Barmes Art Topics Series TM

In keeping with the educational mandate of this soon-to-be-relocated art collection of the Barmes Foundation, a series of new courses is being planned to coincide with the reopening on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. We got an advance look at the course selection for the Fall 2012 semester.

Interior Design for Your Art. Uncertain of how to place your paintings, sculpture, and antiques to best advantage in your house? We have the answer! Barmes in the Home ^TM is our special arrangement methodology which allows you to coordinate your works of art with your furniture and color schemes. Whatever your style of decoration or color palette, we have an answer for you! Bring your designer boards and your swatches!

Paint Like a Master. You too can have a fine original copy of a celebrated work by Renoir, Matisse, or Picasso. In fact, using our acclaimed Barmes Paint By Numbers Masterworks© with a special technique for application known as Fidelipreen^TM (patent pending) you can capture the pointillism of Seurat or the palette knife of Soutine in that sure-to-be-priceless experience (and fun) of dabbling in art! When your friends ask who the painter of that distinctive work is, you'll be able to answer: C'est Moi!

Singles Night Discussions. You're not likely to find that special someone in a bar or at a Phillies game (Gawd), so why not stake your claim for a soul mate at a get together of like-minded individuals - who appreciate beauty, culture, and upscale living - and say We Met at the Barmes ©. Moderated groups will meet to discuss themed topics like "Life in Paris," "Who were those Steins?" "Where did that Dewey Decimal System Come From?" and "Collecting African Masks for Fun and Profit," for starters. Drinks and light snacks will be served. All couples who can document We Met at the Barmes © qualify for discounts on our wedding reception and rehearsal dinner packages.

Art for the Young Patron. It's never too early to get the little ones thinking about art. They'll do so easily with our Barmes Scavenger's Hunt ^TM and Barmes Sleepover ^TM studies to help them. Youngsters get to identify pets, sweets, wild animals, nature, and toys, while they can go to sleep and wake to the pleasant experience of beautiful art. We are also able to offer our Barmes Please Don't Touch © program, which conditions youngsters to be careful with art: high-pitched, upper decibel level sounds are emitted if they get too close to the work; in the event they touch the object, small subcutaneous electric charges will get their small hands off the work pronto (also suitable for home installation). Barmes Trading Arts Cards ©, Barmopoly ©, and Barmes Puzzles © will teach your child which paintings the founder acquired and how he built and hung his collection.

Bullet-Proof Your Wills and Trusts. This intensive course will look at ways you can protect yourself and your heirs against capricious takeover attempts at your collection by hostile foundation trustees, avaricious charitable trusts, and opportunistic politicians. With our signature service Barmes UltraShield ^TM your objects will remain in place, barring an Act of God, for eternity. Suffice it to say, our counsel has been through the mill in this regard, and can work the other side of the fence to protect your most precious possessions. We provide guidance on establishing residence to your best advantage. At present we are advising our largest collectors to do so, while they are living, in states other than Pennsylvania and Illinois, especially Chicago. Keep a pied à terre in Philly or in the Windy City, but live with your art someplace else.

Living Close to Our Art. This course will look at establishing a closer relationship with our art, by reaching out to the community. The Barmes Good Neighbor Program^TM is a way to live in Center City, within walking distance to ours and all the other great museums (educational facilities), in a condo, apartment, or timeshare, suitable to your means and comfort. We are planning additional gated housing for the not-too-distant future, so your visit and stay will be a secure one (no flash mobs). Shuttles will be available for nearby shopping and casinos. Look for our brochures on The Barmes Village and Mews^TM coming in late 2018-19, just in time for the Olympics (We're collaborating with the Governor, Mayor, and City Council to push through a bid).

Establishing Long-Term City Residence. If your connection to the museum (educational facility) is more transcendent - you just can't face the thought of parting from our art - you may wish to consider our latest partnership: Barmes Stay in Philly for All Time ^TM. Yes, we can arrange to have your remains (ashes only, please) deposited in the gallery or wing of your choice, behind plaques secured to our moisture-resistant walls. Our forward-looking sister city to the South, Washington, DC, paved the way in this regard, allowing for Mr. and Mrs. Henry Folger to reside permanently with their collection at the Folger Shakespeare Library. And we are hoping to reunite our founder with his art in much the same way, along with like-minded individuals who want to remain in perpetuity with their life-long passions. We are working with the City Council members, who have been most amenable to us in the past, to make this happen. Spots are filling up fast; don't be left out!

Targeted Giving. This course will explore some creative ways to ensure your legacy and that of your family's. Barmes Hall of Fame © will allow you to ensure placement and logo size of your thoughtful gift for all time. Whether you want to be up on the Barmes Big Wall© (in six inch font), or in the other lobbies, hallways, vestibules, auditoriums, meeting rooms, cafeteria, gift shops, parking lots, water fountains, and rest rooms (yes, we even have placement capability for individuals to note donors, looking up or down), we can accommodate your vision, and your budget, to ensure an artistic future for all of us.

Philadelphia in the Early Twentieth Century. What was it really like for our founder to come of age and establish his collection in the city of his birth? Barmes Rewrites History © tells us all about those bad old days when the Republican Party ruled the roost, and corruption, political skullduggery, back room deal making, bribery, payoffs, cronyism, and collusion were common practice. How times have changed under the Democratic Party! We'll reveal ways in which the Philadelphia Art Establishment and the City's movers and shakers reached out to the founder. And how a separate clause in his Indenture of Trust really amounted to a plea to the City Fathers to take the collection out of Merion should the time become necessary.

The catalogue notes that DVDs, CDs, cassettes, slides, study guides, textbooks, and manuals will supplement each of the courses and will be available for purchase when the price points of the audience have been determined by the Barmes Marketing and Branding consultants.