MIAMI BEACH, FL (MAY 17, 2007)—The Wolfsonian–Florida International University Fellowship program in 2007-08 will highlight the great range of potential research opportunities offered by The Wolfsonian’s collection. Investigations about modernist culture in fin-de- siècle Central Europe, the art of the American New Deal, and Japanese colonialism in Manchuria, will be among the projects carried out by the scholars who will participate in the program in the upcoming year. With the help of a panel of distinguished external reviewers, The Wolfsonian has selected six fellows, each of whom will be in residence at the museum for three weeks.

The Wolfsonian’s library has a unique collection of rare books, magazines, and other material relating to the physical culture movement in the United States. These materials will be the focus of the research conducted by Susan Aspinall, a doctoral student in History at the University of Warwick (Great Britain). Aspinall will use these materials to compare changing conceptions of women and physical fitness in America and Britain from 1890 to 1950. By exploring the public discourse about women, exercise, and fitness, she intends to balance historical accounts which have focused on the cultural emphasis on women’s frailty in these societies.

Didem Ekici, a doctoral candidate in the History and Theory of Architecture at the University of Michigan, will examine the influence of the “Lifestyle Reform” movement on housing in Germany at the turn of the century. The architects influenced by this movement opened up houses to their natural surroundings, and stressed simplicity as both a hygienic and moral imperative. Ekici’s research will explore The Wolfsonian’s collection of rare publications on housing in Germany, with particular emphasis on the planned garden city of Hellerau.

The Wolfsonian has a strong collection of published works and visual material from fin-de-siècle Vienna and Budapest, the twin capitals of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Megan Marie Faller, a doctoral candidate in History at Georgetown University, will use these sources to study the connections between artistic modernism and gender in Central Europe before the First World War. She is interested, in particular, in the role of the muse in modernist circles. This research will contribute towards her doctoral dissertation, and will also form the basis for an article on the Hungarian Secession movement.

Victoria Grieve, an Assistant Professor of History at Utah State University, is working on a project about the influence of popular cultural forms, especially commercial design, on the New Deal Federal Art Project (FAP) in the 1930s. Using The Wolfsonian’s collections, she will analyze how commercial artists and defenders of “high culture” negotiated the changing role of the arts in an ethnically diverse democracy. Her ultimate goal is to determine the extent to which FAP artists and administrators applied methods from the commercial sphere, such as display and advertising techniques, to their own work.

The primary focus of the research by Lucy Maulsby, an assistant professor of Architecture at Northeastern University, will be the buildings designed for the Italian National Fascist Party to serve as the organization’s headquarters - the case del fascio. This project seeks to understand how the Fascist Party used design to appeal to a diverse constituency with the aim of building support for its policies, and will explore the intersections between Fascist politics and modernist architecture. Maulsby will use rare books and journals, as well as artworks and artifacts, for her research.

Japan’s visual culture from 1905 to 1945 contributed to an image of Japanese-occupied Manchuria as a utopia that was ripe for economic exploitation, tourism, and resettlement. Kari Shepherdson, a doctoral candidate in Art, Art History, and Visual Studies at Duke University, will examine The Wolfsonian’s collection of postcards, magazines, and advertisements dealing with Japanese colonialism in Manchuria. And she will compare the Japanese materials to German and Italian works describing these nations’ respective colonial holdings.

The Wolfsonian’s fellowship program began in 1995. Since then, more than fifty scholars from around the world have visited The Wolfsonian to conduct research that has resulted in exhibitions, articles, and books. To see a selection of this scholarship, please visit the Dynamo Museum Shop and Café, which has a special display of works by former Wolfsonian fellows. For more information about the fellows for 2007-08, including their dates in residence at The Wolfsonian, please contact Jon Mogul, at 305.535.2613 or jon@thewolf.fiu.edu.

About The Wolfsonian–Florida International University
The Wolfsonian–FIU 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 approximately 120,000 artifacts that comprise The Wolfsonian collection range from fine art, graphic design, and political propaganda to furniture, rare books, and ephemeral materials such as postcards and travel brochures. Since opening to the public just ten years ago, The Wolfsonian has developed and disseminated critically acclaimed exhibitions, publications, and educational programs that highlight the impact of design in shaping the modern world. Its vast patrimony of primary source materials provides unparalleled opportunities for scholarship and appreciation, making it a unique resource for local, national, and international audiences.

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, the Florida Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts; Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council, the Miami-Dade County Mayor and Board of County Commissioners; City of Miami Beach, Cultural Affairs Program, Cultural Arts Council; Crispin Porter + Bogusky; Continental Airlines, the preferred airline of The Wolfsonian; the Arthur F. and Alice E. Adams Foundation; and Karla Conceptual Event Experiences.

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