Drexel University’s Atwater Kent Collection and Pearlstein Gallery are announcing a Request for Qualifications for visual or performing artists and writers to develop a project based on artifacts from the Atwater Kent Collection related to manufacturing and industry.

A shortlist selected from the applicants will be awarded $500 to develop a proposal for a project, culminating in a public presentation or exhibition at Pearlstein Gallery.  The date for completion of the project is funding dependent, but slated for Winter 2029, with substantial project development likely taking place in 2028.

Applicants should include a resume and up to 3 links to projects which demonstrate a commitment to at least one of these topics:  

History and a research-based practice

The crossover between crafts/trades and art and/or the subject of industry or trades (including but not limited to woodworking, textiles, paper hanging, printing, sign painting, machinery, electronics). Applicants should also submit a brief one paragraph statement of interest which summarizes the applicant’s interest in and/or past commitment to the above topics.

Please send submissions to gallery@drexel.edu with the subject line “AKC – RFQ” by Monday, March 16 at 9am.

This application is open to artists within a 90-mile radius of Philadelphia.  

About the Atwater Kent Collection: Drexel University is stewarding the Atwater Kent Collection (AKC) as a “museum without walls” for research, interpretive and educational use. The AKC is the collection of the former Philadelphia History Museum, which closed in 2018. Drexel is continuing the mission of the former Museum: collecting, preserving, and interpreting  over 133,000+ items, reflecting 350 years of Philadelphia and American history.

The Collection includes approximately 35,000 objects (paintings, sculpture, furniture, clothing, etc.), 51,000 photographs, and 47,000 archival items (prints, drawings, manuscripts, sheet music, posters, etc.), acquired through purchase, gift, bequest, and transfer—many donated by local individuals and institutions.  Alongside celebrated portraits and history paintings are objects related to Philadelphia’s industrial community (documenting the city’s role as “Workshop of the World”), and ephemera from the Centennial and subsequent national anniversaries, as well as objects related to the Civil War. Strengths include material representing: the Museum’s earliest acquisitions (including a maritime focus, and WPA material), the eclectic collections it absorbed, national celebrations, development of the city and civic history, sports, salvaged material and relics, manufacturing and retail (especially 19th and early 20th century), and art and music.