Spiegel Fund Events and Programs >
Spiegel Lecture Series 2005:
Show Me The Money
In the course of Brian Tolle's research on Benjamin Franklin, currency emerged as a central theme. One of the early conceptualizers of American currency, Franklin approached the idea of money in innovative ways that today remain vital. To inform the development of their own currency, students from Penn's English "Writing Through Art" course have invited several prominent speakers to lecture on a variety of monetary issues such as value, trade, and illegal economies.
- Lecture: Michael Bryan
Whenever Wednesday
January 25, 5pm
This month the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland opened its new Learning Center and Money Museum. Vice President and Economist Michael Bryan, responsible for the museum's development, will explore the history of money, how it has shaped societies and cultures, what gives money value, and how the Federal reserve helps to maintain that value.
- Lecture: Brian Tolle
Whenever Wednesday
February 1, 5pm
Artist Brian Tolle speaks about his work and use of history as a material to create art that "reflects upon history to understand the present." For his ICA commission for the Franklin tercentenary, Tolle arrived at three emblematic images, including one of Franklin's face engraved on the $100 dollar bill.
- Conversation: J.S.G. Boggs and Michael Beckman
Whenever Wednesday
February 8, 5pm
Artist J.S.G. Boggs has been creating images of money for decades and, when they accidentally made their way into circulation in the 1980s, Boggs-Bills caused a series of legal troubles in England and the United States. Boggs and Michael Beckman, who is currently writing a book titled Debt Deliria: A History of the US Dollar Since 1971, will discuss the intersections of art and commerce, including the precarious value assigned to art objects.
