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MIAMI BEACH, FL– How was modern architecture in America represented in popular media, such as postcards and brochures? How did 20th century Italian artists and architects simultaneously pursue modernization and ruralization? How did new technologies before the Second World War shape the aesthetics of industrial design? These are among the topics that will be explored by five visiting scholars who have been awarded research fellowships for 2005-2006 by The Wolfsonian–Florida International University, a museum and research center that uses its collection of more than 100,000 artifacts to illustrate the transformative power of art and design on society, politics, and technology. The scholars will each be in residence at the museum for several weeks, during which time they will conduct research based on the museum's diverse collection, which ranges from fine art, graphic design and political propaganda to furniture, rare books and ephemeral materials such as postcards and travel brochures. 

The Wolfsonian’s fellowship program was established in 1993 to promote independent study of the museum's holdings. Fellowships are awarded annually, on the basis of outstanding professional and academic accomplishments; fellows are selected by an external review panel. In addition to conducting research, fellows often present lectures to the public and work with students and faculty in other departments of Florida International University. 

“One aspect of the Wolfsonian’s mission is to foster new research on our distinctive collection. The Wolfsonian’s fellowship program enables leading scholars to conduct independent research at the museum, which allows us to expand our knowledge base on an array of themes within the collection,” said Wolfsonian Director Cathy Leff. “The program grants participants a unique opportunity to conduct research that they simply can’t do anywhere else in the United States, resulting in both new, scholarly publications and exhibitions.“

The 2005-2006 fellows are:

Fellow: Nancy Green, Senior Curator, Prints, Drawings, and Photographs, Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University
Project title: Shared Dreams: Collaborative Partnerships of the Arts and Crafts Movement
Green is writing a book about collaborative partnerships in the Arts and Crafts movement, in both Great Britain and America. She will use The Wolfsonian’s collection to investigate a number of British collaborations – such as those between William Morris and his daughter May, and between C.R. Ashbee and his wife Janet – in which the role of one of the partners, often a woman, has been obscured by the fame of the other partner. Her research seeks to provide a clearer picture of the contributions of both partners to the creative process.

Fellow: Kimberly Hyde, Director, Old Stone Archives (Cleveland, Ohio)
Project title: Louis C. Tiffany and the Business of Art
Hyde is working on a project about Louis C. Tiffany, the most successful American designer of the late 19th century and the one American who made a major contribution to international Art Nouveau. Her research will make use of The Wolfsonian’s outstanding collection of publications from world’s fairs of the period to gain insight into Tiffany’s strategies of display at these expositions in his pursuit of an international market for his goods.

Fellow: Michelangelo Sabatino, Assistant Professor, Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture, University of Houston
Project title: "Primitivism" and Italian Modernism: Ethnography, Stile Liberty, and Futurism
Sabatino’s research explores the contribution of folk art and architecture to 20th century Italian art and architecture. By “rediscovering” this previously ignored tradition, Italian artists and architects pursued their twin goals of modernizing rural life and ruralizing modern life. Sabatino’s research will focus on the important ethnographic exhibition in Rome in 1911, as well as on the later appropriation of vernacular elements in the decorative arts and in graphic and industrial design.

Fellow: Danielle Schwartz, Doctoral Candidate, Department of Art History and Communications, McGill University
Project title: Making Shape of Sight and Sound: The Design of Radio and Television in North America, 1920-1939
Schwartz will work with The Wolfsonian’s collection of radios and televisions from North America, as well as associated print materials. This research will contribute to an exploration of how industrial designers, like John Vassos, sought to find aesthetic shapes for these new technologies in the period before the Second World War.

Fellow: Gwendolyn Wright, Professor of Architecture, Columbia University
Project title: A Cultural History of Modern Architecture in the United States
Wright’s work at The Wolfsonian will contribute to a book that offers a broad history of modern architecture in America, as well as a more specialized project about American housing. Her research will highlight the representation of architecture in popular media, such as postcards, guidebooks, brochures and advertisements, all of which are well-represented in The Wolfsonian’s collection. 

About The Wolfsonian–Florida International University 
The Wolfsonian is a museum and research center that uses objects to illustrate the persuasive power of art and design, to explore what it means to be modern, and to tell the story of social, political and technological changes that have transformed the world. The 100,000 artifacts that comprise the Wolfsonian’s collections range from fine art, graphic design and political propaganda to furniture, rare books and ephemeral materials such as postcards and travel brochures.

The Wolfsonian is located at 1001 Washington Avenue, Miami Beach, Fla. Admission is $7 adults; $5 seniors, students, and children six-12; free for Wolfsonian members, State University System of Florida staff and students with ID, children under six, and Miami Beach residents with ID. The museum is open Monday, Tuesday, Saturday and Sunday from noon-6pm; Thursday and Friday from noon-9pm; and is closed on Wednesday. Contact us at 305.531.1001 or visit us online at www.wolfsonian.org. 

The Wolfsonian receives ongoing support from the State of Florida; Department of State; Division of Cultural Affairs; Florida Arts Council; Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs through the Cultural Affairs Council; the Mayor and the Miami-Dade County Board of County Commissioners; the Mayor and City Commission of the City of Miami Beach and the Miami Beach Cultural Arts Council; Crispin Porter + Bogusky; Dacra and the Miami Design District; Continental Airlines, the preferred airline of The Wolfsonian; the Arthur F. and Alice E. Adams Foundation; Artécity, for inspired condo living; Carnival Foundation; and RBK Productions.