The Piscataqua Decorative Arts Society is a non-profit organization with a mission to promote original historical research resulting in publication. Its primary focus is the greater Piscataqua region of New Hampshire and Maine, with connecting links to Massachusetts. The Society is based in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

The Society evolved from an idea discussed by Joyce Geary Volk and Janet McCracken, who were working on research related to the historic Warner House in Portsmouth. Volk knew that art historian, Mary Childs Black (1922-1992), had given a lecture in 1988 on her research of the large murals painted in Warner House, but there was no available text or record and those who attended had no clear memory of her conclusions. Because Black’s papers had been given to Winterthur Museum in Wilmington, DE, and were not yet catalogued, their immediate needs were made more difficult. They determined that it was important to create a recognized entity in the Piscataqua region for the deposit of research and information which would benefit students in the future.

Lecture Series & Publication
Established in 2001 and holding its first full season in 2002, the Society presents a series of lectures each year, which are open to the public. The lectures present topics of interest and explore current research in the Fine and Decorative Arts of the region. The texts of the lectures are compiled into a triennial publication that is made broadly available. For a list of upcoming lectures, check our Calendar; for a sampling of past lectures, see Volume I and Volume II of the Society’s publication.

Research Stipend Award
The Society also established the Piscataqua Decorative Arts Research Stipend, a $1000 award to be given to a meritorious proposal for research furthering the study of the arts in the region. The first recipient was Abby Burch, a graduate student at Winterthur, whose talk in June 2008 and whose forthcoming article in the Society’s publication shares her work on Joseph Murphy (1796-1872), a cabinetmaker of South Berwick, Maine. This craftsman’s account books are a very recent addition to the collection of the Portsmouth Athenaeum.

Annual membership in the Society is open to all and includes admission to the year’s lectures and the triennial publication. You may also attend lectures on an individual basis. Most talks are held in Portsmouth on Tuesday evenings at 5:30pm, with wine and cheese served before each lecture.