Author Archives: Camilla Hellman

ASF exhibit of Scottish photographer Ken Patersons photographs, “In the Footsteps of John Muir”, journeying to Scotland

The American-Scottish Foundation® exhibit of Scottish photographer Ken Patersons photographs, “In the Footsteps of John Muir” is journeying to Scotland and will go on show at Stirling Castle from February 2nd to April 28th.

Presented by Historic Environment Scotland in association with ASF, the exhibit traces Muir’s early days in Dunbar Scotland to Yosemite CA, taking one on a journey to see the environments which Muir loved and did so much to help preserve spearheading the formation of America’s National Parks.

STIRLINGCASTLE.SCOT
 In the Footsteps of John Muir Event page for upcoming exhibition at Stirling Castle

The exhibit has been touring in the US since 2014 and exhibits have included Federal Hall National Memorial NYC, John Muir National Historic Site in Martinez CA, Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site, Hyde Park, NY and the Erie Canal Museum in Syracuse. The exhibit was part of the National Centennial Celebration of National Parks 2016-17.

In 2018, the exhibit was expanded to include images from John Muir Trail in Scotland. The 134 mile route stretches coast-to-coast between Helensburgh in the west, to John Muir’s birthplace in Dunbar on the east.

For up to date information on the exhibit at Stirling Castle and events surrounding the exhibit visit https://www.stirlingcastle.scot/whatson/events/footsteps/…
and
https://americanscottishfoundation.com/e…/JohnMuirExpo18.html

A thank you to all who helped make the Wallace Awards Celebration an evening to remember

Image may contain: cloud, text, nature and outdoorOn behalf of the ASF Board a thank you to everyone who worked so hard to make the Wallace Award Celebration such a memorable evening.

The evening saw Sir Moir Lockhead, Chairman of National Trust for Scotland, and Dr Andy Scott, renowned sculptor,  with the Wallace Award for their contributions to Heritage, Arts and Culture.

Image may contain: 4 people, people smiling, people standing, suit and indoor

 Scotland’s National Chef, Gary Maclean, oversaw the menu, adding special touches.   Glendronach Single Malt offered guests a whisky tasting of their excellent malts.

The wonderful team of Claire Mackenzie and Scott Gilmour of Noisemaker gave us musical interludes.

 Silent and Live auctions helped support the ongoing work of the ASF and for an ASF Grant to the new Baird Family Hospital in Aberdeen and its Neonatal unit being overseen by the ARCHIE Foundation alongside the University of Aberdeen.

If you have questions please call the ASF Office on 212 605 0338

or email americanscottishfoundation@gmail.com

 

The First Thanksgiving Celebration shared by the Pilgrims & Wampanoag Nation in 1621

Smithsonian Magazine offers an instight into what was served for the first Thanksgiving Celebration shared by the Pilgrims and Wampanoag Nation at Plymouth Colony in 1621 from an account written by Edward Winslow, an English leader who attended and wrote home to a friend.

It is a full account of the meal served – where turkey was a part of the feast but not the center piece it is today.

Further insight is offered by Kathleen Wall, a “foodways culinarian” at the Wampanoag Homesite Plimoth Plantation a living history museum in Plymouth, Massachusetts who has researched recipe books and documents

Wall explains .. “Thanksgiving was a three-day celebration and … have no doubt whatsoever that birds that are roasted one day, the remains of them are all thrown in a pot and boiled up to make broth the next day. That broth thickened with grain to make a pottage.”

In addition to wildfowl and deer, the colonists and Wampanoag probably ate eels and shellfish, such as lobster, clams and mussels. “They were drying shellfish and smoking other sorts of fish,”

A Happy Thanksgiving to all from all of us at The American-Scottish Foundation® team.

Read the full article by clicking this LINK 

Scottish Stone Masons who helped to build the White House, honored in Scotland.

Historic Environment Scotland are leading on the honoring of a group of 6 Scottish stone masons who travelled to Washington DC in 1794 – they have now been honored with a plaque unveiled at 66 Queen Street in Edinburgh

HES have now mounted an exhibit with background to The Scots Who Built the White House – and is now on display at the Engine Shed in Stirling until Friday 12th April 2019. Entry is free.

Read more at: https://www.scotsman.com/…/honour-for-scots-stonemasons-who…

Join us as the ASF presents the Wallace Award to Sir Moir Lockhead & Andy Scott for their contributions to Scottish Heritage, Arts & Culture.

Friday 9th November – New York

The ASF Wallace Awards Celebration

Friday November 9th

University Club, One West 54th Street, New York

The Wallace Awards will be presented to:

Sir Moir Lockhead, Chairman, National Trust for Scotland for a lifetime journey providing transport for people to reach & enjoy Scotland’s beautiful landscapes & his current inspired leadership to conserve Scotland’s rich heritage.

Dr. Andy Scott for his outstanding contribution to Scottish Arts.  Dr Scott is recognized as one of today’s foremost contemporary sculptors, world renowned for his public art.  Amongst his most recognizable works are his 100 foot tall Kelpies, the largest equine sculptures in the world, located in Falkirk, Scotland.

The evening will be a celebration of Scotland with whisky from Glendronach Single Malt Scotch Distillery, Scottish food, music, dancing – and opportunities to bid on our silent and live auctions.

Scotland’s National Chef Gary Maclean, Winner of the UK MasterChef The Professionals 2016, Chef Lecturer at the City of Glasgow College, will bring “touches” to spark the menu.

The award winning team of Claire McKenzie & Scott Gilmour of Noisemaker will offer musical interludes with Mike Ogoltree and Shortbread, and will then lead the Scottish reels.                                                                                                                                                                   Silent and Live Auctions will bring opportunities to help support the ongoing work of the ASF, and an ASF Grant to the new Baird Family Hospital in Aberdeen for its Neo Natal unit overseen by The ARCHIE Foundation alongside the University of Aberdeen.

We hope you will join us for this very special evening.

Tickets may be reserved HERE 

If you wish to join a table we will look to seat you – or let us know whose table you are joining.

If you have questions please call the ASF Office on 212 605 0338

or email americanscottishfoundation@gmail.com

 With Andy Scott joining us on November 9th, how can we not look back to Tartan Week 2014 and the 20 ft macquette Kelpies on display that spring at Bryant Park.

Read more of the 2014 Kelpies stay in New York HERE.

ASF is proud to have helped to bring the Kelpies to New York – we were so sorry to see them leave.

The full size 100 ft Kelpies, unveiled in 2015, are the largest equine sculptures in the world; situated in the Helix Park, Falkirk, beside the Forth of Clyde & River Carron extension.  Boats traverse “through” the Kelpies; and when lit at night they become magnificent beacons.

ASF Members & Friends invited to attend the Explorers Club “Tartan Turban” Talk Monday October 1st

The Explorers Club have extended an invitation for The American-Scottish Foundation®  Members & Friends to attend their upcoming lecture “The Tartan Turban”

Monday, October 1
6:00 pm Reception, 7:00 pm Lecture
The Explorers Club Headquarters, 46 E 70th Street, NYC

Member Ticket Price: $10
Guest Ticket Price: $25
Student Ticket Price: $5 with a valid student ID

Image may contain: one or more people and hat

John Keay, British historian, journalist, radio presenter and lecturer specializing in popular histories of India, the Far East and China, is widely seen as a pre-eminent historian of British India.

Keay will take one on a journey …
Like the travels of Marco Polo, those of Alexander Gardner clip the white line between credible adventure and creative invention. Either he is the nineteenth century’s most intrepid traveler or its most egregious fantasist, or a bit of both. Contemporaries generally believed him; posterity became more skeptical. And as with Polo, the investigation of Gardner’s story enlarged man’s understanding of the world and upped the pace of scientific and political exploration.

Before more reputable explorers notched up their own discoveries in innermost Asia, this lone Scots-American had roamed the deserts of Turkestan, ridden round the world’s most fearsome knot of mountains and fought in Afghanistan ‘for the good cause of right against wrong.’

From the Caspian to Tibet and from Kandahar to Kashgar, Gardner had seen it all. At the time, the 1820s, no other outsider had managed anything remotely comparable. When word of his feats filtered out, geographers were agog.

He witnessed the death throes of that Sikh empire at close quarters and, sparing no gruesome detail, recorded his own part in the bloodshed (the very same featuring as the exploits of ‘Alick’ Gardner in the ‘Flashman’ series).

Fame finally caught up with him during his long retirement in Kashmir. Dressed in tartan yet still living as a native, he mystified visiting dignitaries and found a ready audience for the tales of his adventurous past. But one mystery he certainly took to the grave: the whereabouts of his accumulated fortune has still to be discovered.

Using much original material, including newly discovered papers by Gardner himself, renowned historian John Keay will take us from the American West to the Asian East to unravel the greatest enigma in the history of travel.

Author of over 25 books and regularly contributor to a number of prominent publications in Britain and Asia. He began his career with The Economist as a political correspondent, and was a contributor to BBC radio.

Keay is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society & the Royal Literary Fund, and he has received several major honors including the Sir Percy Sykes Memorial Medal of the Royal Society for Asian Affairs. He read Modern History at Magdalen College, Oxford, and now lives in Argyll in the West Highlands of Scotland while traveling widely.

https://explorers.org/…/public_lecture_series_with_john_keay

Image may contain: one or more people, tree and outdoor

ASF Autumn Calendar of Events

SEPTEMBER CALENDAR

Thursday 20th September – Washington DC

The Spirit of Conservation

Republic Restoratives Distillery ,

1369 New York Ave. NE, Washington, DC 20002

6.30pm Ambassadors Reception   7pm Main Event –

in support of the critically endangered Scottish freshwater mussel.  

Reservation & ways to be involved HERE

 Tuesday 25th September – New York

Historic Scottish Gardens & Scots Influence on the Early Gardens of New York

The Arsenal Central Park, 64th Street & Fifth Avenue, NYC 

6pm Talk  – followed by Wine & Cheese up on the Arsenal Rooftop Garden

Guest Speakers:

Chris Wadle, National Trust for Scotland’s Garden and Designed Landscape Manager for Aberdeenshire and Angus. Chris’ will update us on the restoration of the Robert Burns cottage garden and give us insight into the restoration of the National Trust for Scotland’s Gardens.

John Kinnear,  Architect, Author and Historian, President of the American Friends of the Georgian Group. Noted for his work in historical preservation,  will speak to the influence of Scots on the early gardens of the United States including Alexander Hamilton home The Grange, and the heather gardens at Fort Tryon Park. 

On Line Reservations:

Member tickets (ASF, NTSUSA, Burns Society) $45

Non Members $55

Not yet a Member of the ASF – Join NOW and attend this event as our Guest. Membership Link HERE

OCTOBER:

19th – 21st October – Kilgour Centre, Troy, Michigan

Scottish NA Leadership Conference

MASTER SNALC

Join us and add your voice to the conversation.

TRANSFERRING OUR SCOTTISH HERITAGE TO THE NEXT GENERATION THROUGH MUSIC, ARTS & CULTURE

NOVEMBER: 

Friday 9th November – New York

The ASF Wallace Awards Celebration

honoring Sir Moir Lockhead & Andy Scott

For ways to be involved from Attending, to Donating to the Silent Auction or placing a message in the Journal, click here – or call the ASF Office directly.

HIGHLAND GAMES AROUND THE USA IN THE WEEKS AHEAD: 

14th – 16th September, Scotfest Oklahoma

Tulsa, OK       www.okscotfest.com 

 21 st – 23rd September, New Hampshire Highland Games

Loon Mountain, NH   www.nhscot.org 

22nd – 23rd September, Ligonier Highland Games

Altoona, PA    www.ligonierhighlandgames.org 

28th – 30th September Celtic Classic Highland Games & Festival

Bethlehem, PA     www.celticfest.org 

28th – 29th September, St. Louis Scottish Games & Cultural Festival

Chesterfield, MO  www.stlouis-scottishgames.com 

28th – 29th September, Dandridge Scots-Irish Festival

Jefferson, TN     www.scots-irish.com

TO KEEP UP TO DATE ON ALL ASF EVENTS, please visit our website at www.americanscottishfoundation.org

ADDITIONAL WAYS TO SUPPORT THROUGH MEMBERSHIP OR DONATIONS:

If you are not yet a Member of the American-Scottish Foundation we invite you to join and take advantage of our Membership.

Click here to join as an Individual or Corporate Member

If you would like to make a donation to the Foundation in support of our Heritage, Arts and Culture programming, opportunities are noted HERE.

Have you tried the ASF Harney & Sons Scottish Morn or Scottish Afternoon Teas?A percentage from each purchase of these two special teas goes towards supporting the ongoing work of the ASF. To order one of our great brews order directly from Harney & Sons HERE

When next in Lower Manhattan a “must see” is the South Street Seaport Museum – and we encourage you to take time to wander around the Seaport which is one New York’s most historic areas.

The restoration and development of such historic places does not just happen and the story behind South Street Seaport Museum is just that.  There would be no South Street Seaport Museum were it not for two visionaries – Jakob Isbrandtsen, founding chairman of the South Street Seaport Museum and founding president Peter Standford, together they  envisioned so much of what is today’s wonderful South Street Seaport Museum.

Image may contain: 1 person, smiling, sitting, outdoor and indoorThe sad news of Isbrandsten’s passing last week brough to the ASF’s attention not only what he did for Lower Manhattan and New York – but for Scotland too.

One of Isbrandtsen’s great loves was the restoration of the windjammer Wavertree which was has deep roots to Scotland and the Jute trade.

As Captain Boulware, CEO of the South Street Seaport Museum notes… “He financed the purchase of the ship when she might have otherwise gone to scrap, bringing to New York a windjammer of the age of sail suitable for the task of representing her thousands of sisters.”.

The Wavertree was built in Southampton, England in 1885 and was one of the last large sailing ships built of wrought iron. She was built for the Liverpool company R.W. Leyland & Company, and is named after the Wavertree district of that city.

Image may contain: sky and outdoor

The ship was first used to carry jute between eastern India and Scotland. In 1947 Wavertree was converted into a sand barge at Buenos Aires, Argentina, This ship was discovered in 1967 by an American working on a sand barge and acquired by the South Street Seaport Museum in 1968.

After restoration at the the Arsenal Naval Buenos Aires the ship was towed to New York in 1969.

As well as being a visionary, Isbrandtsen was a tireless volunteer, inspiring others as Capt. Boulware continues …. “After his career in commercial shipping, he shifted to volunteerism and led by example, mucking bilges in the hold of Wavertree and all manner of dirty, difficult, and dangerous tasks. He was the first person aboard the ship in the morning and the last to leave. It was all for the ship and all for the people in her. His advertisement for volunteers: “Long hours, dirty work, no pay” was just the right way to engage people in the ship, and the work done under his leadership kept Wavertree afloat for decades, allowing the restoration and care that continues today.”

RARE PERSIAN GARDEN CARPET FROM THE BURRELL COLLECTION, GLASGOW, goes on display for the first time outside Great Britain at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

The Wagner Garden Carpet – a late 17th-century Persian carpet never before seen in the United States – will be on view at The Metropolitan Museum of Art  now through October 7, 2018.See the source imageStaff from Glasgow Museums with the Wagner Garden Carpet. The Burrell Collection. ©    CSG CIC Glasgow Museums Collection.

Titled Eternal Springtime: A Persian Garden Carpet from the Burrell Collection, the collaboration between the Burrell Collection, Glasgow, and The Metropolitan Museum, New York, will provide a rare opportunity for members of the public to see the earliest example of a garden carpet outside of Asia.

A detail from the Wagner Garden Carpet (Glasgow Museums/PA)
Detail of the Wagner Garden Carpet. The Burrell Collection. © CSG CIC Glasgow Museums Collection.

The Wagner Garden Carpet is considered to be one of only three early surviving Persian garden carpets in the world. The design of this particular carpet is unique and no other examples resembling it or using part of its base-pattern have yet been identified. Measuring 5309 mm (17.5 ft) in height and 4318 mm (14.2 ft) in width, Wagner Garden has rarely been seen on display and has spent most of its time in storage at the Burrell Collection, Glasgow.

Named after an early 20th century owner, the carpet is a 17th century Persian Kirman pile carpet with a formal garden layout. Unusual for this type of garden carpet, it almost invokes a heavenly walled menagerie that immerses the person sitting on it in its natural but well-ordered world.  The design was inspired by both the pre-Islamic Persian Paradise and the descriptions of the Garden of Heaven in the Qur’an.

Eternal Springtime will be displayed in the Metropolitans suite of 15 galleries and takes place whilst the Burrell Collection, Glasgow, undergoes an estimated £66 million refurbishment of its building and redisplay of its extensive Collection.

When the Burrell Collection reopens in late 2020, The Wagner Garden Carpet will be focal object of a three-carpet display that explores heavenly gardens in Islamic art as depicted on Persian carpets.

Director of Burrell Renaissance, James Robinson, says, “Expanding our international reach, reputation and impact is core to the Burrell Collection’s vision that will enable the Collection to engage with the world in new and more meaningful ways. Our collaboration with the Metropolitan Museum demonstrates the Burrell’s reach, in geography and material culture, which will see the collection regarded rightly as a global resource.”

 

Glasgow and New York celebrate the 150th Anniversary of Charles Rennie Mackintosh

June 7th marks the 150th Anniversary of Charles Rennie Mackintosh.
At Glasgow’s Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum a temporary exhibit is on show through to August 14th showing Mackintosh’s work in the context of Glasgow, his predecessors, influences and contemporaries.

Assistant curator Hannah Willetts stands in front of posters at thttps://content-wordpress.pressassociation.com/wp-admin/edit.php?post_type=advisoryhe launch of Charles Rennie Mackintosh Making the Glasgow Style (Andrew Milligan/PA)The exhibit features work from Glasgow’s civic collections, alongside key loans from Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery, The Glasgow School of Art, the Victoria and Albert Museum and a number of private lenders.

As the Daily Mail notes – the exhibit …. “It features more than 250 objects including stained glass, ceramics, mosaic, furniture, textiles, interior and tearoom design and architectural drawings, most of which have not been shown in Glasgow for more than 30 years.”

“The Charles Rennie Mackintosh Making the Glasgow Style exhibition is one of the highlights in the Mackintosh 150 programme, a year long celebration of events throughout 2018.”

decorative artIn New York on June 7th a talk & reception will take place hosted by General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen of the City of New York together with The American-Scottish Foundation® & The National Trust for Scotland, on the influence of Mackintosh on New York architecture – presented by John Kinnear, Architect, Historian & Director, and on the power of Mackintosh’s design and threstoration of Hill House.                                                                                                                              To read more about the Scots Who Built New York visit the American-Scottish Foundation project page HERE.                                                                                                                                             For more information surrounding the National Trust for Scotland restoration of Hill House visit the NTS USA project page linked HERE                                                                                                                                                                 Tickets are from $10 for ASF, NTS USA, GSMT, ROS, NYCC and $15 for Guests and Friends and are available directly on line here                                                                                                                    To learn more of the exhibit visit Glasgow Life Museum website and rad the full Daily Mail article linked here