Exhibits
Visitors to The Filson's headquarters and its website can enjoy a variety of exhibits. A tour of The Filson's headquarters in the Ferguson Mansion and its museum in the Ferguson carriage house gives the visitor the opportunity to view a beautiful Beaux Arts style house dating from the early twentieth century, one of the best portrait collections in the region, and exhibits drawn from other areas of The Filson's collection. If you can't actually visit or want to prepare for a visit, there are two options on the website for virtual tours of The Filson and Ferguson Mansion. Also available on the website are three digital exhibits regarding frontier Kentucky and Ohio Valley history, Abraham Lincoln and Kentucky, and Lewis and Clark's Kentucky connections. Click on the links to the left to visit these tours and exhibits.
Current exhibits
Louisville's Photographic History
An exhibition featuring items from The Filson Historical Society's collections will include one of the earliest known street scenes of Louisville, photographs by various Louisville photographers from the mid-19th century to present day documenting people and places, glass plate negatives, lantern slides and various other archaic tools of photographic artistry. The exhibit will also feature work by such historically significant photographers as Edward Klauber, Webster, Paul Gunter and R.C. Ballard Thruston.
Another portion of the exhibit will focus on artifacts and images from the Center for Photographic Studies (CPS). This never before seen exhibition consists of newly acquired items generously donated to The Filson by photographer John Setzer, a former artist at CPS. These items portray the various creative processes and explorative nature for which the center was known. Follow the thought process of an artist from contact sheet to Shrinky Dink image transfers. Also included are artifacts that document some of the center's programs and student exhibitions.
The Filson offers these exhibitions as part of the 2009 Louisville Visual Arts Festival, a citywide celebration of visual arts in Louisville. This year's festival celebrates the Center for Photographic Studies, a Louisville alternative school for photography, which was open from 1970 to 1978. During its eight year existence, the Center (founded by CJ Pressma) attracted students from more than 35 states and foreign countries to its full-time resident program and provided instruction and darkroom access for hundreds of students in the Louisville area. For information about the Louisville Visual Arts Festival, visit www.paulpalettigallery.com/upcoming.
The exhibitions can be viewed during regular business hours; Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
