Footstools: Form, Function, and Fancy San Francisco Airport Museums Presents an Often Overlooked Furniture Form

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
CONTACT: Jane Sullivan
Manager Marketing and Communications
(650) 821-5123
SF-05-37

Footstools: Form, Function, and Fancy
San Francisco Airport Museums Presents an Often Overlooked Furniture Form

SAN FRANCISCO -- Now on view at San Francisco International Airport, The Footstool: Form, Function, and Fancy, presents over 120 examples of a furniture form that became popular during the 1800s and continues to serve both practical and decorative needs in modern homes.

All of the objects in the exhibition are from the collection of Margo Grant Wood, who began her collection with the acquisition of a plain, inexpensive footstool in 1985. Today, she owns approximately 350 footstools of varying style, size and age. SFO’s Footstools: Form, Function, and Fancy is the first public showing of pieces from Ms. Grant Wood’s collection.

A number of the footstools chosen for the exhibition are reflective of “country” furniture - utilitarian pieces that often incorporate design influences of the high style, such as Queen Anne and Hepplewhite, found in wealthy homes. Many of these footstools are fashioned from scrap materials, including legs from broken chairs, stray scraps of hard and soft woods, left over paint, tattered fabrics, embroideries, needlework, and leather scraps.

Of her decision to collect the footstools Ms. Grant Wood said, “I realized all the footstools were handmade and unique. All had a native charm and function. Although most were acquired in the eastern United States, no two were exactly alike. They all demonstrated sturdiness and imagination. I believe the overwhelming influence on the design and production of footstools is that they were the means and outlet for creative juices to flow.”

Footstools: Form, Function, and Fancy is on view twenty-four hours a day through March, 2006, free of charge. The exhibition is located pre-security on the Departures/Ticketing Level of the International Terminal.

San Francisco Airport Museums

The San Francisco Airport Museums program was established by the Airport Commission in 1980 for the purposes of humanizing the Airport environment, providing visibility for the unique cultural life of San Francisco, and providing educational services for the traveling public. Today, the San Francisco Airport Museums features approximately twenty galleries throughout the Airport terminals displaying a rotating schedule of art, history, science, and cultural exhibitions, as well as the San Francisco Airport Commission Aviation Library and Louis A. Turpen Aviation Museum, a permanent collection dedicated to the history of commercial aviation.

S - F - O

About San Francisco International Airport SFO

San Francisco International Airport SFO (www.flysfo.com) connects non-stop with more than 60 cities in the United States on 20 domestic airlines, including more than twice as many non-stop flights to the New York area than other Bay Area airports combined. In addition, SFO offers non-stop links with more than 29 international points on 25 international carriers, making SFO the Bay Area’s Airport of Choice.