“A work of art that is never seen is little better off than a work of art that has never been created.” -Lessing J. Rosenwald
Abington Art Center, located in Jenkintown, 20 minutes by rail from the heart of Philadelphia was established in 1939 as the Old York Road Art Guild. In 1965, the Guild's separate elements were brought together as the non-profit entity Abington Art Center, which has resided in Alverthorpe Manor since it was donated to Abington Township in 1969. Prior to that, the estate, originally owned by Joshua Francis Fisher, was purchased by Lessing J. Rosenwald, son of Julius Rosenwald, the part-owner and CEO of Sears, Roebuck and Company. In 1939, he razed the old house to build the current art-deco-inspired, 52-room mansion designed by Ernest A. Grunsfeld. The Art Center’s Studio School wing of this unique building once housed Rosenwald's enormous collection of over 2,600 rare books and 24,000 prints, drawings, and manuscripts, which was donated to the Library of Congress and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Our rich history provides inspiration for AAC's mission to further arts and culture.
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