FJMC

2009 Women's Program

As our convention has grown and matured, our programming for Women has evolved from simply arranging for the occasional speaker and the requisite shopping tours to an understanding that our wives are interested in what we do and the issues that we are passionate about. We have also come to the realization that defining the Women's program as an auxiliary event is not the best use of our resources and invite our female FJMC members to attend all of our programs, whatever the topic. The Women's program at the 2009 FJMC International Convention has also been designed to make us of the incredible downtown location of the Loew's Philadelphia Hotel. We will have walking tours available of downtown Philadelphia, including the renowned Reading Terminal Market, Chestnut Street, Constitution Hall, the Liberty Bell and as special tour of the world famous Philadelphia Art Museum.

We will begin even before the convention officially begins with an exclusive tour and desert reception at the US Constitution Center on Tuesday night, June 30th. This event is the real kick-off to the convention and is a unique opportunity to view the history of the US Constitution in a private setting with expert tour guides. You must register prior to the event, the cost is $76.00 per person. Hotel rooms at a reduced rate are available.

Our traditional High Tea will take place at 4:00 pm on Wednesday, July 1 where women will have a chance to privately meet friends old and new and receive orientation advice about the convention and the city. All are invited, it's part of your convention experience.

All tours & times TBA

Reading Terminal Market Tour

We will leave the hotel for the short walk to the terminal where you will be able to tour and sample the incredible variety of food and ingredients in this unique downtown market. You've seen it on the Food Network, now you too can see what the fuss is about. Mouth-watering aromas. Produce fresh from the field. Amish specialties. Fresh meats, seafood, and poultry. Unique, hand-made pottery, jewelry and crafts from around the world. The hustle and bustle of a multitude of diverse people. It's all there in Philadelphia's historic farmers market, Reading Terminal Market. An exhilarating selection of baked goods, meats, poultry, seafood, produce, flowers, ethnic foods, cookware and eclectic restaurants are peppered throughout the Market. We invite you to explore this unique and extraordinary historic farmers market in Center City Philadelphia.

Philadelphia Art Museum

As one of the largest museums in the United States, the Philadelphia Museum of Art invites visitors from around the world to explore its renowned collections, acclaimed special exhibitions, and enriching programs, both in person and online.
Exhibits include:

• A Director's Vision: The Legacy of Anne d'Harnoncourt
  Now Through July 19, 2009
  Anne d'Harnoncourt (1943-2008), the Philadelphia Museum of Art's late and beloved Director who served the Museum and its audiences for four historic and transforming decades, reveled in the art of all ages and cultures. This exhibition celebrates Anne, her passion for art, and her drive to share creativity's treasures with all.
• Henri Matisse and Modern Art on the French Riviera
  Now Through October 25, 2009
  Including 40 works total, 34 paintings and 6 sculptures from the Museum's collection and local private collections, this year-long installation celebrates the French Riviera's mythic allure for modern artists.
• Something to Wear: Fashion in Print 1850-1925
  Now Through Summer 2009
  The fashion industry during 1850-1925 was a period of tremendous change and innovation. This exhibition, designed to complement Shopping in Paris: French Fashion 1850-1925, explores the world of fashion and consumer culture through printed publications. On display are books, periodicals, department store souvenirs, trade catalogs, and fashion plates from the Library's collection of fashion-related material.
• Peaks of Faith: Buddhist Art of the Himalayas
  Now Through July 2009
  The masterpieces in this exhibition encompass nearly a millennium of art from across the Himalayan region (centered on Tibet and Nepal) and from neighboring areas under its cultural influence.
• Hello! Fashion: Kansai Yamamoto, 1971-1973
  Now Through July 2009
  Kansai Yamamoto is one of the founding fathers of Japanese contemporary fashion. Best known for his work during the 1970s and 1980s, his avant-garde designs are inspired by the colorful Azuchi-Momoyama period (1568-1600) and traditional Kabuki theatre. The exuberant Pop-like quality of his work contrasts with what is today associated with Japanese fashion, Zen-like simplicity and deconstructed silhouettes.
• Philadelphia Treasures Eakins's Gross Clinic and Saint-Gaudens's Angel of Purity
  Now Through July 19, 2009
  The Museum welcomes two masterpieces made for Philadelphia by two of nineteenth-century America's finest artists, Thomas Eakins and Augustus Saint-Gaudens. Close contemporaries and friends, they both trained in Paris and traveled in Europe before returning to the United States about 1870 to begin distinguished careers. Sharing a belief in the expressive power of the human body as a subject for modern painting and sculpture, they developed different styles.
• Daid Moriyama: Tokyo Photographs
  Now Through August 23, 2009
  Daid? Moriyama is one of the most important and exciting Japanese photographers of our time, having made prolific, often experimental pictures of modern urban life since the 1960s. This exhibition showcases a group of approximately 45 photographs made in and around Tokyo in the 1980s, when Moriyama focused his mature aesthetic on the city with renewed intensity.
• The Art of Japanese Craft: 1875 to the Present
  Now Through October 18, 2009
  This exhibition offers one of the first surveys of Japanese crafts in all their rich diversity of media and techniques through the entire 20th century, from Japan's first forays on to the international stage of World's Fairs to the heady internationalism of the 1920's and 1930's, to the dynamic creativity of the post-WW II period and to the present.
• Shopping in Paris: French Fashion 1850-1925
  Now Through October 25, 2009
  The glamorous and cutting-edge fashions created in Paris have always inspired American dress. This exhibition explores the American experience abroad between 1850 and 1925. Such luxurious designs as the House of Worth and the classic elegance of Lanvin are being paired with American fashions based on these Parisian prototypes.
• Notations: The Closing Decade
  Now Through October 25, 2009
  Arguably the last decade of the twentieth century started in 1989, with the fall of the Berlin Wall, and ended twelve years later, with the horrific attacks of September 2001. That extended decade witnessed some of the most profound and lasting transformation in society since the postwar period. This presentation of works from the Museum's collection exemplifies the vast range of artistic practices during this time of profound transition, bringing together a diverse group of artists working in a variety of media
• An Enduring Motif: The Pomegranate in Textiles
  Now Through February 21, 2010
  Artists have been inspired by the inner and outer beauty of the pomegranate since biblical times. The objects on view in this exhibition represent a cross-section of textiles from the Museum's collection that feature this richly symbolic fruit.
• Stories and Images in East Asian Art
  Now Through March 2010
  Drawn from the Museum's collection, this exhibition features Korean screen paintings with auspicious Chinese narratives juxtaposed with the Chinese ceramics of the Qing dynasty (1616-1912) that are decorated with the similar themes.
• Skyscrapers: Prints, Drawings, and Photographs of the Early Twentieth Century
  June 6, 2009 - November 1, 2009
  Icons of modernity and testaments to human achievement, skyscrapers rose to towering heights in major cities across the United States during the early decades of the twentieth century. More than fifty prints, drawings, and photographs chosen from the Museum's collection demonstrate the many ways artists chose to portray the new giants in their landscape.
• Spectacle: Photographs from the Collection
  June 20, 2009 - September 7, 2009
  Comprising more than 40 photographs from the Museum's collection, this exhibition explores the manner in which photographers from the nineteenth-century through the present day have documented spectacular scenes and events along with the curious spectators who observe them.

Downtown Architecture Walk

Philadelphia's rich history is seen best in the architecture and buildings of the city. Join the tour and see over 300 years of history within a few blocks of the hotel.

Art Deco Tour of the Hotel

PSFS's (Philadelphia Savings Fund Society) former headquarters at the corner of 12th and Market Streets, erected in 1932, is widely considered the first International Style skyscraper. The building was designed by Swiss-American architect William Lescaze and his partner George Howe. The building is a National Historic Landmark. In 1997, the building was purchased by the Loews Corporation, who in April 2000 reopened it as the Loews Philadelphia Hotel. The hotel retained the Art Deco details, such as Cartier clocks, bank vault doors, polished granite along with the spectacular 33rd floor Director's room finished in inlaid tropical woods.

Chestnut Street

Chestnut Street is perfect for window shopping. With plenty of great stores, such as Boyd's, Maron Chocolates and Shops at Liberty Place, you can easily spend the afternoon walking from store to store. Just a 5 minute walk from the hotel, Chestnut Street is Philadelphia's answer to 5th Avenue and Rodeo Drive.

Constitution Hall

Philadelphia Transit Museum

The museum is part of the 13th Street station and is devoid of the usual trappings such as admissions fees and defined spaces. You don't even realize that you have entered the museum on the bottom floor of the Market Street building, right next door to the hotel. It is one of the more popular museums in the city and its lack of convention is part of its appeal. Set on shiny tracks embedded into the floor is a vintage 1947 trolley from Philadelphia's past. There are 1940's ads on the walls for products like old-time soap and fedoras and the SEPTA gist shop stocks all manner of model trains, busses and transit paraphanelia.

Macy's Wannamaker Grand Court Organ recitals

The Wanamaker Grand Court Organ, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the largest operational[1] pipe organ in the world, located within a spacious 7-story court at Macys Center City (formerly Wanamaker's department store). The Wanamaker organ is played twice a day, Monday through Saturday. The Macy's store is just under 2 minutes walk from the hotel. Daily schedule is available.

United States Mint

The United States Mint at Philadelphia is open for public tours Monday through Friday from 9 am to 3 pm. The United States Mint is closed on Federal Holidays. All tours are free and self-guided; no reservations are necessary. Visitors can see actual coin production. Exhibits and audio/video stations provide information about the United States Mint and its history, coinage and current programs. The tour takes about 45 minutes. The visitors' entrance is on the corner of Fifth and Arch Streets. Adults will be asked to provide government-issued photo identification for security purposes.