The Decorative Arts Trust

06/06/2026

Heading to Ayrshire, we explored Culzean Castle (images 1–9) with Emma Inglis, Curator, and David Jones, Scottish furniture historian. Working in his Castellated style, Robert Adam built Culzean in two phases between 1777 and 1792 for David Kennedy, the 10th Earl of Cassillis. The Round Drawing Room in the striking drum tower features panoramic coastal views and exemplifies Adam’s ability to blend interior grandeur with the surrounding landscape.

In nearby Cumnock, lunch at Dumfries House (image 10) was followed by interior tours with David Jones; Charlotte Rostek, Curator Emeritus; and Michael Davis, architectural historian, plus a tour of the garden with Thomas Malone, Assistant Head Gardener. Built by 1760, the Palladian country house was designed by John and Robert Adam for William Dalrymple, the 5th Earl of Dumfries. While we cannot share interior photography, take our word for it: the rooms and furnishings were spectacular!

Follow us for more, and visit https://decorativeartstrust.org/calendar-of-events to see the list of upcoming programs.

06/05/2026

Our Scotland tour officially began with an insightful lecture by Niall Murphy, Director of the Glasgow City Heritage Trust, and visits to The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons, The Willow Tea Rooms, and the Glasgow Art Club.

The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow (images 1–2) was founded in 1599 by a Royal Charter from King James VI of Scotland. The three adjacent properties that the college now occupies were first built in 1820 with additions in the 1890s by prominent Glasgow architect J.J. Burnet. The College Hall, built in 1892, boasts many original features, including a magnificent ornate ceiling, dazzling chandeliers, and an impressive fireplace.

The Willow Tea Rooms (images 3–4), commissioned in 1903 by Catherine “Kate” Cranston, are among the most celebrated interiors designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, who designed the architecture and also the furniture, lighting, decorative details, and tableware in the space.

The Glasgow Art Club (image 5) was founded in 1867 by artist William Dennistoun. The club acquired two adjacent townhouses in 1893 and repurposed them into a dedicated space for meetings, lectures, dinners, and exhibitions. The Honeyman & Keppie architectural firm was engaged to make this transformation, and its 25-year-old employee Charles Rennie Mackintosh was tasked with the project.

Follow us and see our stories for more photos from our travels! And learn about upcoming programs at https://decorativeartstrust.org/calendar-of-events.

06/04/2026

We're in Scotland! And we are enjoying an Optional Pre-Tour visiting the The Hill House, The Hunterian Art Gallery, and The Mackintosh House.

National Trust for Scotland Curator Emma Inglis showed us The Hill House (images 1–5), Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s masterpiece of early-20th-century residential architecture. Mackintosh and his soon-to-be-wife, Margaret Macdonald, worked collaboratively to create almost everything found at the site, from the building to the furniture and textiles.

On the University of Glasgow’s campus, we explored works by Knox, Paterson, Ramsay, Whistler, and more at The Hunterian Art Gallery (images 6–9) as well as The Mackintosh House (images 10–14) with Joseph Sharples, Curator of Mackintosh Collections & Applied Art. The Mackintosh House is a reconstruction of the home inhabited from 1906–14 by Mackintosh and Macdonald. A drawing workshop introduced us to the designs for The Hill House's chairs (image 15) and bed (image 16) as well as flatware (images 17–18).

Follow us over the next few weeks for more scenes from Scotland! And visit https://decorativeartstrust.org/calendar-of-events to see the calendar of upcoming programs.

06/03/2026

The paintings of Mary Lizzie Macomber (1861–1916) are captivatingly beautiful. And the stunning frames that accompany her art complement the subjects and draw in the viewer. But who crafted the frames, and how much did Macomber work with them on the designs?

Fiona Owens, a Lois F. McNeil Fellow in the Winterthur Program in American Material Culture at the University of Delaware, received a Marie Zimmermann Research Grant to study Macomber’s art and the frames she chose. Read about her research in a new 𝘋𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘈𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘉𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯 post at https://decorativeartstrust.org/macomber-frames-post/.

Pictured: Mary Lizzie Macomber, 𝘈𝘯 𝘐𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴, 1897. Oil on canvas mounted to a cradled wooden/masonite board. Delaware Art Museum, 2019-109; Mary Lizzie Macomber, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳, 1903. Oil on canvas. Private Collection; Photos by Fiona Owens.

06/02/2026

Registration opens soon for our Spain Study Trip Abroad! Tours to Barcelona, Valencia, and sites between will be held on May 8–16 and May 21–29, 2027. An Optional Extension to Mallorca is planned for May 16–21.

A showcase of uniquely Spanish style, Valencia (pictured) is a dazzling mosaic of the earthy red and tan hues of Gothic and Baroque provincial architecture and the crisp blues and grays of cutting edge material and design. Its Mercat Central, Europe’s largest fresh produce market, is housed in a soaring masterwork, and La Lonja is one of the most beautiful examples of European civil Gothic architecture. The Cathedral showcases dazzling Goya paintings and an impressive treasury, and the nearby Church of St. Catherine features a striking Baroque bell tower and three-nave Gothic interior. The Palace of the Marquis of Don Aguas houses the González Martí National Museum of Ceramics and Decorative Arts, and the 16th-century Real Colegio-Seminario de Corpus Christi houses the Patriarch Museum, perhaps the city’s most splendid example of Renaissance architecture. The Bancaja Foundation’s Joaquín Sorolla collection is world-renowned, and the Palau de les Arts sweeps across Valencia’s skyline in the shape of a feather.

Our itinerary includes access to private collections with gracious hosts as well as curator-led, behind-the-scenes experiences. And a visit to Valencia would not be complete without sampling horchata (a sweet beverage flavoured with spices), fartons (Valencian cookies), and ice cream!

See https://decorativeartstrust.org/spain-trip-2027/ for more information. As a reminder, Decorative Arts Trust members at the Ambassador and Champion levels receive first opportunity to register.

We hope to see you in Spain!

06/01/2026

Congratulations to the 16 scholars who received 2026 Research Grants!
- Jessie Alperin, University of Chicago (The Marie Zimmermann Grant)
- Sarah Bochicchio, Yale University
- Julia Carabatsos, Columbia University
- Angela Crenshaw, Bard Graduate Center
- Philippe Depairon, Columbia University
- Beril Sarısakal Erkent, Columbia University
- Adela Foo, Yale University
- Alicia Gallant, The Graduate Center, City University of New York (CUNY)
- Elena Kanagy-Loux, Bard Graduate Center
- Josephine Anna Koopman, European University Institute
- Marie Ngiam, University of Oslo
- Kartika Puri, Yale University
- Edward Salazar, University of California, Santa Cruz (The Decorative Arts Society of Orange County Grant)
- Maria Slautina, Princeton University
- Taylor Chisato Stewart, The University of Chicago
- Tamar van Riessen, University of Exeter

Read more about these recipients in this 𝘋𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘈𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘉𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯 post https://decorativeartstrust.org/research-grant-2026-recipients-post/.

Pictured: Julia Marie Carabatsos is studying Hawaiian quilts. Pictured: Mary Sophia Rice, 𝘕𝘢̄ 𝘒𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘯𝘶 𝘔𝘦 𝘕𝘢̄ 𝘒𝘢𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘪 (Crowns and Kahili), 1886, Hawai‘i. Cotton, plain weave, appliquéd and quilted (contour quilting). Honolulu Museum of Art, Gift of Mrs. Thomas D. King, Jr., 1973, 4182.1.

05/29/2026

Congratulations to the 2026 Publishing Grant recipients! The Anchorage Museum, the Museum of Old Newbury, the New Bedford Whaling Museum, and the Textile Society of America received Publishing Grants under the Collections, Exhibitions, and Conferences category. Dr. Catalina Ospina and Dr. Kayli R. Rideout received Publishing Grants for First-Time Authors. Read more about their publication projects in the 𝘋𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘈𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘉𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯: https://decorativeartstrust.org/publishing-grants-2026-post/.

Pictured: Jean-Gabriel Charvet and Joseph Dufour, Les Sauvages de la Mer Pacifique (The native peoples of the Pacific Ocean), 1804-1805, Mâcon, France. Gouache. Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, purchased 2015 with Charles Disney Art Trust funds, 2015-0048-1. Photo by the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa; William Moulton IV, Ladies hair comb, c. 1810, Newburyport, MA. Coin silver. Museum of Old Newbury, 2023.24; Maker once known, A Whaleship of Amsterdam on the Arctic Grounds, 1750–75, the Netherlands. Faience. Kendall Whaling Museum Collection Transfer, 2001.100.4590; Yasmin Mora (Umaguma), Sea of reflective consciousness (decorative rug), 2023–25, Mexico City, Mexico. Naturally dyed Mexican wool, cotton monk’s cloth, denim backing. Courtesy of the artist. Photo by Umaguma Studio; Makers once known. Mopa mopa coffer, c. 1650, Colombia. Wood, mopa mopa resin, vegetable colorants, mineral pigment, and silver leaf. Private collection, London. Photo courtesy of Amir Mothashemi; Tiffany Studios, Spirit of the Confederacy (detail), 1905, New York City. Leaded-glass. American Civil War Museum, 0985.06.00143a,b. Photo by Kayli Rideout.

05/22/2026

For a limited time, the Kemerer Museum of Decorative Arts is sharing rare access to Elizabeth Johnston Prime’s extraordinary collection of dollhouses.

Prime, whose grandfather was Vice President of Bethlehem Steel, was born in 1927, started collecting dollhouses in her 40s. Read more about the collection in a new 𝘋𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘈𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘉𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯 post by Lindsey Jancay, the Vice President & Managing Director of Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites: https://decorativeartstrust.org/bethlehem-dollhouses-post/.

Pictured: Interior of G&J Lines English Townhouse, c. 1895, made by Tynie Toy, based out of Rhode Island. Figurines date to the early 1930s. Photo by Darlene Schneck.

05/18/2026

Reminder: June 30 is the deadline for Prize for Excellence and Innovation nominations. This $100,000 award funds outstanding projects that advance public appreciation of decorative art, fine art, architecture, or landscape. The Prize is awarded to a nonprofit organization in the United States for a scholarly endeavor, such as a museum exhibition, print or digital publication, a conservation or preservation project, or an online database.

Pictured: The Custard Institute for Spanish Art and Culture at Southern Methodist University’s Meadows Museum and the Edith O’Donnell Institute of Art History at the University of Texas at Dallas received the 2025 Prize for 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘗𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘙𝘰𝘰𝘮𝘴 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵. The project’s goal is to reanimate and reinterpret two of the most important interiors in the canon of 18th-century decorative arts: the Gabinete de Porcelana in Aranjuez, Spain, (photo by Patrimonio Nacional) and the Salottino di Porcellana in Naples, Italy.

Other recent recipients include Drayton Hall's plaster ceiling projects (2024), Concord Museum’s 𝘞𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘙𝘦𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 exhibition (2023), the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum's Dorothy Liebes exhibition (2022), the Black Craftspeople Digital Archive (2021), and Craft in America's (2020).

See https://decorativeartstrust.org/prize for application details and please share!

To further the Decorative Arts Trust’s mission, the Trust established the $100,000 Decorative Arts Trust Prize for Excellence and Innovation.

05/14/2026

Join us during the second week of November 2026 for a spellbinding Sojourn to the city of New Orleans! Follow us and sign up for our email list for announcements about program dates and registration.

Founded in 1718 as a French outpost on the Mississippi River, New Orleans has served as an important economic and cultural hub for 300 years under successive waves of European and American rule. The traditions, superstitions, and material cultures of French, Spanish, Creole, and African residents weave together into a jubilant tapestry of life on the water, lived out loud.

Friends and experts guide us on magical tours through the enchanting architecture of the French Quarter and the alluring stately beauty of the Garden District, both rightly considered among New Orleans’s chief beacons. Experience the extraordinary sights, sounds, and scents of the Crescent City as never before in an unforgettable exploration of the region’s diverse culture.

See https://decorativeartstrust.org/new-orleans-sojourn-2026/ for more information. Please note: Decorative Arts Trust members at the Ambassador and Champion levels receive first opportunity to register.

Pictured: Jackson Square.