VIP Opening Celebration | The Collection: Greatest Fits (Vol. 1): The Art of Archiving Fashion

Jeremy Mikolajczak, the Sybil Harrington Director and CEO, and the Board of Trustees of Phoenix Art Museum, cordially invite you to an exclusive ACI Member reception celebrating The Collection: Greatest Fits (Vol. 1): The Art of Archiving Fashion, featuring more than 80 garments and accessories that offer the first major investigation into the formation of the renowned PhxArt fashion collection. Along with Circles members, ACI members will have special access to the installation, including cocktails and hors d'oeuvres and exhibition remarks.  

When
Tuesday, October 8, 2024 | 4:30 PM  

Where

Phoenix Art Museum

1625 North Central Avenue

Phoenix, AZ 85004

RSVP

RSVP by October 1
602-257-2115 or circles@phxart.org

About the Installation 

The Collection: Greatest Fits (Vol. 1): The Art of Archiving Fashion begins with an overview of the impact of Arizona Costume Institute on the collection’s expansion. Iconic silhouettes from the 18th century through the present and vignettes illustrating significant themes and historical moments demonstrate the collection’s ability to explore and educate about the larger history of fashion, showcasing the breadth and depth of the Museum’s fashion holdings.

Image credits: (Left to right) Bill Blass, Coat and Belt, 1960s. Printed cotton and patent leather. Gift of Joyce Harrison; Bonnie Cashin, Hot Pants, 1973. Suede. Gift of Mr. Philip Stills; Greatcoat, 1960s. Suede. Gift of Barbara D. Shear; Diane von Fürstenberg, Wrapped Jumpsuit, c.1977. Printed cotton knit. Gift of Mrs. Kelly Ellman

Thursday, September 26, 2024 @ Phoenix Art Museum

5:30 pm // Reception // J.P. Morgan Chase Lobby

6 pm // Illustrated Presentations + Panel Discussion // Whiteman Lecture Hall

7 pm // Q&A // Whiteman Lecture Hall

Available for ACI Members, Members welcomed to invite one guest to join them.

Arizona Costume Institute invites you to join us as we explore the art of historic textile conservation and the important work of digitizing the PhxArt Fashion Collection.

Learn the intricate processes involved in restoring the beauty and integrity of significant pieces of the PhxArt fashion collection as presented by local conservator Martha Winslow Grimm. Witness the steps involved in digitally cataloguing over 9,000 objects to aid in properly identifying and marketing the collection to Museum patrons and other art institutions with Katie Jones-Weinart, Digital Assets Manager, and Rebekah Moynahan, Digitization Coordinator.

About Martha Grimm

After earning a graduate degree in Textile Science from Kansas State University and being awarded a National Endowment for the Arts Master Apprenticeship Grant to intern at the St. Louis Art Museum’s textile conservation laboratory, Martha Winslow Grimm, a native Phoenician, returned to Arizona and established a business as a costume and textile conservator serving Phoenix Art Museum, Heard Museum, Musical Instrument Museum, and other museums and historical houses throughout the nation. Martha has worked with Phoenix Art Museum for over thirty years. She organizes and implements a nationwide service project each year that helps small museums with their costume, textile, and accessories collections. Since 2007, events have taken place in Maine, California, Virginia, the state of Washington, and places in between. Next year’s event, the Angels Project, will be held on May 31, 2025 in Los Angeles. Martha is married to a fellow native Phoenician and has two grown sons and four grandchildren. She is also a gardener, quilter, and traveler to many countries.

Purchase tickets by Wednesday, September 18th. We regret we are unable to offer tickets after that date.

Image credit: Mariano Fortuny y Madrazo, Blue velvet coat with gold stenciled painted design (Abrigo de terciopelo azul con diseño pintado en oro), 1934, silk velvet stenciled with metals, Gift of Mrs. Anne Robinson

Champagne Supernovas—Kate Moss, Marc Jacobs, Alexander McQueen, and the '90s Renegades Who Remade Fashion by Maureen Callahan

Welcome back! The first book of the fall season (though it still feels like summer) is Champagne Supernovas, an engrossing book that gives you the inside scoop from supermodels, stylists, editors, photographers, confidantes, club kids, and scenesters who tell the unvarnished story of three of the most influential personalities to emerge in fashion in decades—Kate Moss, Marc Jacobs, and Alexander McQueen. This book club selection highlights the Museum and Lemon Library fashion collections.

This program is intended for audiences 18 years and older.

This is a free event. Please reserve your ticket and check in at the Visitor Services Desk. 

RESERVE TICKETS

Join librarian Jesse Lopez to learn about the fashion resources in the Lemon Library, with a focus on ‘90s fashion. Jesse will highlight fashion magazines from this period drawn from our Vogue, Vogue Paris, and Gentleman’s Quarterly (GQ) collections, as well counterculture magazines like FRUiTS. Additionally, we will examine fashion books from the era including those by or about Gianni Versace, Alexander McQueen, Vivenne Westwood, among others.

This program is intended for audiences 18 years and older.

Tickets are free for PhxArt Members. Ticket price includes Museum general admission.

RESERVE TICKETS

Presented in the Lemon Art Research Library

Join librarian Jesse Alexander Lopez in the Lemon Library for a book club discussion.

From amazon:

In this spellbinding portrait of obsession and flawed genius, the best-selling author of The Stranger in the Woods brings us into Stéphane Breitwieser’s strange world.
For centuries, works of art have been stolen in countless ways from all over the world, but no one has been quite as successful at it as the master thief Stéphane Breitwieser. Carrying out more than two hundred heists over nearly eight years—in museums and cathedrals all over Europe—Breitwieser, along with his girlfriend who worked as his lookout, stole more than three hundred objects, until it all fell apart in spectacular fashion.
In The Art Thief, Michael Finkel brings us into Breitwieser’s strange and fascinating world. Unlike most thieves, Breitwieser never stole for money. Instead, he displayed all his treasures in a pair of secret rooms where he could admire them to his heart’s content. Possessed of a remarkable athleticism and an innate ability to circumvent practically any security system, Breitwieser managed to pull off a breathtaking number of audacious thefts. Yet these strange talents bred a growing disregard for risk and an addict’s need to score, leading Breitwieser to ignore his girlfriend’s pleas to stop—until one final act of hubris brought everything crashing down.
This is a riveting story of art, crime, love, and an insatiable hunger to possess beauty at any cost.

Presented in the Lemon Art Research Library

Join librarian Jesse Alexander Lopez in the Lemon Library for a book club discussion of Eyeliner: A Cultural History by Zahra Hankir.

From the distant past to the present, with fingers and felt-tipped pens, metallic powders and gel pots, humans have been drawn to lining their eyes. The aesthetic trademark of figures ranges from Nefertiti to Amy Winehouse. Seen through Zahra Hankir’s (kohl-lined) eyes, this ubiquitous but seldom-examined product becomes a portal to history, proof both of the stunning variety among cultures across time and space and of our shared humanity.

Presented in the Lemon Art Research Library

The Lemon Art Research Library actively collects new books and periodicals from across the wide spectrum of fashion.  Join librarian Jesse Alexander Lopez for a talk about some of the recent books by and about fashion luminaries including former creative director of Louis Vuitton, the late Virgil Abloh, and current head Pharrell Williams. Other highlighted works include Gucci’s collaboration with streetwear pioneer Dapper Dan, as well as books by Rick Owens, Maison Martin Margiela, and Nigo, founder of Japanese streetwear brand Bape.

Monday, May 6

2:45pm Photos and Reception Starts

3:00pm Livestream from the Met Gala Red Carpet

Singer Hall 

THIS EVENT IS SOLD OUT. THANK YOU! Affectionately referred to as “fashion’s biggest night out,” the Met Gala 2024 is an annual benefit for the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City that is held on the first Monday in May. The event welcomes stars, young creatives, and industry paragons with a scene-stealing red carpet. The 2024 Met Gala will celebrate the Costume Institute’s new exhibition, “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion.” 

ACI is pleased to partner with local fashion stylist, Risa Kostis, as our guest commentator during the red carpet and will be joined by Helen Jean, The Jacquie Dorrance Curator of Fashion Design, who will share her insights of the celebrity fashions as well as images from our Fashion-design collection. 

Join us dressed to impress in your interpretation of this year’s sartorial theme, “Garden of Time”, for an afternoon of camaraderie, bevs + bites and fashion fun! 

About Risa Kostis 

Risa Kostis is a seasoned style expert, speaker, and entrepreneur based in Phoenix, Arizona. She is the founder of top Arizona styling company Risa Kostis Creative, and CEO/co-founder of The Rescue Kit Company, fashion emergency kits for brides and beyond. She has an extensive background in categories such as hairstyling & makeup artistry, public relations, production and development, event planning, personal shopping, and for the last decade has been styling for private clients, athletes, celebrities, and weddings. Her 20+ years in the fashion and beauty industries have been recognized internationally from San Francisco and New York City to Florence, Italy with editorial work and styling seen in over 50 media outlets like The Today Show, Good Morning America, Vogue Italia, Huffington Post, Authority Magazine, Modern Luxury, Thrive Global, the E! channel, and currently on global YouTube phenomenon, Ms. Rachel and Mr. Aron. For years, she has appeared regularly as a fashion contributor on various TV stations including Channel 3's Your Life Arizona and has frequently served as a speaker and panelist for organizations such as Girls Mentorship, Powerhouse Women, and local film festival, Fash Film Fete.  

Active ACI members may bring one guest: $20 for ACI Members and $30 for their guest. 

Please Reply by April 28th. We regret we cannot accept late reservations.

THIS EVENT IS SOLD OUT. THANK YOU! Reserve Your TICKET 

JOIN ACI

Presented in the Lemon Art Research Library

Following Color and Hue Library Talk in the Lemon Library,  join librarian Jesse Alexander Lopez in the Lemon Library for a book club discussion of The Secret Lives of Color by Kassia St. Clair.

The Secret Lives of Color tells the unusual stories of seventy-five fascinating shades, dyes, and hues. From blonde to ginger, the brown that changed the way battles were fought to the white that protected against the plague, Picasso’s blue period to the charcoal on the cave walls at Lascaux, acid yellow to kelly green, and from scarlet women to imperial purple, these surprising stories run like a bright thread throughout history.

Presented in the Lemon Art Research Library

In celebration of the latest fashion-design exhibition The Power of Pink, join librarian Jesse Alexander Lopez in the Lemon Library for a discussion on all things color. The talk will highlight popular art books about color, including a rare first edition of Interaction of Color by Josef Albers, Japanese Art Deco masterpiece A Dictionary of Color Combinations Vol 1 & 2 by Sanzo Wada, and the fascinating series A History of a Color by French scholar Michel Pastoureau, among other works.

You’re Invited! ACI Behind-the-Runway with Fashion Producer Margaret Merritt

Tuesday, April 23, 2024

11 AM // ACI Presentation // Singer Hall

Noon // Q & A

Join us for a special presentation exclusively for Style Icon, Avant-Garde and Haute Couture ACI Members. Local luxury fashion producer Margaret Merritt will provide a behind-the-scenes glimpse into her role managing major fashion shows across the globe for world-renowned fashion brands and couture designers. Learn what happens behind the stage before the music starts!

Following the presentation, Helen Jean, Jacquie Dorrance Curator of Fashion Design, will feature collection-relevant highlights from recent fashion week shows.

Light brunch bites and specialty beverages will be provided. We look forward to seeing you!

Reserve Your TICKET

Want to join us? Upgrade your membership level here: ACI Memberships

About Margaret Merritt

Born and raised in Dallas, TX, Margaret Merritt started producing fashion shows by cutting models out of pattern books and lining them up along the fireplace, long before she knew where it would lead. She continued to develop a taste for fashion while working at the Dallas Apparel Mart and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts.

In the early 80’s, Merritt worked as an agent for the Kathy Muller Agency in Hawaii. After relocating to Arizona, she was the Fashion and PR Director at Saks Fifth Avenue for many years. Merritt decided to return to the modeling industry and opened The Agency Arizona, a full-service modeling agency. The Agency launched many renowned superstar models that can be seen in national campaigns and on international runways.

Merritt now focuses her talents on fashion show production, including concept, design, styling, casting, and staffing. She consistently works with clients such as Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, and numerous designers throughout the country. Her attention to detail, unwavering commitment, and impeccable vision, has established an excellent reputation in Arizona and throughout the country.

Location: Lemon Art Research Library

Phoenix Art Museum is currently exhibiting “Guarding the Art: A Frontline Perspective.” This unique exhibition challenges traditional museum hierarchies by producing a show comprised of works selected by guest curators from among the Museum’s frontline staff.

Join Librarian Jesse Alexander Lopez and Cohn Assistant Curator of Contemporary and Community Art Initiatives, Christian Ramirez, to discuss “All the Beauty in the World: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Me by Patrick Bringley.  Patrick Bringley is a former New Yorker staffer who spent a decade as a frontline museum guard at the famed institution.

“An astounding book about an astounding place. All the Beauty in the World is at once a keenly intelligent examination of the power of art and a profoundly empathetic exploration of the workaday culture that makes art visible to all.” —Alex Ross, New Yorker staff writer and author of Wagnerism and The Rest is Noise

ACI LUNCH & LECTURE WITH KARAN FEDER 

*THANK YOU - THIS EVENT IS SOLD OUT!

Wednesday, March 6, 2024

11:30am // ACI Lunch // Singer Hall

12:30pm // Lecture with Karan Feder // Whiteman Hall

$25 for ACI Members | $35 for non-member guest
Lecture is open to all Museum attendees and is included with general admission 

Join us for a special March lunch event celebrating The Power of Pink. Following lunch, costume historian Karan Feder will share a behind-the-scenes look of her role in curating special-engagement exhibition Barbie®: A Cultural Icon.  Karan will sign copies of her book Barbie Takes the Catwalk: A Style Icon’s History in Fashion, available for purchase in The Museum Store, after the lecture.

We look forward to seeing you in your favorite shade of pink! 

*SOLD OUT!

Tickets for lunch must be purchased by February 29th.   

Current ACI Members may purchase a ticket for one guest.  

About the Speaker 

Karan Feder is a leading expert in the field of costume history, preservation, and exhibition. She has worked as a costume consultant for the famed Liberace Foundation and Museum, The Mob Museum, and David Copperfield’s International Museum and Library of the Conjuring Arts. Her instrumental contribution to the Nevada State Museum-Las Vegas produced a dazzling archive recognized as one of the world’s notable museum collections of cabaret costumes. Feder is lauded for spearheading the initiative to rescue the surviving stage costumes from the legendary Folies Bergère cabaret, a beloved Las Vegas fixture at the Hotel Tropicana for nearly five decades. Through her unique lens as a fashion historian, Feder has authored seven publications interpreting popular culture, and she is a frequent lecturer and consultant on the subject

 Exhibition Sponsors

BARBIE®: A CULTURAL ICON  was created by Illusion Projects and curated by costume historian Karan Feder, in collaboration with Mattel. The exhibition’s presentation at Phoenix Art Museum is coordinated by Helen Jean, the Jacquie Dorrance Curator of Fashion Design.  

The Phoenix premiere of Barbie®: A Cultural Icon is made possible through the generosity of The Opatrny Family Foundation, Arizona Costume Institute (ACI), Desert Financial Credit Union, Men’s Arts Council, My Sister’s Closet, Shamrock Farms, and Miriam and Yefim Sukhman.   

All exhibitions at Phoenix Art Museum are underwritten by the Phoenix Art Museum Exhibition Excellence Fund, founded by The Opatrny Family Foundation with additional major support provided by Joan Cremin. 

The Power of Pink is organized by Phoenix Art Museum and curated by Helen Jean, the Jacquie Dorrance Curator of Fashion Design at Phoenix Art Museum.

The Power of Pink is made possible through the generosity of Arizona Costume Institute (ACI), My Sister’s Closet and the Kelly Ellman Fashion Design Endowment Fund.  

All exhibitions at Phoenix Art Museum are underwritten by the Phoenix Art Museum Exhibition Excellence Fund, founded by The Opatrny Family Foundation with additional major support provided by Joan Cremin. 

VIP Reception /// Barbie® A Cultural Icon + The Power of Pink

Tuesday, February 13, 2024 /// 6 – 8 pm

Phoenix Art Museum 
1625 North Central Avenue 

Jeremy Mikolajczak, the Sybil Harrington Director and CEO, and the Board of Trustees of Phoenix Art Museum cordially invite you to an exclusive reception celebrating Barbie®: A Cultural Icon and The Power of Pink. Along with special access to the exhibitions, enjoy light refreshments and curator remarks.

RSVP by February 6, 2024

THIS EVENT IS SOLD OUT. THANK YOU!

About the Exhibitions 

Barbie®: A Cultural Icon examines the evolution and impact of Barbie from child’s toy to global phenomenon. The major exhibition, created by Illusion Projects and curated by costume historian Karan Feder in collaboration with Mattel, Inc., showcases more than 250 vintage dolls—including the original Barbie released in 1959—from the collections of private collector David Porcello and Mattel. It also features more than 50 historical objects and life-sized fashion designs, video interviews with Barbie designers on custom-made Barbie Dreamhouse TVs, and unique photo opportunities, including a life-size Barbie Mirror-Pink Corvette. 

Drawn entirely from the PhxArt Collection,The Power of Pink complements Barbie®: A Cultural Icon by celebrating and exploring the complex history of the color synonymous with the Barbie brand. The exhibition traces the evolution of the hue across fashion history, from its origins in 17th-century France, where it was worn by both men and women as a symbol of status, luxury, and power, to 1940s North America, where mass-marketing efforts began to gender the color, assigning pink to girls and blue to boys. Featuring more than 10 garments and ensembles, The Power of Pink highlights the work of major designers, including Gianfranco Ferré, Christian Dior, Valentino, Yves Saint Laurent, and more. 

Exhibition Sponsors

BARBIE®: A CULTURAL ICON  was created by Illusion Projects and curated by costume historian Karan Feder, in collaboration with Mattel. The exhibition’s presentation at Phoenix Art Museum is coordinated by Helen Jean, the Jacquie Dorrance Curator of Fashion Design.  

The Phoenix premiere of Barbie®: A Cultural Icon is made possible through the generosity of:  

The Opatrny Family Foundation, Arizona Costume Institute (ACI), Desert Financial Credit Union, Men’s Arts Council, My Sister’s Closet, Shamrock Farms, and Miriam and Yefim Sukhman.   

All exhibitions at Phoenix Art Museum are underwritten by the Phoenix Art Museum Exhibition Excellence Fund, founded by The Opatrny Family Foundation with additional major support provided by Joan Cremin. 

The Power of Pink is organized by Phoenix Art Museum and curated by Helen Jean, the Jacquie Dorrance Curator of Fashion Design at Phoenix Art Museum.

The Power of Pink is made possible through the generosity of Arizona Costume Institute (ACI), My Sister’s Closet and the Kelly Ellman Fashion Design Endowment Fund.  

All exhibitions at Phoenix Art Museum are underwritten by the Phoenix Art Museum Exhibition Excellence Fund, founded by The Opatrny Family Foundation with additional major support provided by Joan Cremin. 

Wednesday, November 15
$25 for active ACI Members | $35 for guests*

The lecture is open to the public and included with general Museum admission. 

11:30 am /// Lunch in Singer Hall

12:30 pm /// Lecture in Whiteman Hall

Join Scottsdale historian Joan Fudala, for an engaging presentation featuring the art and fashions of Cherokee fashion designer Lloyd Henri “Kiva” New, highlighting his broad Southwestern influence. New was an innovator of Indigenous Modernism and charter member of the Arizona Craftsmen cooperative, which aided the development of Scottsdale into a center for hand-crafted arts and fashions. 

 *ACI Members may bring one guest

 Please RSVP by Thursday, November 9.

TICKETS

About the speaker: 

Joan Fudala is a community historian, consultant and history columnist for local publications.  She is the author of eight books, including The People’s Preserve; Historic Scottsdale: A Life from the Land; Images of America – Scottsdale; Golf in Scottsdale; 50 Years of the Scottsdale Charros & Spring Training; and Desert Highlands.   

Joan serves on Scottsdale’s Museum of the West Board of Trustees, the Scottsdale Historical Society Advisory Board.  She has been recognized as Scottsdale’s Woman of the Year, with Scottsdale Leadership’s Frank Hodges Alumni Achievement Award, the Scottsdale Library’s Spirit of Literacy and Visionary Awards, the Arizona Governor’s Heritage Preservation Award, DAR’s Women in History Award and as a Scottsdale History Hall of Fame inductee. 

She began researching Lloyd Kiva New in 2000, heard him deliver the eulogy at Phil Curtis’ memorial service at the Phoenix Art Museum in November 2000, and visited his home and widow, Aysen, in Santa Fe in 2005.  She has written extensively about Kiva and his fellow Arizona Craftsmen and fashion artists of the 1950s, produced a video segment for Kiva’s 2005 induction into the Scottsdale History Hall of Fame, co-curated an exhibit of Kiva items at the Museum of the West in 2017, and wrote the historic narrative for the successful nomination that listed the Kiva Craft Center on the National Register of Historic Places in 2022.  She also appears in the 2022 documentary about the life of Lloyd Kiva, “New: Art is Culture, Culture is Art.” 

Join Ashley LaRae Sampson, Founder & President of StylePHX, as she presents a snapshot of the Hip Hop music industry and shares her experience as a stylist touring with hip-hop’s most high-profile, celebrity performers.

Enjoy a no-host reception prior to the lecture. 

Singer Hall, located in the Education Building.

Event tickets are complimentary for current ACI Members; $5 for the public. Reserve your seat by Monday, October 23. Click HERE for your ticket.

About the speaker:

After beginning her career as a celebrity fashion stylist, touring with world-renown superstars such as Kanye West, Jay-Z, and Keyshia Cole along with fashion consulting for various musicians, athletes, businesspersons and projects, Ashley now teaches people how to align their personal and professional brands with their Ideal Self through image & brand consulting, business and spiritual advising, mindfulness, sound healing, art, and esoteric tools with StylePHX, founded in 2010, accompanying brand-curated Shop (ShopStylePHX.com), Grow|StylePHX Garden, and healing outreach, The Esoteric Blueprint.

Over the years, Ashley has also instructed a course at her alma mater, Arizona State University, in their Herberger Institute School of Art - Fashion program and has produced and hosted shows for Social Television Network (STNTV), where you can stream her healing mini-series, ‘Of Sound Mind,’ interviews with community leaders on ‘Arizona Achievers’ and more.

Ashley has dedicated free time to community empowerment through Grow|StylePHX Garden at Project Roots AZ, as a member of Phoenix College President's Advisory Council, a Million Dollar Teacher Project and OneMillion Entrepreneurs Advisor, Past Chair of Phoenix Valley Young Professionals, Communications Director for AIGA Arizona, Marketing Co-Chair for Girls in Tech Phoenix, Vice Chair of Phoenix Police Chief Jeri Williams’ Business Council, Youth Mentor with New Pathways for Youth, and member of Achieve60AZ African American Attainment Equity Task Force.

Ashley is a proud alumnus of Arizona State University, earning a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Minor in Communication Studies before attending Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles for a Professional Designation in Visual Communication.