Waving Through a Zoom Window
by Kate Nixon
I sat in awe at what I was seeing live. While it had been ages since I had walked the streets of Berkeley in my home state of California, I was seeing the exterior of a gorgeous bungalow in real time complete with the California sunshine through the camera of two students talking about the Bungalow style.
A wall cabinet inside The Thorsen House in Berkeley, California – an “Ultimate Bungalow” designed by Charles and Henry Greene. On Sunday, August 25th at 4:00 PM Eastern/1:00 PM Pacific, attendees of Arts & Crafts In August (and registrants of the single session) will be treated to a live walkthrough of the first floor of the Thorsen House. Photo courtesy of David Mathias.
I watched as the young tour docent walked through the doors of the Thorsen House – an Ultimate Greene & Greene Bungalow – excitedly talking about the details of the light fixture before he directed the cameraman to turn to a mirror in the doorway. There’s a special reason for the mirror, which I won’t spoil here. I asked him whether or not he had been to the Gamble House in Pasadena. It turned out that he had just come back from Pasadena where he in fact saw the iconic Greene and Greene house. As he recounted walking through the house, I was especially moved as he told me he actually felt a bit homesick walking through the iconic house.
He and a number of his fellow UC Berkeley students lived in the Thorsen House during the school year – an experience that very few can claim especially at such young an age. They are trained to provide tours of the house, educated in historic preservation and architectural details, and even a weekend day is devoted to cleaning the beloved house. When my eyes weren’t transfixed on looking at the many details of the Thorsen interiors, it made me think of what a unique opportunity these students had in their hands. We join them in understanding the central tenets of historic preservation in such a personal way, the architectural importance of a Greene and Greene house, and a founding idea of the Arts and Crafts movement: the handcrafted interior and the use of local materials brought a better quality of life and social reform put the power back into the hands of the individual designer rather than the monotony of Victorian industry.
The Purcell-Cutts House of Minneapolis, Minnesota features among several rooms a Prairie School-styled dining area. The many many details will be explored in a special walkthrough Tuesday, August 20th at 5:00 PM Eastern. Photo courtesy of Karen Melvin.
If that wasn’t enough, I got to see the Purcell-Cutts house in Minneapolis. As the curator set up for her shot assisted by her A/V team, I instinctively craned my head hoping that the live camera would take off to see the living room fireplace just around the corner or the details of the dining room (see above). I marvelled at a special handpainted mural, a number of Arts and Crafts style vases…and that was before we went upstairs!
As it turns out, the Purcell-Cutts house is not only a masterpiece of the Prairie School style and the creative process of William Gray Purcell and George Grant Elmslie, but the conversation in the tour included hygiene and health in design, women in architecture, and race and access to housing in early 1900s Minneapolis. It is a reminder that inside every house is a history lesson, revealing much about the lives of early 20th century citizens.
These rehearsal sessions were a great way for everyone to test out what they could do to have the best tour possible, but on a personal level, I loved these sessions because it strengthens my connection to the movement. While being there in person is ultimately the best experience you could have, at least having the live attention of a curator and seeing what the space looks like from the comfort of your home is an experience that at least retired collectors or enthusiasts who can’t travel get to have. I’ll take some interaction over no interaction at all.
Not to mention, I’ve met with a number of speakers from across the pond via Zoom. It’s a lovely experience chatting with the British. As the map below shows, it’s a cool experience virtually bouncing across the country and overseas. And it might just inspire you to plan that visit in the fall or even next year.
Join us starting this weekend, won’t you?
– Kate