W.C.Fields once said, “I’d rather be in Philadelphia” and in early September we hope you too would rather be in Philadelphia on another special Arts & Crafts Tour. It’s a trip packed with beautiful and interesting things to see and do as well as fascinating and informative people to meet.

We will leave from New York City in our luxury mini-coach. We will head directly to Philadelphia and our tour of the extraordinary works at the Barnes Foundation. There will be time for lunch and more time for you to view the works at your leisure. 

Just a few of the Cezanes at the Barnes Foundation

The Philadelphia Art  Museum is open until 8:45 on Wednesday and we will have the coach to take us there where you can visit works that specially appeal and at your own pace. But before that you may want to visit the Rodin Museum is just next door and you can choose to go there or to the Philadelphia Art Museum which is open until 8:45 on Wednesday. Then it is time to check into our hotel. The coach will be available to us throughout the day. We may all get together for dinner, or you can decide to go out in smaller groups. 

The next day we have scheduled two visits before returning home. To the amazing and quirky Fonthill, in Doylestown, PA.  This is the home of Henry Chapman Mercer who was the founder of the Moravian Pottery and Tileworks. He constructed his home almost completely of concrete which makes it a quite unique building for the later 19th century. But there is so much more for it houses his extensive collection of ceramics and pottery from Pre-Columbian to contemporary.  

We’ll tour the home and then go across to his factory with its extensive collection of murals and tiles designed by Mercer. Close to home you can see Mercer tiles surrounding a Japanese restaurant on 72nd Street between Columbus and Amsterdam avenues. And once you’ve seen them, you’ll find yourself discovering them all over the city.