Abington Art Center is an art center built in 1939, and located in Abington Township, a northern suburb of

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, Pennsylvania. The center resides within Alverthorpe Manor and the surrounding 27-acre grounds that were formerly the residence of

Lessing J. Rosenwald Lessing Julius Rosenwald (February 10, 1891 – June 24, 1979) was an American businessman, a collector of rare books and art, a chess patron, and a philanthropist. Biography Born in Chicago, Lessing J. Rosenwald was the eldest son of Julius R ...

and his family. The art center features a studio school, innovation center, exhibition galleries and a

sculpture park A sculpture garden or sculpture park is an outdoor garden or park which includes the presentation of sculpture, usually several permanently sited works in durable materials in landscaped surroundings. A sculpture garden may be private, owned by a ...

. The building itself features three vintage

elevators An elevator (American English) or lift (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) is a machine that vertically transports people or freight between levels. They are typically powered by electric motors that drive tracti ...

from the 1930s.

Early beginnings

The Abington Art Center was started in 1965 as the Old York Road Art Guild, by a group of women who believed in the "benefit of cultural enrichment for individual and community life to be derived from creative artistic expression", the guild's educational elements were brought under a separate non-profit entity called Abington Art Center. On Christmas Day 1969, a rare book and print collector,

and his wife Edith, donated their estate, Alverthorpe Manor, to the Abington community for the purpose of allowing residents to gather for cultural and recreational purposes. Shortly afterwards, the organization appointed its first paid director and the guild formally ended.

Development

In 1981, the center expanded into the old gallery wing of Alverthorpe Manor when the Rosenwald Collection was moved to the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

in Washington, D.C. This doubled the instruction space as well as the center's student capacity. A sculpture garden was opened in 1990. In 1996, the art center expanded within the building and initiated a 5-year renovation project designed to transform Alverthorpe Manor from a private residence to a public place. Currently, the center contains a gallery, six studios, classrooms, and a sculpture park, and stages outdoor events throughout the year.

Art exhibitions and community outreach

The of lawn and woodlands that make up the Sculpture Park has included works by Joy Episalla,

Robert Lawrance Lobe Robert Lawrance Lobe (born 1945) is an American sculptor. He was born in Detroit and grew up in Cleveland. He received a B.A. from Oberlin College in 1967 and then pursued post-graduate work at Hunter College. ''Harmony Ridge #29'', in the col ...

, Jeanne Jaffe, Thomas Matsuda, Brian McCutcheon,

Steven Siegel Steven Siegel (born 1953) is an American artist whose work includes public art, installation art, sculpture, collage and film.Phillips, Patricia C. "Wandering Through Time: The Sculpture of Steven Siegel," ''Sculpture'', October 2003, p. 32� ...

Steve Tobin Steve Tobin (born 1957, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American sculptor. Newsweek heralded Tobin's artistic mission "to make people look at natural objects in new ways". He studied theoretical mathematics at Tulane University, graduating wi ...

Ursula von Rydingsvard Ursula von Rydingsvard (née Karoliszyn; born 1942) is a sculptor who lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. She is best known for creating installation art, large-scale works influenced by nature, primarily using Cedrus, cedar and other forms o ...

, Jay Walker, and Winifred Lutz. In 2003, Abington Art Center devised a plan for the purposes of developing Alverthorpe Manor property into a 27-acre "cultural campus" within a suburban community. The plan was developed by Wallace Roberts & Todd. Leora Brecher, a sculptor who taught ceramics at the center for 18 years, said, "It's different here compared to other art centers I've seen. As well as a studio school, it has the sculpture garden and outreach to the community. Other places are more about teaching than the public." The center has hosted the annual "Touch the Future" juried art show, featuring the work of young artists from the area. In 2005, the center received a $500,000 pledge of a matching grant from the state of Pennsylvania, with the objective of assisting the economic development goals of the surrounding municipalities. The first phase of development was completed in 2011.

Finances

Abington Art Center is a small nonprofit organization with an estimated budget of less than $1 million. Its income comes from classes, workshops, and facility rentals for weddings and other affairs (38 percent); foundations (24 percent); membership dues (11 percent); corporate and government support (9 percent); and gift shop sales, fund-raisers and other sources (18 percent).

References

External links

* {{authority control Museums in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Art museums and galleries in Pennsylvania Modern art museums in the United States Contemporary art galleries in the United States