April 18, 2007

Friends of Freer House hosting lecture by Rev. Dr. Geoffrey G. Drutchas, April 29

Friends of Freer House hosting lecture by Rev. Dr. Geoffrey G. Drutchas, April 29

WHAT: The Friends of Freer House are hosting a lecture by Rev. Dr. Geoffrey G. Drutchas titled Anchor and Ornament: The Freer Gallery and the McMillan Plan.   Drutchas will discuss the significance of the Charles Lang Freer collection in the context of the “McMillan Plan” for the federal capitol named after one of Freer’s business partners, Senator James McMillan of Michigan. Further highlighted will be the role of McMillan’s aide Charles Moore, who later became director of the Detroit Museum of Art.  Moore persuaded Freer that the National Mall was the best possible location for his collection.

WHEN: Sunday, April 29, 2007 at 3 pm. This lecture is open to the public.  Suggested donation is $5.00 per person.  Members of the friends of Freer House are free.

WHERE:  The Merrill Palmer Skillman Institute, Wayne State University, 71 East Ferry, Detroit.  RSVP requested.  For more information, or to RSVP call 313-872-1790.

MORE INFO: The Freer Gallery was the first ART museum to find its place on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., as part of the Smithsonian. It is often overlooked just how crucial the Freer Gallery was in anchoring the Mall, as we know it today. Also not widely known or appreciated is the influence of two Detroit friendships on Charles Lang Freer’s bequest to the Smithsonian.

Drutchas has written extensively on Charles Lang Freer, Charles Moore, and Senator James McMillan for Michigan History Magazine and the Michigan Historical Review.

 

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Contact

Rose Foster
Phone: (313) 872-1790
Email: ac6500@wayne.edu

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