Goodies alert!

This just in — and it falls under both the “Goodies” and “Free Stuff” category!

THE LAST CHANCE FOR PHILADELPHIA COMMERCIAL MUSEUM OBJECTS

The City of Philadelphia is seeking to disperse the remaining unclaimed items from the Philadelphia Commercial Museum collection.  Items are of no monetary value, but may be of interest for educational or production purposes and include textiles, raw material samples, vases, statues, baskets, clothing/costumes, toys, housewares, etc. in various conditions.

Interior, Commercial Museum

The Commercial Museum was built in 1899 and founded by William Wilson, a botany professor at the University of Pennsylvania.  The Museum was inspired by the monumental Columbian World’s Fair in Chicago and was the official repository for artifacts from world’s fair of the era.  Displaying objects from around the world, it functioned both as a tourist destination as well as an educational resource for business persons.  The Museum stood on the site now occupied by the Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine at 34th Street and Civic Center Boulevard.

When the Museum was closed, the collection was dispersed among local universities and cultural organizations, as legally required by Philadelphia Orphan’s Court.  Since then, the remainder of the collection, over a thousand objects, has been held in a City storage facility and the City intends to disperse these remaining objects.

The Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy is coordinating the dispersal of these materials and invites you and your colleagues to take any items of interest.  This is being facilitated on a first-come-first-serve basis; please call or email to arrange a time at the storage site.

Please call BY WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 17th to arrange an appointment.

CONTACT INFO:
Margot Berg, Public Art Director
Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy
701 City Hall
Philadelphia, PA  19107
v 215.686.4596
c 267.303.0507
www.phila.gov/publicart