Trenton, New Jersey's Boehm Porcelain Art Studio, Preeminent Maker of Fine Porcelain in America, Has Been Saved by a New American Owner-Investor |
|
By: BOEHM AMERICAN PORCELAIN Posted: 2009-05-04 05:28:59 |
|
On Sunday, May 3rd noon to five p.m., the Boehm American Porcelain Company open house introduced Sharon Lee Parker, the new president of the company, who has a loving decades-long history as ardent collector and a booster of Boehm's distinguished American roots. Continuing American stewardship is now assured for this heralded studio, prized by leading museums, collectors, and the art and nature loving public the world over for its pursuit of perfection.
Determined to enable our country to keep this home-bred art tradition in its original 1949 Trenton studio and manufacturing center and prevent our country from losing one of the nation's major cultural assets to overseas interests, Ms. Parker stepped up, along with a few other Boehm lovers, to acquire the company. Parker was a close friend of Helen Boehm, wife of founder Edwin Marshall Boehm, who became a legendary figure introducing the company's magical line of porcelain art sculptures worldwide. Boehm's fine, hand made and hand painted sculptures are represented at the White House, presidential libraries, and the Vatican; and bring joy to scores of prominent sites including Buckingham Palace, Elysee Palace, the Smithsonian, Kennedy Center, Blair House, American embassies and universities, hospitals, and fine art galleries. Boehm's exquisite porcelain replicas of floral and animal life created by generations of skilled American artisans are also available online and at leading retail outlets around the globe. "A Boehm creation is a forever gift," Ms. Parker proudly stated. "Once in possession of a treasured Boehm piece, large or small, that is in need of repair owners can send it back. Without fail, it will be restored to its original, state-of-the-art perfection. Retaining skilled craftsmanship, as well as these dedicated Boehm craftsman and their families in America, is of paramount importance to Ms. Parker and our nation. Ms. Parker emphasizes, "Everything in the Boehm creative process has the American stamp of authenticity, even down to the choice of woods used to create bases for attending art works. We are only using grown in America woods," she said. Sharon Lee Parker, new president of BOEHM AMERICAN PORCELAIN, is a cancer survivor. Her life changed dramatically in 2002 with the diagnosis she had a lethal combination of Hodgkin's Lymphoma and thyroid cancer. If nothing else, Ms. Parker is a fighter and, as she puts it, a life lover! There is a long and moving history between Boehm collectibles and her mission to help stamp out cancer, both by funding cancer research and the 24/7 schedule she keeps as a cancer coach responding to individual patients from all over the U.S., and foreign nations. She always keeps a Boehm HOPE ROSE on her night table. "It gives me such joy to look at it, it smiles back at me. I treasure its delicate composition." Her Life Lover Foundation applies all profits from their sale, as well as the Boehm LIFE LOVER LILY, toward cancer research. Ms. Parker maintained a positive attitude all during her chemotherapy treatments. Patients around her were inspired by her words and empathy and she was encouraged to write about her cancer experience to reach a wider audience with her life lover philosophy. Her book, "Look Out Cancer, Here I Come," now going into its second printing, is a moving account of what to do when facing the enormity of this disease and getting over challenges imposed on patients and family caregivers. She has been in remission since her treatment and faithfully follows the recommendations of famed cancer doctor Andre Goy for maintaining that status. Ms. Parker devotes the greater part of her day (and nights) to coaching people that email or call about how to get on with their lives. Her patient log has over 1,000 names and she has yet to miss returning a call. Her work is entirely voluntary and there is never a charge for services rendered. Company History In 1949 Edward Marshall Boehm, a naturalist-farmer with little or no training in porcelain art sculpture, opened a basement studio, BOEHM PORCELAIN, in Trenton, NJ and never looked back. In Boehm's first year, the Metropolitan Museum of Art acquired two Boehm sculptures. Vincent Andrus, then curator of the American Wing, described the Boehm porcelains as "equal to the finest English work." Collectors took notice and, by year's end, Boehm art works were represented by 11 museums, Buckingham Palace and the Vatican. Edward Marshall Boehm died in 1969 but his wife, Helen Boehm, and business partner ran the company successfully, quickly securing endorsements from museum curators, connoisseurs of fine porcelain and public luminaries. Early this year, unable to continue meeting the demanding requirements of this role, Ellen Boehm sold the company to Sharon Lee Parker, a loyal and trusted friend of the family. Ms. Parker shares Helen's passion for fine, painstakingly hand made, hand painted porcelain sculptures and is committed to carrying on the Boehm tradition of excellence. Today Boehm porcelains are on display in 130 museums and institutions throughout the world. The last nine American Presidents have commissioned Boehm works for gifts to visiting dignitaries. Boehm presentations have been made to Pope Pius XII, John Paul I and, in June 1992, to Pope John Paul II. Boehm was accorded its highest honor on June 19, 1992 when a wing of the Vatican Museum in Rome, the Gregorian Etruscan Museum, was named in memory of Edward Marshall Boehm, the first time in its 500 year history that a part of the Vatican was named for an American, and a person not of royalty, the church or church family. Currently Ms. Parker is truly excited by opportunities to keep E.M. BOEHM, a true American cultural phenomenon, from leaving our shores, adding to its beautiful gift catalog and fulfilling commissions from diverse sources around the globe. |
| Trackback url: https://press.abc-directory.com/press/4566 |