Cazenovia College is pleased to announce the continuation of its Faculty Library Lecture Series: Great Minds/Great Ideas, on Tuesday, March 14th at 7:00 pm in the Cazenovia Public Library Community Room.
This popular series features noted Cazenovia College faculty members who “discuss the lives and work of important thinkers who opened doors of opportunity for the human spirit” (www.cazenovia.edu/greatminds). In the upcoming installment, Grace Fisher, Associate Professor and Program Director of Interior Design, will present “Billy Baldwin: The Dean of Decorating.”
Born William Williar Baldwin, Jr. in 1903, Billy Baldwin (“Billy B”) was one of the preeminent interior decorators of the twentieth century. Following a brief stint pursuing an architectural degree at Princeton, Baldwin caught the eye of renowned NYC decorator Ruby Ross Wood and was lured into the world of professional decorating. During his career, Baldwin’s name became synonymous with luxurious American style. Both a classicist and modernist, Baldwin championed the incorporation of a homeowner’s personal taste and furnishings into a space meant to evoke comfort. With a style characterized by immaculately appointed and bespoke spaces in which all elements were “starched and polished,” Baldwin became a design legend famed for his refined tastes and personal approach to working with clients. His roster of famous clientele featured twentieth century icons such as Cole Porter, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, the Paul Mellons, and the William S. Paleys. Baldwin was known for his quick wit and intensely strong likes and dislikes. He felt that the ultimate enemy of good décor was affluence and he arduously avoided clientele that he simply didn’t “like.”
This lecture is free and open to the public. The Great Minds/Great Ideas Library Lecture Series is made possible through the generous support of Pat Stacy Healey, Class of 1962, and Helen Stacy. For more information, visit www.cazenovia.edu/greatminds.
To learn more about this or other Library events, call 655-9322 or visit www.cazenoviapubliclibrary.org.