“Making a magazine is a group effort,” said editor-in-chief Gregory Cerio, left. By his side, from left, were senior editor and digital-media producer Sammy Dalati, art director Martin Minerva, consulting editor Eleanor Gustafson, publisher Don Sparacin, keynote speakers Tom Savage and Alexandra Kirtley, and editor-at-large Betsy Pochoda.
By Laura Beach
WILMINGTON, DEL. – The Antiques Dealers Association of America (ADA) on November 12 presented its annual Award of Merit to The Magazine Antiques, since 1922 the journal of record for the field. “Everyone in this room understands the scope of the magazine’s contribution over several generations,” ADA president John Chaski said, welcoming a crowd of nearly 140 dealers, collectors, curators and auctioneers to the gala dinner, staged at the Westin Wilmington in conjunction with the Delaware Antiques Show.
After an introduction from ADA executive director Judith Livingston Loto – who observed that the prize itself is celebrating a milestone year, its 20th – keynote speakers Tom Savage of Colonial Williamsburg and Alexandra Alevizatos Kirtley of the Philadelphia Museum of Art each affectionately described their decades-long admiration for the publication. Savage, who documented his long affiliation in detail in the May/June 2012 article, “The Boy Who Loved Antiques,” noted that it was editor Alice Winchester who helped launch the Colonial Williamsburg Antiques Forum, celebrating its 75th edition from February 24-28, 2023.
Kirtley lauded Antiques as “stalwart, steadfast, authoritative, lively, progressive, creative, elegant, intelligent and relevant.” In a lighthearted literary homage, the curator traced the magazine’s history in verse, concluding, “We who admire the century of tweaks and critiques / We honor you, O Mag Antiques.”
“Antiques is one of the columns that holds our industry up,” said ADA board member Arthur Liverant, presenting the group’s signature trophy, whose flame finial was newly gilded in honor of the magazine’s centennial.
Presenting the trophy – a carved, mahogany finial whose flame this year was gilded in recognition of the magazine’s centennial – longtime ADA board member Arthur Liverant described waking early one morning as a child to find dealer Albert Sack, his father’s closest friend and a frequent Liverant house guest, reading Antiques in his skivvies. Liverant concluded, “Antiques is one of the columns that holds our industry up.”
Staff at his side, publisher Don Sparacin said graciously, “This is a collective award. It really belongs to the dealers, collectors, journalists and scholars who make the magazine what it is. I’d like to say congratulations to all of you.”
The last word belonged to editor-in-chief Gregory Cerio, who quipped, “I’ll be brief, because part of being editor is knowing what to cut. Making a magazine is a group effort. This is one that stretches back through generations. So, thank you for this great honor and lets work on the next hundred years.” To everyone’s delight, Cerio then handed the flame-carved finial to the most tenured member of the magazine’s editorial staff, Eleanor Gustafson, remarking, “She is the keeper of our flame.”
For more on the ADA and its annual Award of Merit, go to www.adadealers.com.
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