Exhibition from September 13, 2021 through June
30, 2022. The Peck Gallery is open Tuesday - Saturday, 11-4pm.
Frank Furness’ 1876 Centennial
National Bank, located at the crossroads of Market
and 32nd Street, marks the gateway to the
Drexel University campus. Now the Paul Peck Alumni Center, it is home to a
newly renovated gallery space designed to showcase Drexel’s rich and diverse
collections. These collections, which embody the interdisciplinary
collaborative spirit of Drexel academics mark Drexel as one of the great
collecting universities in the United States.
Though widely known for
innovation, entrepreneurship and civic engagement, Drexel has been a serious
collecting institution from its very inception in 1891. In fact, it was the
University’s forward thinking founder AJ Drexel, who provided the inspiration
and resources to establish The Drexel Collection. The original collection grew
and evolved over the years and now the University holds a series of impressive
collections including the internationally renowned Academy of Natural Sciences
of Drexel University, The Robert and Penny Fox Historic Costume Collection as
well as The Legacy Center, which documents the role of women in American
medicine, and the Archives at Hagerty Library.
The inaugural exhibition
in the new gallery, curated by Cara Fry and Derek Gillman, is designed to
provide a window into Drexel’s extraordinary collections which range from rare
books to couture; from natural science to fine and applied arts. Every piece in
the show is a treasure – including a Rittenhouse Orrery clock from 1873, a 1991
James Galanos evening gown, a 450 million year old slab of fossilized
trilobites and a 16th century Paracelsus incunabulum. Also highlighted is an
1876 William Morris textile which serves as a fascinating case study for the
way in which the objects in the Drexel collections invite interdisciplinary
teaching and research and thereby provide historical context and contemporary
relevance.
The exhibition is free
and open to the public.
