculpture Gallery, The Glass House, Venice Architecture Biennale

John Johansen, In Memoriam — June 29, 1916 to October 26, 2012

Architecture and Metaphor: An Interview with John Johansen
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Until his death on October 26, John Johansen was the last living member of the Harvard 5, the group of architects who settled in New Canaan, Connecticut after World War II.  Eliot Noyes was the first to buy land in New Canaan and he encouraged his colleagues—Marcel Breuer, Philip Johnson, Landis Gores, and John Johansen to follow. They designed houses for their own families as well as clients and created a laboratory of modern residential architecture among the clapboard Colonials of this small Connecticut town.

In the spring of 2010, a colleague and I traveled to Cape Cod to interview Johansen for the Glass House Oral History Project. He was 93 at the time, and with his wife Ati, had recently moved to Cape Cod, Massachusetts from his Plastic Tent House in Stanfordville, New York.

Filed under: Educational Partnership, Glass House Films, In the News, John Johansen, The Glass Hosue

The Glass House Congratulates New Canaan High School Photography Teacher Jeanne McDonagh + Student Dylan Neuhaus for 2012 Scholastic Gold Key Award

Photograph of the Philip Johnson Glass House by New Canaan High School student Dylan Neuhaus

The Philip Johnson Glass House congratulates New Canaan High School photography teacher Jeanne McDonagh, and her student Dylan Neuhaus, who won a 2012 Scholastic Gold Key award for a portfolio of photography including a photograph (above) of the Glass House.

Glass House Partnership with New Canaan High School Students + Faculty

The cultivation of young talent is central to the mission of The Philip Johnson Glass House.

The collaboration between the Glass House and New Canaan High School (NCHS) began shortly after the Glass House opened to the public. Photography, documentary film and journalism students, with the support of their teachers, began recording oral histories of the architects, craftsmen and homeowners who created New Canaan’s remarkable heritage of modernist residential architecture.

Additionally numerous photography projects using the Glass House site as inspiration have been woven into the art curriculum at New Canaan High School. Several of these images (including the work of Dylan Neuhaus) have become commissioned products for the Glass House Design Store, sharing this work with thousands of visitors each year.  Fifty percent of the proceeds from the sale of items using images from the students’ work will be directed to fund this ongoing partnership.

Filed under: Educational Partnership, 2012 Scholastic Art Award winners, Art, Dylan Neuhaus, Glass House, Jeanne McDonagh, New Canaan High School, Photography

Support The Glass House

Dear Friends, Architecture, Art and Audience are our three motivations. The Philip Johnson Glass House is simply one of the most significant modernist sites in America, the private home that inspired a revolution in mid-20th century living that extends to the present day. The site’s remaining art collection provides a fascinating insight to the curatorial talents of Johnson’s partner, David Whitney. Between them, Johnson and Whitney significantly shaped the exhibitions and collections of the Museum of Modern Art’s formative decades. In opening the site for tours and in creating deeper and richer web content, our goal is to educate and inspire you, our local, national, and international audience.To accomplish our goals of preserving, restoring and performing original research, we count on the generosity of our supporters. We count on you!This year, more than ever, we need your help to balance our budget: Our endowment covers only 40% of our operations, preservation and programs.

Filed under: About The Philip Johnson Glass House, Books, Educational Partnership, From the Collection, Glass House Conversations, Glass House Design Store, Glass House Films, In the News, Message from the Director, Preservation in Action, Tours + Programs, Donation, Glass House, National Trust for Historic Preservation, Support

Living in the Glass House

Dear Friends,

It has been an incredibly fast-paced year for the Philip Johnson Glass House. We celebrated our Fifth Season by developing new ways of welcoming the public to our site in person, online, through educational programs and events, and at art and design fairs around the world.

We’ve collaborated with significant architects (Charles Renfro, Tod Williams + Billie Tsien, Gregg Pasquarelli), artists (James Welling, Todd Eberle, David Salle) and writers (Paul Goldberger, Karen Stein, Philip Nobel), great chefs (Michele Richard, Brian Lewis, Bill Taibe, Lee Chizmar, Derek Wagner), as well as talented local high school students and their inspired teachers.

This year, more than ever, we need your support to help balance our budget. Our endowment covers only 40% of our operations, preservation and programs but we count on the generosity of our supporters to complete the picture.

Here’s why we hope you will  

New Tours

Focus: Concentrate on art, landscape and /or architecture -you decide!

Plein Air Afternoons: Unguided access for creative inspiration.

Pure Glass: Short, sweet and the lucid heart of the property

Cultural Experiences in Person
and Online

Private made Public: Salons hosted by cultural leaders are now available to all, either through an evening on site or connecting through an online film of each program.

Preservation and Conservation: The first site-specific work of Donald Judd, Untitled, 1971 was cleaned and conserved this season. Explore documentation of the it’s history, from archival images of the initial installation, to video of the conservation team at work and an online dialogue led by Flavin Judd.

Important Research: A seminal biography of David Whitney, Philip Johnson’s private but influential partner, is essential reading for understanding of the legacy of Johnson, Whitney and the Glass House.

Community

Generations Together: This fall marks our fourth year working with the New Canaan High School students and their teachers. This year’s projects included landscape photography and oral history films featuring local notable architects John Black Lee, John Johansen, and Fred Noyes speaking about his father, Eliot Noyes. These projects bring generations together to explore the essential history of New Canaan and Modernism. All of the student-produced oral histories and many of their photographs 
can now be enjoyed on our website.

47 Acres and 14 Structures

Storms: Besides the investments we choose to make, because we believe in them and their importance, there are the investments we need to make. Hurricane Irene, seasonal flooding and heavy unexpected snowstorms hammered the Glass House just as it did our neighbors. Repairs and canceled tours due to power outages and clean-ups resulted in significant lost revenues that severely affected our bottom line.

To maintain our role as an important community asset and site of international significance, we need your support. Please help us balance the Glass House budget with a generous year-end donation.

We welcome your support at every level.  

We hope to see you at the Glass House soon and often, on a tour through November, or early next season.

Sincerely,

Rena Zurofsky
Interim Executive Director

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As an additional thank you for your donation of $1,000 or more, we will send you a copy of the just published, limited edition Library of Philip Johnson. Written by Birch Cooper and Jordan Hruska, this beautifully illustrated book examines 100 titles from the architect’s Library/Study located at the Glass House site and features an introduction by Architect Robert A. M. Stern, textual analyses and 350 photographs.

Donors of $5,000 or more will also receive invitations to an exclusive event at The Glass House during the 2012 season.

Tours and Tickets available for the 2011 Glass House tour season (through November 30).

To learn more about the Philip Johnson Glass House visit philipjohnsonglasshouse.org

 

Filed under: About The Philip Johnson Glass House, Conversations in Context, Dine with Design, Educational Partnership, From the Collection, Glass House Conversations, Glass House Design Store, Glass House Films, In the News, Message from the Director, Preservation in Action, Tours + Programs, 1971, Bill Taibe, biography of David Whitney, Brian Lewis, Charles Renfro, Chefs, Conservation, David Salle, David Whitney, Derek Wagner, Donald Judd, Donate, Film, Food, Glass House, Gregg Pasquarelli, James Welling, Karen Stein, Lee Chizmar, Michele Richard, National Trust for Historic Preservation, New Canaan High School, oral history, Paul Goldberger, Philip Johnson, Philip Nobel, Plein Air Afternoons, Preservation, Rena Zurofsky, Salons, Support, The Library of Philip Johnson, Tod Williams + Billie Tsien, Todd Eberle, Untitled

Educational Partnership with New Canaan High School

An exciting collaboration between the Glass House and New Canaan High School began shortly after the Glass House opened to the public. Photography, documentary film and journalism students, with the support of their teachers, record oral history films of the architects, craftsmen and homeowners who created New Canaan’s remarkable heritage of modernist residential architecture.

Watch new student films featuring designer Jens Risom, photographer Pedro Guerrero, builder Port Draper, and Pamela Gores, wife of Harvard Five architect Landis Gores.  

Filed under: Educational Partnership, In the News, Tours + Programs, builder Port Draper, documentary film, Educational Partnership, Glass House, Jens Risom, journalism, Landis Gores, modernist heritage, New Canaan High School, Pamela Gores, photographer Pedro Guerrero, Photography, Students