A & M Show Winnetka turns 50, features top-flight speakers
The 50th Antiques & Modernism Winnetka Show has lined up some heavy hitters as speakers.
J. Michael Flanigan, a former personality on the popular PBS television show, "Antiques Roadshow"; past HGTV host Meg Caswell; and Laura Dowling, White House floral designer during Barack Obama's presidency, will present during the show, Nov. 4-6 at the Winnetka Community House, 620 Lincoln Ave.
A preview will be held from 6:30-9:30 p.m. Nov. 3.
Working with the Antiques Council to bring in a roster of national and international dealers, the "A & M Show" delivers furniture, art, clothing, jewelry, decor and other items spanning 17th century pieces to Midcentury modern.
"It runs the gamut of various items as well as different time frames," said Kim Ronan, Antiques & Modernism Winnetka Show co-chair with Elyse Hahner.
"Some could go back to the 17th century or the 18th century, and others could be from the 1960s or the 1970s," said Ronan, who estimated that more than 2,000 items will be available for purchase at the Winnetka Community House's biggest fundraiser of the year.
The show takes over the entire two-story house, covering 10 rooms plus hallways, Ronan said.
"The Community House becomes almost like a museum because the entire Community House becomes a showcase for all these antiques," she said.
Ronan said there are multiple items at all price points. One item she purchased from a past show - it started in 1971 and was not held in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic - was a 3-foot-long brass key that hung outside a French barber shop in the 1800s.
"My favorite part of it is talking with all the dealers that come, because they can tell you all of the stories behind all their merchandise, all their pieces," Ronan said. "Everything has a story about where it comes from, or what it's used for, or who made it."
Flanigan is certainly capable of that himself. A former chair appraiser and then a furniture consultant on "Antiques Roadshow" according to the Internet Movie Database, he'll tour the A & M collection and speak about pieces there at 9 a.m. Friday, Nov. 4.
Caswell, a Kenilworth native who veered from criminology to earn a bachelor's degree in interior design from The Art Institute of Chicago, has been either a host or guest on several television shows about interior design in addition to owning her own firm. She'll speak at 10 a.m. Nov. 4.
Laura Dowling, White House floral designer from 2009-15, will discuss choosing floral arrangements in tandem with decor, and talk about her work at the White House, at 10 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 5. At 2 p.m. Saturday Dowling will discuss floral design for the holidays.
The cost to attend the speaker events is $50 each, which includes a three-day show ticket.
Tickets for the Nov. 3 preview, which includes food, drinks and music, are $150 in advance and $175 at the door. A three-day ticket for Antiques & Modernism Winnetka is $15 before the show.
People can buy tickets online until Nov. 3. For information and to purchase tickets, visit www.thewinnetkashow.com.
"There's definitely something for everybody," Ronan said.