SEE MORE ONLINE | To learn more about the Columbus Historic Foundation, please visit the archives at imagescolumbus.com/05-06. Rosewood Manor is one of Columbus’ beloved historic homes.
For the Love of History NINETEENTH ANNUAL ARTS/PRESERVATION FORUM FOCUSES ON THE GILDED AGE
M
en, get your best suit pressed. Women, break out your nicest evening gown. A cocktail buffet at historic Rosedale mansion in Columbus will kick off the 19th-annual Decorative Arts and Preservation Forum, which will be held Nov. 1-4, 2007.
CO LU M B US - LOWN D E S CO U NT Y
The Columbus Historic Foundation sponsors the event each year in an effort to educate, entertain and enlighten those who are interested in historic preservation in Columbus and Lowndes County. “Antebellum mansions and Victorian homes are a fact of life in the South, and
GREG EMENS
Arts & Culture appreciating their beauty and charm is what our annual forum is all about,” says Nancy Carpenter, executive director of the Columbus Historic Foundation. “That tradition of splendor is why we always begin the Decorative Arts and Preservation Forum with a Thursday night cocktail buffet – to formally introduce an exciting weekend of events.” The 2007 event will have a special offer for forum participants. For an allinclusive $100 ticket, attendees to the 2007 forum will have access to every activity that is offered over all four days. Those activities include admission to the 39th annual Antiques Show and Sale, which runs concurrently with the forum. “At the cocktail buffet, attendees will enjoy music, hors d’oeuvres champagne and wine, and then they can enjoy three more days of events with the allinclusive ticket,” Carpenter says. “There is the antique show Friday, Saturday and Sunday, there is a decorative arts lunch and dinner on Saturday, as well as a preservation forum breakfast, lunch and dinner served Sunday. Plus, there will be a number of weekend guest speakers.” Those speakers include Dr. Richard Guy Wilson, an architectural historian from the University of Virginia, and John W. Keefe, curator of decorative arts from the New Orleans Museum of Art. “The overall theme for the 2007 forum is, ‘Of Money, Mansions and Pretensions: The Gilded Age 1890-1915,’ which is a time that saw incredible wealth and expansion in the South,” Carpenter explains. “Most of the weekend events will take place at the Trotter Convention Center and Mississippi University for Women. If you are a history buff or appreciate architectural beauty, Columbus will be the place to be.” Tickets to individual events throughout the weekend are also available. For example, tickets to the cocktail buffet are $20 apiece. “The Columbus Historic Foundation is proud of our rich past and tradition, which is why we sponsor these events that appreciate history,” Carpenter says. “Even our foundation headquarters is historic – we are housed in the former Tennessee Williams Home on Main Street, which now also serves as the city’s welcome center.” – Kevin Litwin I M AG E S C O L U M B U S . C O M
55