Birthday Bash and Studio Centennial Celebration: Happy 139th Birthday, Wharton!

Bring your party hats and join us on the hillside to celebrate Wharton Esherick’s 139th birthday and the centennial year of his 1926 Studio on Saturday, July 11th from 2:00-5:00PM. Festivities include a hands-on collage activity with WEM’s artist-in-residence Jennifer Johnson, live music by the Llama Dalis, an open house of  the 1926 Studio with docents available in each room, and a chance to see the prizewinning artworks in Breaking Ground: WEM’s 32nd Annual Juried Woodworking Exhibition on view in our Visitor Center. Guests will have the opportunity to enjoy the 1956 Kahn/Tyng Workshop and patio in the company of fellow Esherick enthusiasts and WEM staff, along with light refreshments and celebratory fare!

During the party, we’ll be hosting a raffle offering unique experiences and items, as well as a special, limited edition poster by our artist-in-residence Jennifer Johnson for sale featuring illustrations of Esherick chairs in the Studio from Johnson’s residency studies. Grab your tickets now and celebrate your creative side. You can join us at our general admission or member price – or show your support with a “Friend of Wharton” ticket. Happy 139th Birthday, Wharton!

The Details

WEM’s 2026 Artist-in-Residence Jennifer Johnson is a Philadelphia-based sculptor who works primarily in clay with a focus on how architecture reveals lived experience. Over the course of her residency, Johnson has created studies, drawings, and models that respond to her time in Esherick’s Studio, including a series of ceramic tile studies of the buildings and chairs – including the one seen here. For the party, Johnson and WEM staff will guide guests in a collage-making activity using tissue paper, inspired by her brilliant color work with ceramic glazes. 

We’re delighted to have brothers Michael and Dave Biddison of the Llama Dalis join us again this year! Since 1975 the Biddison brothers have played with such notorious bands as Neo Pseudo, Space Goop, The Shaggy Dogs, and Ticapoo Brain. Their harmonies and eclectic mix of song-making influences are rooted in that soulful stuff of the 1960s but feel like they belong in any age.