DRAWING THE FUTURE: DESIGNS FOR THE 1939 NEW YORK WORLD'S FAIR May 15-November 15,1998 Overview Organized by the Museum of the City of New York, Drawing the Future: Designs for the 1939 New York World's Fair presented 40 original illustrations selected from the museum's collection of nearly 400 works by artists whose job it was to "Build the World of Tomorrow with the Tools of Today." While numerous shows and books have explored the 1939 World's Fair, this was the first exhibition that showcased the avant-garde designers and draftsmen such as Hugh Ferriss, Chester Price, and Raymond Loewy, who made history by envisioning the future. Inaugurated on April 30, 1939, the New York World's Fair remained open through October 26, 1940 at a site in Queens. Admission was 75 cents for adults and 25 cents for children. Visitors could meander through different themed zones, among them amusement, communications, food, government, production, distribution, and transportation. Exhibitors included approximately sixty countries, the League of Nations, thirty-three states and territories, the Works Progress Administration, and the City of New York. At the close of the fair, most of the original blueprints, renderings, and actual structures were destroyed. These drawings were donated to the Museum of the City of New York in 1940 and 1941; many were never displayed or published prior to the exhibition. Items from The Wolfsonian's comprehensive holdings of world's fair materials, along with the Indian Creek Hotel Collection of tableware, postcards, and other souvenirs, complemented the drawings. Drawing the Future offered a view of the most accurate remaining record of the intentions of the architects and designers who created this momentous event. This exhibition explored not only the greatest of all twentieth-century world's fairs, but the impact left on an entire generation of architects. "The 1939 New York World's Fair made explicit an idea that had imbued all world's fairs: an optimistic view of the future," says Wolfsonian Curator Wendy Kaplan. "It is important to keep in mind that the fair was organized in the midst of the Great Depression. The exhibitions were intended to demonstrate the potential of science and technology to restore the nation's vitality. The ephemeral objects in the show represent visions of the future that could be taken away and saved, and as such are a record of the dream of better times that was the 1939 World's Fair." An exhibition catalog, published by the Museum of the City of New York, accompanied the show and is available in the Wolfsonian museum shop (Museum of the City of New York; 64 pages, $13). The exhibition and catalog were made possible by the generous support of Jean S. and Frederic A. Sharf, and Lisa and Eric Green. The Wolfsonian is also sponsored by the State of Florida Division of Cultural Affairs, Florida Arts Council, Miami-Dade Cultural Affairs Council, Miami-Dade County Board of County Commissioners, Miami Beach Visitor and Convention Authority, City of Miami Beach, The Chase Manhattan Foundation, American Express Company, Continental Airlines, and the Arthur F. and Alice E. Adams Foundation. FEATURED OBJECT: Model, Theme Center—New York World’s Fair, 1939 Designed by Wallace K. Harrison (American, 1895-1981) and J. André Fouilhoux, architects (French, 1879-1945) Designed in 1937, executed in 1938 USA Stainless steel, wood, plastic 86.17.1 Back to Past Exhibitions Main