WILLIAMSBURG — Colonial Williamsburg’s annual Antiques Forum will celebrate 75 years of scholarship, fellowship, and fun Feb. 24-28.
Colonial Williamsburg said in a press release the conference, offered virtually and in-person, will honor the past, embrace the present and look forward to the future of Antiques Forum, which was heralded in 1949 by The Magazine Antiques as a “unique event in the antique world, designed to provide the personal contact and exchange of ideas and experience which can be of such inestimable value to collectors.”
“It’s a remarkable thing when an annual gathering to celebrate and study antiques becomes an antique in its own right,” said Ronald L. Hurst, Colonial Williamsburg’s senior vice president for education and historic resources and chief curator. “We are delighted that Antiques Forum has served so many collectors, scholars, and antique enthusiasts for so long, and we look forward to continuing to build on this rich legacy in the coming years as the Foundation approaches its 100th anniversary in 2026.”
Some of this year’s conference presentations include:
- Nicholas Ashley-Cooper, 12th Earl of Shaftesbury, delivering the opening keynote, The Magic of St. Giles
- Adam Bowett, Independent Furniture Historian, delivering the closing keynote, From Strawberry Hill to Carbon 14 and XRF: Two Centuries of British Furniture Scholarship
- Tiffany Momon & Torren Gatson, Co-Directors of the Black Craftspeople Digital Archive and William Strollo, DAR Museum, Fighting for Freedom: Black Craftspeople & the Pursuit of Independence
- Cary Carson, retired Director of Research, Colonial Williamsburg, Colonial Williamsburg Turned Inside Out
- Jeffrey Ricketts, East Nottingham Antiques, Michael Diaz Griffith, Leadership Design Network, and Caroline Cole, Chairish, Inc. Young Antiquarians Panel: Inspiring the Next Generation of Collectors & Connoisseurs
- Updates on research throughout Colonial Williamsburg’s Collections and Historic Area with Colonial Williamsburg staff
Registration is currently open until Jan. 15. Tickets for in-person are $655 per person, or $490 for museum professionals and students and includes access to welcome reception, lectures, continental breakfast, coffee & refreshment breaks, conference receptions, and dinner with an optional “dress like it’s the 1940s” theme.
In-person registrants will also have the opportunity to participate in “An Afternoon of Elegance” sponsored by Chairish, which will include tours of Bassett Hall, the Williamsburg residence of John D. Rockefeller Jr. and Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, and the Nelson-Galt House, recently updated by Colonial Williamsburg’s Designer-in-Residence Heather Chadduck Hillegas.
Virtual-only registration is $175 per person and includes access to lectures through the conference streaming platform. Both in-person and virtual-only registration includes a seven-day ticket voucher to Colonial Williamsburg’s Art Museums and Historic Area, valid for redemption through Dec. 31, 2023.
Registration and payment in full are required by Feb. 5. Conference guest tickets are available for a seven-day ticket voucher to Colonial Williamsburg’s Art Museums and Historic Area ($22), opening reception ($50), and conference reception and dinner ($85).
A limited number of virtual and in-person conference scholarships are available to students and emerging museum professionals, with an application deadline of Dec. 20. In-person registrants can also register for optional pre- and post-conference activities, including bus trips, walking tours, and workshops with a registration deadline of Feb. 5.
Special room rates at Colonial Williamsburg hotels are available for in-person conference registrants. All registrants will have access to the main conference lectures via the streaming platform through April 1.
For more information, visit the Colonial Williamsburg official web page.
