Diplomacy at Home: The Domestic Lives of the Founding Families Katonah Museum of Art in Katonah, New York

This exhi­bi­tion explores the private worlds of America’s founders through furni­ture, fine art, deco­ra­tive, and personal objects from their homes — reveal­ing how domes­tic spaces shaped polit­i­cal life and diplo­macy. With special focus on New York figures such as John Jay and Alexan­der Hamil­ton among others, Diplo­macy at Home: The Domes­tic Lives of the Found­ing Fami­lies also fore­grounds the essen­tial roles of women includ­ing Martha Wash­ing­ton and Sarah Jay, who were instru­men­tal to the devel­op­ment of the polit­i­cal and diplo­matic culture of the newly formed United States. The exhi­bi­tion high­lights the value of mate­r­ial culture in defin­ing the Found­ing Fami­lies’ central role as the archi­tects who framed the foun­da­tion for our collec­tive national history and explores the meaning of ​“home” across lives defined by public service. Diplo­macy at Home: The Domes­tic Lives of the Found­ing Fami­lies aligns with the John Jay Homestead’s 250th anniver­sary and will be a corner­stone of the events planned by the town of Bedford and Westch­ester County as part of the nation-wide cele­bra­tion of the country’s semiquincentennial.

Diplo­macy at Home: The Domes­tic Lives of the Found­ing Fami­lies is orga­nized by the Katonah Museum of Art in collab­o­ra­tion with the Friends of John Jay Home­stead and the Richard Hampton Jenrette Foun­da­tion in conjunc­tion with the town of Bedford’s REV UP 250 initia­tive. The exhi­bi­tion is guest curated by the Richard Hampton Jenrette Foundation’s Curator and Direc­tor of Collec­tions Grant Quertermous.